1. India intensifies collaboration with IEA
2. Energy-efficient appliances - proposed new IEA co-operation
3. Getting the most from bioenergy
4. Photovoltaics and finance
5. Science as energy technology’s facilitator

• Ocean energy technologies
• Energy Technology Data Exchange
• Newsletters from IEA programmes
• Air infiltration and ventilation
• Renewables in global energy supply
• Coal developments in 2005/06

• Petrochemicals industry sustainability
• IEA's focus on Asia Pacific
• Energy policies in IEA countries
• Spotlight on Greece
• Fuel combustion CO₂ emissions data
• IEA year-2005 publications now free

• IEA Workshop Using Long-Term Scenarios for R&D Priority-Setting, IEA Headquarters, Paris (France), 15-16 February 2007.

• IEA NEET Initiative Workshop (Networks of Expertise in Energy Technology), Johannesburg (South Africa), 20-22 February 2007.

• Workshop CFL Quality and Strategies to Phase-out Incandescent Lamps, Paris (France), 26 February 2007.

• Kick-Off Meeting: IEA's new International CHP Collaborative, Paris (France), 2 March 2007.

• Climate Technology Initiative Industry Joint Seminar: Successful Cases of Technology Transfer in Asian Countries, New Delhi (India), 7-8 March 2007.

• Workshop on the Proposal for a New Implementing Agreement: Deployment of Efficient Electrical End-Use Equipment and Appliances, Paris (France), 9 March 2007.

• Workshop Accelerating the Deployment of Renewable Energy, Paris (France), 15 March 2007.

• CTI/UNIDO Joint Seminar: Small-Scale Industrial Energy Efficiency Projects in CDM and JI, Vienna (Austria), 19-20 March 2007.

• Future Buildings Forum Think Tank Workshop on Future Sustainable Buildings and Communities, Espoo ( Finland), 21-22 March 2007.

• Workshop Accelerated Materials Discovery for Energy Storage and Conversion Devices, Oxford (United Kingdom), 2-4 April 2007.

• International Workshop Biomass Supply Issues and Solutions, Bregenz (Austria), 14–16 May 2007.

• Third International Conference on Clean Coal Technologies for our Future, Cagliari, Sardinia (Italy), 15-17 May 2007.

• IEA/CSLF Assessment Workshop on Near-Term Opportunities for Carbon Capture and Storage, Oslo (Norway), 21-22 June 2007.

• International Workshop Energy Efficient Set-Top Boxes & Digital Networks, Paris (France), 4-6 July 2007.

• Conference Building Low Energy Cooling and Advanced Ventilation Technologies in the 21st Century, Aghia Pelaghia, Crete (Greece), 27-29 September 2007.

1. India intensifies collaboration with IEA. The Indian government recently became a contracting party to two IEA Implementing Agreement international energy technology R&D programmes. These deal respectively with electricity demand-side management and with reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use. The signing ceremony took place in New Delhi on 22 January in the presence of R.V. Shahi, Secretary, India's Ministry of Power, and Claude Mandil, IEA's Executive Director. Mr. Mandil has welcomed these developments as "important steps forward in partnerships between India and the IEA's energy technology community".
The two IEA programmes India has joined are the IEA Demand-Side Management Programme (IEA DSM) and the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG). Hans Nilsson, IEA DSM Executive Committee Chair, outlines here the mutual benefits of India's new collaboration with IEA DSM. Harry Audus, IEA GHG General Manager, comments here on IEA GHG's new phase in collaboration with India.
Consult also the press release from the Indian Ministry of Power and Claude Mandil's presentation at the New Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, 22-24 January.
IEA DSM and IEA GHG are among more than forty international energy technology R&D programmes within the IEA’s collaborative framework. To enhance awareness of these IEA energy technology research, development and deployment efforts and facilitate broader participation, the IEA's NEET Initiative is linking with the international business community, with policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders in many countries around the world.

2. Energy-efficient appliances - proposed new IEA co-operation. In terms of high potential and low cost, boosting energy efficiency is hard to beat in the emissions reduction race. There is plenty of scope for action. Household appliances, for example, account for 30% of all electricity consumed in OECD countries and 21% of all energy-related CO₂ emissions. Current projections see such appliances consuming 25% more electricity in 2020 than today. Fortunately, government policies can greatly improve the outlook. Responding to the need for concerted action, IEA members are planning to launch a new international collaboration to support best practice and effective policy approaches for getting more energy-efficient appliances into the market. Building on many years of IEA investigation and analysis, this international programme would serve as a forum for research and exchange of information. A workshop in Paris on 9 March 2007 will bring together interested parties. Click to access the programme proposal and information on the workshop (see also below).

