ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: The ideas expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily represent views of the OECD, the IEA, or their member countries, or the endorsement of any approach described herein.

Description / Table of Contents: Increased focus has been placed on the issues of energy access and energy poverty over the last number of years, most notably indicated by the United Nations (UN) declaring 2012 as the “International Year of Sustainable Energy for All”. Although attention in these topics has increased, incorrect assumptions and misunderstandings still arise in both the literature and dialogues. Access to energy does not only include electricity, does not only include cook stoves, but must include access to all types of energy that form the overall energy system. This paper chooses to examine this energy system using a typology that breaks it into 3 primary energy subsystems: heat energy, electricity and transportation. Describing the global energy system using these three subsystems provides a way to articulate the differences and similarities for each system’s required investments needs by the private and public sectors.

Description / Table of Contents: Integrating electricity markets across regions is vital both for the integration of renewable energies and to control production and distribution costs. But cross-border electricity trade continues to be perceived as potentially risky to security of electricity supply. In response, this report suggests the need for strong co-ordination of electricity security regulatory frameworks across jurisdictions. Based on the experience of International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries, this paper identifies two ways to integrate markets over wider geographic areas. The straightforward solution is to consolidate markets and system operations. For instance, merging system operators ensures that the same rules for electricity system security apply across all consolidated control areas. When this is not feasible, because of institutional barriers, co-ordinating markets and system operations can be improved One key finding of this report is that the integration of electricity security rules often lags behind integration the integration of markets themselves. This hinders the further developments needed to accommodate renewables. Governments can work together to coordinate electricity security regulations and develop the seamless power markets needed to attain decarbonisation targets.

Description / Table of Contents: Ensuring energy security has been at the centre of the IEA mission since its inception, following the oil crises of the early 1970s. While the security of oil supplies remains important, contemporary energy security policies must address all energy sources and cover a a comprehensive range of natural, economic and political risks that affect energy sources, infrastructures and services. In response to this challenge, the IEA is currently developing a Model Of Short-term Energy Security (MOSES) to evaluate the energy security risks and resilience capacities of its member countries. The current version of MOSES covers short-term security of supply for primary energy sources and secondary fuels among IEA countries. It also lays the foundation for analysis of vulnerabilities of electricity and end-use energy sectors. MOSES contains a novel approach to analysing energy security, which can be used to identify energy security priorities, as a starting point for national energy security assessments and to track the evolution of a country’s energy security profile. By grouping together countries with similar “energy security profiles”, MOSES depicts the energy security landscape of IEA countries. By extending the MOSES methodology to electricity security and energy services in the future, the IEA aims to develop a comprehensive policy-relevant perspective on global energy security. Ensuring energy security has been at the centre of the IEA mission since its inception, following the oil crises of the early 1970s. While the security of oil supplies remains important, contemporary energy security policies must address all energy sources and cover a a comprehensive range of natural, economic and political risks that affect energy sources, infrastructures and services. In response to this challenge, the IEA is currently developing a Model Of Short-term Energy Security (MOSES) to evaluate the energy security risks and resilience capacities of its member countries. The current version of MOSES covers short-term security of supply for primary energy sources and secondary fuels among IEA countries. It also lays the foundation for analysis of vulnerabilities of electricity and end-use energy sectors. MOSES contains a novel approach to analysing energy security, which can be used to identify energy security priorities, as a starting point for national energy security assessments and to track the evolution of a country’s energy security profile. By grouping together countries with similar “energy security profiles”, MOSES depicts the energy security landscape of IEA countries. By extending the MOSES methodology to electricity security and energy services in the future, the IEA aims to develop a comprehensive policy-relevant perspective on global energy security. This Working Paper is intended for readers who wish to explore the MOSES methodology in depth; there is also a brochure which provides an overview of the analysis and results.

Description / Table of Contents: Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) is the International Energy Agency’s most ambitious publication on new developments in energy technology. It demonstrates how technologies – from electric vehicles to smart grids – can make a decisive difference in achieving the objective of limiting the global temperature rise to 2°C and enhancing energy security. ETP 2012 presents scenarios and strategies to 2050, with the aim of guiding decision makers on energy trends and what needs to be done to build a clean, secure and competitive energy future. ETP 2012 shows: • Current progress on clean energy deployment, and what can be done to accelerate it • How energy security and low carbon energy are linked • How energy systems will become more complex in the future, why systems integration is beneficial and how it can be achieved • How demand for heating and cooling will evolve dramatically and which solutions will satisfy it • Why flexible electricity systems are increasingly important, and how a system with smarter grids, energy storage and flexible generation can work • Why hydrogen could play a big role in the energy system of the future • Why fossil fuels will not disappear but will see their roles change, and what it means for the energy system as a whole • What is needed to realise the potential of carbon capture and storage (CCS) • Whether available technologies can allow the world to have zero energy related emissions by 2075 – which seems a necessary condition for the world to meet the 2°C target

Description / Table of Contents: This paper reviews key design features of mandatory emissions trading systems that had been established or were under consideration in 2010, with a particular focus on implications for the energy sector. Putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions is a cornerstone policy in climate change mitigation. To this end, many countries have implemented or are developing domestic emissions trading systems.

Description / Table of Contents: Electricity use is growing worldwide, providing a range of energy services: lighting, heating and cooling, specific industrial uses, entertainment, information technologies, and mobility. Because its generation remains largely based on fossil fuels, electricity is also the largest and the fastest-growing source of energy-related CO2 emissions, the primary cause of human-induced climate change. Forecasts from the IEA and others show that “decarbonising” electricity and enhancing end-use efficiency can make major contributions to the fight against climate change. Global and regional trends on electricity supply and demand indicate the magnitude of the decarbonisation challenge ahead. As climate concerns become an essential component of energy policy-making, the generation and use of electricity will be subject to increasingly strong policy actions by governments to reduce their associated CO2 emissions. Despite these actions, and despite very rapid growth in renewable energy generation, significant technology and policy challenges remain if this unprecedented essential transition is to be achieved. The IEA Climate and Electricity Annual 2011 provides an authoritative resource on progress to date in this area, with statistics related to CO2 and the electricity sector across ten regions of the world. It also presents topical analyses on meeting the challenge of rapidly curbing CO2 emissions from electricity, from both a policy and technology perspective.

Description / Table of Contents: This article assesses the long-term economic and climatic effects of introducing price caps and price floors in hypothetical global climate change mitigation policy. Based on emission trends, abatement costs and equilibrium climate sensitivity from IPCC and IEA reports, this quantitative analysis confirms that price caps could significantly reduce economic uncertainty. This uncertainty stems primarily from unpredictable economic growth and energy prices, and ultimately unabated emission trends. In addition, the development of abatement technologies is uncertain. Furthermore,this analysis shows that rigid targets may entail greater economic risks with little or no comparative advantage for the climate. More ambitious emission objectives, combined with price caps and price floors, could still entail significantly lower expected costs while driving similar, or even slightly better, climatic outcomes in probabilistic terms.

Description / Table of Contents: This paper first reviews proposals for the design of sectoral and related market mechanisms currently debated, both in the UNFCCC negotiations, and in different domestic legislative contexts. Secondly, it addresses the possible principles and technical requirements that Parties may wish to consider as the foundations for further elaboration of the mechanisms. The third issue explored herein is domestic implementation of sectoral market mechanisms by host countries, incentives to move to new market mechanisms, as well as how the transition between current and future mechanisms could be managed.

Description / Table of Contents: Coal Mine Methane in China