1. IEA welcomes G8's energy focus
2. Towards a carbon-neutral power sector
3. Tackling the power grids challenge
4. Algae-derived fuels for transportation
5. New IEA international projects, new participants

• IEA Bioenergy Multi-Tasks Conference - Biofuels & Bioenergy: A Changing Climate,  Vancouver (Canada), 23-26 August 2009.

• District Heating Futures Seminar/Workshop, Tuusula (Finland), 31 August - 2 September 2009.

• International Workshop on Impact, Compliance and Control of Energy Legislations, Brussels (Belgium), 1-2 September 2009.

• 1st International Oxyfuel Combustion Conference, Cottbus (Germany), 8-11 September 2009.

• 9th Annual Workshop on Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading, Paris (France), 14-15 September 2009.

• First Meeting of the IEA GHG High Temperature Solid Looping Cycles Network, Oviedo (Spain), 15-17 September 2009. 

• 15th International SolarPACES Symposium, Berlin (Germany), 15-18 September 2009.

• IEA End-Use Working Party Workshop on Electricity in the Future Transport System, Stockholm (Sweden), 17 September 2009.

• 30th Annual Symposium and Workshop of the International Energy Agency Collaborative Project on Enhanced Oil Recovery (IEA EOR), Canberra (Australia), 21-23 September 2009.

• 30th AIVC Conference Trends in High Performance Buildings and the Role of Ventilation, Berlin (Germany), 1-2 October 2009.

• International Conference on Coal Science & Technology (ICCS&T), Cape Town (South Africa), 26-29 October 2009.

• Workshop on Process Integration in Small and Medium Enterprises, Bern (Switzerland), 27-28 October 2009. 

• 18th World Hydrogen Energy Conference, Essen (Germany), 16-21 May 2010.

• 10th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, Amsterdam (the Netherlands), 19-23 September 2010.

• 8th International Conference on System Simulation in Buildings, Liege (Belgium), 13-15 December, 2010.

1. IEA welcomes G8's energy focus.  "The far-reaching effects the current financial and economic crisis will have on energy security and climate change, coupled with plunging investment, demand urgent and global action to put the world on a more sustainable path", said IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka following the G8 Leaders’ Declaration at the 8-10 July Summit in L´Aquila (Italy). "The IEA is delighted", he continued, "that G8 leaders have put a strong focus on these pressing energy issues and are ready to step to the forefront in mobilising this global effort",  Click for IEA’s press release, G8 declaration.

Since 2005, the IEA has provided energy policy advice to leaders of the world’s industrialised nations. A diverse portfolio of downloadable IEA updates and reports spearheading good policy approaches was delivered at this year’s G8 Summit. 
 
• Carbon Capture and Storage – Full-scale demonstration progress update.
• Progress with Implementing Energy Efficiency Policies in the G8.
• Global Energy Efficiency Action Initiative.
• Launching an Energy Revolution in a Time of Economic Crisis – The case for a low-carbon energy technology platform.
• Energy Technology Roadmaps – Status report.

2. Towards a carbon-neutral power sector.   As the economic crisis bites and the UNFCCC climate talks in Copenhagen approach, how does the electricity industry see the future? Can win-win strategies be applied to address today's power-sector challenges? This year’s EURELECTRIC Convention and Conference placed the issues in context by focusing on its vision: Electricity Markets 2050 - Smart, Integrated, Carbon-Neutral. The IEA was a Co-operating Partner in this major power industry event, held in Bucharest (Rumania) on 15-16 June. The OPEN Bulletin put some questions to Lars G. Josefsson, President of EURELECTRIC and CEO of Vattenfall AB, on wide-ranging issues, including energy technology choices for the future. Download the interview.  For more about the Bucharest conference, visit the EURELECTRIC website and download highlights from the presentations, including that of Didier Houssin, IEA’s Director for Energy Markets and Security.  

3. Tackling the power grids challenge.The need for more intelligent power grids is rising steadily on the energy-sector agenda. If smarter grids are to play their role in handling increasing inflows of electricity from intermittent renewable energy sources and in catering for changes in consumer behaviour, the right approaches need to be adopted now. Laying the groundwork was the topic of a recent workshop on “Communications and Control”, organised by the IEA Electricity Networks Analysis, Research and Development Implementing Agreement (ENARD). Experts briefed participants on both systemic and technological aspects of making electricity grids smarter. An article by Stig Goethe, Chair of ENARD’s Executive Committee reports on the workshop and its findings.  Access the article here. More about the activities of ENARD can be found on its website.  ENARD is one of 42 IEA international collaborative energy technology R&D programmes.