3. Getting the most from bioenergy. Uses of bioenergy range from burning firewood to sophisticated methods for turning organic matter into gas or refining biofuels to fuel vehicles. Co-firing of coal with a modest input of biomass in coal-fired power plants is proving economical and effective in reducing CO₂ emissions. While biomass has the potential to provide up to 20% of primary energy supply by 2050, the IEA projects that its share in electricity production is expected to rise from a current 1.3% to only 3%-5% by mid-century. What will be needed to bridge the gap? And can bioenergy resources be stretched to meet both power generation and transportation needs simultaneously? The OPEN Bulletin put these and other key questions on the future of bioenergy to Dr. Kyriakos Maniatis, Executive Committee Chair of IEA Bioenergy. Click to access the interview. IEA has recently published two new briefs in its Energy Technology Essentials series: Biomass for Power Generation and CHP and Biofuel Production.

4. Photovoltaics and finance. In the current quest for the most rational mix of climate-friendly energy solutions, solar photovoltaic power (PV) systems are gaining ground. Cumulative installed capacity is growing at a steady 40% each year. But, as with any high-profile technology, some big questions arise. Can today’s PV technology deliver on its promises? Could the ‘PV bubble’ burst? Where do the risks and opportunities lie? To enable financiers and PV players to come up with some answers together, an investment workshop was recently organised in Switzerland under the banner of the IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS). Click to access the workshop report and the workshop presentations.

5. Science as energy technology’s facilitator. How will thermo- and bio-chemical processes help create bioenergy more efficiently? Are biotechnology and nano-technology making solar energy more cost-effective? Which scientific advances are leading to carbon-free hydrogen production, storage and use? What is science doing to help lower costs and risks in capturing and storing CO₂? Such questions are among many dealt with by the IEA’s Ad Hoc Group on Science and Energy Technology (AHGSET). This international group works to call attention to success stories where science is leading to energy technology breakthroughs (see OPEN Bulletin Issue No. 32). A workshop being organised with AHGSET's collaboration for 2-4 April in Oxford (United Kingdom) will focus on one such area: Accelerated Materials Discovery for Energy Storage and Conversion Devices (see below). The AHGSET’s new brochure Science for Today’s Energy Challenges describes the group’s work on forging stronger linkages between science and R&D in the energy field. It presents profiles of cutting-edge work in progress and offers a reassuring glimpse into a future where scientific discovery could trigger developments undreamed of today. Download the brochure from IEA’s website.

• Review and Analysis of Ocean Energy Systems Development and Supporting Policies. This new report from IEA's Implementing Agreement on Ocean Energy Systems (IEA OES) updates on technology development for harnessing this vast energy source, on relevant policies and support mechanisms, on services and facilities, on barriers to progress and on possible solutions. Download the report from the IEA OES website.

• Additional resources for ETDE's distributed search. The IEA's Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDE) Distributed Search tool now has four additional sources: research projects in the European Union's CORDIS system, IEA's own information centre, the Danish Energy R&D projects database and the Institut Français du Petrole (IFP). ETDE's resources now provide single-search access to 43 deep web databases and over 1700 websites. ETDEWEB, ETDE's main store of information, comprises almost 3.8 million citations and hundreds of thousands of links to full text documents. ETDEWEB is available to its member countries, within the IEA, and to over 50 developing countries worldwide. Visit ETDE's website.

• Technology newsletters from IEA's international collaborative programmes:
- AMFI Newsletter, Issue No. 1/2007, January 2007, from the IEA Advanced Motor Fuels Implementing Agreement
- IEA Bioenergy News, Volume 18 #2, December 2006.
- Spotlight - December 2006 - newsletter from the IEA Demand-Side Management Programme.
- IEA PVPS Programme PV Power, Issue No. 25, October 2006.
- Solar Update No. 46, December 2006, from IEA Solar Heating & Cooling Programme.

• The Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC) now offers free online access to AIVC publications and databases for Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the United States. AIVC operates under the IEA Implementing Agreement on Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems (ECBCS), one of some 40 international energy technology R&D programmes within IEA's collaborative framework. Visit the AIVC website.

• Renewables in Global Energy Supply - An IEA Fact Sheet. This expanded 2007 edition updates the statistics but also draws on IEA analysis to categorise renewable energy technologies according to maturity, pointing to corresponding RD&D priorities and highlighting the importance of RD&D expenditure. IEA's new publication looks at the role of renewables in various IEA scenarios up to 2030 and to 2050. It demonstrates that including a large share of renewables in total primary energy supply is an affordable and effective way of addressing energy supply and climate challenges. Download free from IEA's website.

• International Coal Market & Policy Developments in 2005/2006. This latest annual publication from the Coal Industry Advisory Board (CIAB) describes developments in international coal markets over the past year. It highlights policy and other issues viewed by CIAB Members as pertinent to the development of coal as a secure, clean and competitive energy source. Download free from the CIAB's website. Consult also the IEA Secretariat's paper Focus on Clean Coal.

• Findings from the workshop Feedstock Substitutes, Energy Efficient Technology and CO₂ Reduction for Petrochemical Products, Paris, 12-13 December 2006. Organised in collaboration with the European Chemical Industry Council, this workshop explored energy efficiency and CO₂ emissions levels in the chemical and petrochemical industry (which account for 30% of total global industrial final energy use) and sought to identify potential for improvement. Download the report.

• Focus on Asia Pacific - a wealth of IEA books, papers, statistics and other information items covering the Asia Pacific region. Much of the material is downloadable free of charge. Download from IEA's website.

• Energy Policies of IEA Countries - 2006 Review. IEA's most recent annual look at developments in energy policies in member countries. Visit the IEA's Online Bookshop.

• Energy Policies of IEA Countries - Greece - 2006 Review. The latest review of energy policies in individual IEA countries. Visit the IEA's Online Bookshop.

• CO₂ Emissions from Fuel Combustion 1971-2004. The data in this book aims to enhance understanding of how CO₂ emissions evolved from 1971 to 2004 in more than 140 countries and regions, by sector and by fuel. Visit the IEA's Online Bookshop.

• IEA year-2005 publications now free. In addition to its many free publications and papers, IEA offers pdfs of its Bookshop publications for free download two calendar years after release. Pdfs of IEA's 2005 publications are now free (exceptions: World Energy Outlook and IEA statistical books). Visit IEA's website.

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Readers can claim this discount by e-mail when ordering through the IEA Bookshop's on-line order system.

• IEA Workshop Using Long-Term Scenarios for R&D Priority-Setting, IEA Headquarters, Paris (France), 15-16 February 2007. Convened jointly by the IEA Experts Group on R&D Priority-Setting and Evaluation and the IEA Secretariat, this workshop will focus on long-term energy scenarios and their use for setting R&D priorities. Experts are invited to share experience and provide input to feed into IEA’s Energy Technology Perspectives 2008 publication, which will report to the Japanese G8 presidency in 2008. The workshop will draw on hands-on experience in scenario-aided R&D priority-setting provided by invited key experts from governments, industry, academia and international organisations. For more information and invitations to this invitations-only workshop, contact jeppe.bjerg@iea.org.

•IEA NEET Initiative Workshop, Johannesburg (South Africa), 20-22 February 2007. As part of IEA's NEET Initiative (Networks of Expertise in Energy Technology), this workshop will present the activities and achievements of selected IEA “Implementing Agreement” R&D programmes and the work of the Agency’s international energy technology network. Participants will be key stakeholders in South Africa, including members of the business and financial communities, policy makers, researchers and other players. The purpose of this high-profile event will be to enhance awareness of existing research, development and deployment networks and to facilitate broader participation. For more information about this invitations-only event, please consult IEA’s website and contact Alexandra.Niez@iea.org.

• Workshop CFL Quality and Strategies to Phase-out Incandescent Lamps, Paris (France), 26 February 2007. This workshop will aim to provide an open forum through which stakeholders can come together to accelerate the replacement of incandescent lighting with higher efficiency alternatives. It will directly contribute to the definition of best practice policy responses towards incandescent lighting. Visit IEA's website.