4. Algae-derived fuels for transportation.   What can algae contribute to the world’s energy systems? With its exceptionally high oil content, microalgae is a potentially rich source of biodiesel, bioethanol, biogasoline and other fuels. Unlike products from seasonal land crops, microalgae’s abundant oil can be harvested on a daily basis. Since algae consumes carbon dioxide and releases oxygen through photosynthesis, it could be an important option in a severely carbon-constrained future. But much more work is needed if algae is to become a large provider of fuels. As we reported in Issue 59, a new project within the IEA Advanced Motor Fuels programme (IEA AMF) is exploring technical advances with algae species selection, production systems, extraction systems and biorefinery concepts. Findings will be distilled into recommendations to policy makers on the most fruitful R&D paths. Valuable preliminary insight on the subject can be found in the background White Paper Algae as a Feedstock for Transportation Fuels – The Future of Biofuels?, recently posted on the IEA AMF website. IEA AMF is an IEA international energy technology collaboration.

5. New IEA international projects, new participants. The portfolios of IEA Implementing Agreement programmes evolve continuously to meet new challenges. New members join their teams.

• The new Task 43 within the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IAE SHC) is dealing with “Solar Rating and Certification Procedure - Advanced Solar Thermal Testing and Characterization for Certification of Collectors and Systems”. Its objective is to research and develop, where needed, new test procedures and characterization methods for addressing the testing of both conventional and advanced solar thermal products.  Visit the IEA SHC website.

• JGC Corporation of Japan  has become a Sponsor in the Implementing Agreement for a Co-operative Programme on Technologies Relating to Greenhouse Gases Derived from Fossil Fuel Use (IEA GHG).

• Italy and the United Arab Emirates have become Contracting Parties to the Implementing Agreement for the Establishment of a Project on Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems (SolarPACES).

• African country access to IEA database. Three new countries now have free access to the IEA ETDEWEB energy technology database. Côte d'Ivoire, Namibia and Zimbabwe are now among the growing list of countries able to consult ETDEWEB's collection of over 4,197,000 energy technology literature references and more than 248,000 full text documents not typically available through conventional sources (over 1 million pages). Click here. ETDE's authentication technology recognises most users, although some may need to log in first or register here. ETDE is an IEA energy technology collaboration.

• Free downloadable energy technology newsletters from IEA international energy technology collaborative programmes.

• Annual reports from IEA collaborative programmes: From the IEA programme on Industrial Energy-related Technologies and Systems (IETS) 2008 Annual Report.

• Presentations from the IEA workshop Tracking the First 20 CCS Demonstrations - Global Peer Review, Bergen (Norway), 27 May 2009.  This gathering was organised by the IEA Working Party on Fossil Fuels (WPFF). Its findings fed into the IEA's report to the recent G8 Summit in Italy.

• Presentations from the 9th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT 9), Washington, DC (United States), 16-20 November 2008. This event was organised by the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and with sponsorship from the United States Department of Energy. See below for GHGT 10.

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• IEA Bioenergy Multi-Tasks Conference - Biofuels & Bioenergy: A Changing Climate,  Vancouver (Canada), 23-26 August 2009. Organised by IEA Bioenergy, this conference will provide resource managers, technology developers, policy makers, equipment manufacturers, energy users, educators and academics with an opportunity to discuss research and commercialisation efforts in the rapidly growing biofuel and bioenergy sectors.  Visit the IEA Bioenergy website.

• District Heating Futures Seminar/Workshop, Tuusula (Finland), 31 August - 2 September 2009. This event, organised by the IEA District Heating and Cooling research programme (IEA DHC/CHP) and other buildings-related programmes under IEA auspices, will deal with both existing and newly-built environments, the integration of renewable energy and thermal storage. Consult the event announcement. 

• International Workshop on Impact, Compliance and Control of Energy Legislations, Brussels (Belgium), 1-2 September 2009. This event focusing on the energy performance of buildings is co-organised by the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC), a part of the IEA Programme on Energy Conservation in Buildings & Community Systems (ECBCS). Visit the workshop website.

• 1st International Oxyfuel Combustion Conference, Cottbus (Germany), 8-11 September 2009. This event will provide a forum to continue discussion of issues relevant to the development of oxyfuel combustion technologies and to share lessons from the experience of operating the first oxyfuel combustion boiler. The conference is organised by the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG) and Vattenfall, and sponsored by Air Products.  Visit the conference web pages.

• 9th Annual Workshop on Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading, Paris (France), 14-15 September 2009. Hosted by the IEA, the International Emissions Trading Association and the Electric Power Research Institute, this workshop will provide an opportunity for government, business and various stakeholders to discuss topics relevant to a post-2012 agreement in Copenhagen. Visit the IEA website.

• First Meeting of the IEA GHG High Temperature Solid Looping Cycles Network, Oviedo (Spain), 15-17 September 2009.  Organised by the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG), this event will focus on calcium looping cycles for post-combustion or for hydrogen production, oxygen chemical looping combustion and reforming, and other advanced CO₂ capture systems involving reversible gas-solid reactions at high temperatures that are moving fast towards scaling up and demonstration in large pilots. Visit the web page.  

• 15th International SolarPACES Symposium, Berlin (Germany), 15-18 September 2009.  The IEA SolarPACES programme’s 15th annual event will enable stakeholders from industry, research, politics and the financial world to meet, within the framework of a scientific conference programme, with leading world experts. Visit the conference pages on the website of IEA SolarPACES.

• IEA End-Use Working Party Workshop on Electricity in the Future Transport System, Stockholm (Sweden), 17 September 2009. The purpose of this workshop is to discuss the IEA R&D programmes in relevant areas and to enable the IEA End-Use Working Party (EUWP) to advise the IEA Committee on Energy Research and Technology (CERT) on necessary initiatives. Visit the IEA website. For invitations to this invitations-only event e-mail the organisers.

• 30th Annual Symposium and Workshop of the International Energy Agency Collaborative Project on Enhanced Oil Recovery (IEA EOR), Canberra (Australia), 21-23 September 2009.  Focusing on the theme of 'CO₂ Enhanced Oil Recovery', this year’s IEA EOR symposium will offer participants an opportunity to share knowledge, work with other world experts and further promote application of Enhanced Oil Recovery technologies in oil and gas fields. Visit the IEA EOR conference website.

• 30th AIVC Conference Trends in High Performance Buildings and the Role of Ventilation, Berlin (Germany), 1-2 October 2009. This event is organised by the Energy and Environmental Center Deister GmbH (e.u.[z.]) in co-operation with the International Network for Information on Ventilation (INIVE EEIG) – on behalf of the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC) – and the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (Fraunhofer-IBP).  It will be held in tandem with the International Conference on Building and Ductwork Airtightness. See conference announcement.  AIVC is part of the IEA Programme on Energy Conservation in Buildings & Community Systems (ECBCS).

• International Conference on Coal Science & Technology (ICCS&T), Cape Town (South Africa), 26-29 October 2009.  Co-sponsored by the IEA Clean Coal Centre, this conference will provide the technical community with an opportunity to share knowledge in their respective clean-coal technology fields. Visit the conference website.

• Workshop on Process Integration in Small and Medium Enterprises, Bern (Switzerland), 27-28 October 2009.  Organised by the IEA Implementing Agreement on Industrial Energy-Related Technologies and Systems (IETS) in co-operation with the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, this workshop will bring together diverse stakeholders who have experience of new system approaches for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It will be a first step in forming a new project within the IETS programme on process integration in SMEs.  For more information visit the IETS website.

• 18th World Hydrogen Energy Conference, Essen (Germany), 16-21 May 2010. This event for decision takers in politics, industry, research and finance will cover wide-ranging scientific, technological, deployment and policy questions relating to the role of hydrogen and fuel cells in a sustainable energy economy. The conference, which builds on previous conferences dating back to 1976, will feature a training and information session on hydrogen and fuel cells.  The IEA Implementing Agreement on Advanced Fuel Cells is represented in the event’s organisation team.  Visit the conference website.

• 10th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, Amsterdam (the Netherlands), 19-23 September 2010. This tenth conference in the series organised by the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG) will provide a platform for fruitful discussions on finding opportunities to implement greenhouse gas mitigation technologies and to overcome the barriers to applying these technologies. Visit the conference website.

• 8th International Conference on System Simulation in Buildings, Liege (Belgium), 13-15 December 2010.  Organised by the Thermodynamics Laboratory and the Department of Environmental Sciences and Management of the University of Liege in close co-operation with the IEA Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems Programme (IEA-ECBCS), this event will enable researchers and specialists in buildings and in heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems simulation to present papers and discuss the latest developments. Visit the conference website.