• Kick-Off Meeting: IEA's new International CHP Collaborative. Paris, 2 March 2007. This event will bring together over 50 experts from the CHP industry, district energy industry, governments and other organisations who will provide input to the Agency's new initiative to raise the profile of combined heat and power (CHP) and district energy as clean energy solutions. This work is part of IEA's overall effort to promote more efficient use of energy (see OPEN Bulletin No. 39). The initiative involves collecting international data, performing analysis to quantify the benefits of advanced CHP/district energy deployment, and collecting and sharing information about best practice approaches to advance these technologies. Visit IEA's website.

• Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) Industry Joint Seminar: Successful Cases of Technology Transfer in Asian Countries, New Delhi (India), 7-8 March 2007. Organised by the CTI in co-operation with the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and supported by the International Center for Environmental Technology Transfer (ICETT), this seminar will aim to encourage transfer of renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies and knowledge, also to strengthen regional linkages and partnerships. Consult CTI's website. CTI is one of some 40 international energy technology R&D programmes within IEA's collaborative framework.

• Workshop on the Proposal for new Implementing Agreement: Deployment of Efficient Electrical End-Use Equipment and Appliances, Paris, (France), 9 March 2007. The purpose of this workshop is to offer interested parties an early opportunity to discuss the principal aims and tasks of this new Implementing Agreement and to define priority areas of work. The outcomes of the workshop will feed into the draft document on scope and research areas of the proposed IEA Implementing Agreement. See above. Visit IEA's Website.

• Workshop Accelerating the Deployment of Renewable Energy, Paris (France), 15 March 2007. Organised by the IEA Renewable Energy Working Party, the IEA Implementing Agreement on Renewable Energy Technology Deployment and the IEA's Renewable Energy Unit, this event will focus on how to carry deployment efforts forward and on encouraging dialogue between the public and private sectors. Visit IEA's website.

• CTI/UNIDO Joint Seminar: Small-Scale Industrial Energy Efficiency Projects in CDM and JI, Vienna (Austria), 19-20 March 2007. Organised in co-operation with UNIDO and UK Trade and Investment, this seminar will bring together experts from OECD nations and countries of Central and Eastern European/Commonwealth of Independent States to examine issues relevant to the transfer of climate-friendly industrial technology. Consult the Climate Technology Initiative's website.

• Future Buildings Forum Think Tank Workshop on Future Sustainable Buildings and Communities, Espoo (Finland), 21-22 March 2007. Organised jointly by a number of IEA Implementing Agreement technology programmes, this workshop will aim to identify R&D needs and new business opportunities within the area of sustainable buildings and communities. Expected outcomes will be a vision and a roadmap for appropriate energy systems and their most important components. Consult the announcement. For more information and invitations to this invitations-only event, contact Markku Virtanen.

• Workshop Accelerated Materials Discovery for Energy Storage and Conversion Devices, Oxford (United Kingdom), 2-4 April 2007. This event is sponsored and organised by the UK Energy Research Centre's (UKERC) Meeting Place, in collaboration with the IEA CERT Ad Hoc Group on Science and Energy Technologies (AHGSET - see above), the UKERC Materials Theme and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. Its aim is to explore the state of the art on solid state ionics, identify the critical materials discoveries essential for rapid deployment of electrochemical storage and conversion devices, and explore the theoretical and experimental tools needed to speed the pace. Visit IEA's website.

• International Workshop Biomass Supply Issues and Solutions, Bregenz (Austria), 14–16 May 2007. Organised jointly by Task 29 of IEA Bioenergy, the Land Vorarlberg and Energieinstitut Vorarlberg, this event will provide an opportunity for specialists and non-specialists to learn and participate in exchanges to promote understanding of the complex social and economic interactions between bioenergy and communities. Visit the website of IEA Bioenergy's Task 29 on Socio-Economic Drivers in Implementing Bioenergy Projects. IEA Bioenergy is one of some 40 international energy technology R&D programmes within IEA's collaborative framework.

• Third International Conference on Clean Coal Technologies for our Future, Cagliari, Sardinia (Italy), 15-17 May 2007. The move towards zero-emissions coal-fired power plants is gathering momentum. Co-organised by the IEA Clean Coal Centre, this Clean Coal Technologies event will build on the success of its previous May 2005 conference in Cagliari, taking further the debate underlying important decisions the coal industry must take for our future. Visit the conference website.

• IEA/CSLF Assessment Workshop on Near-Term Opportunities for Carbon Capture and Storage, Oslo (Norway), 21-22 June 2007. This workshop is the second in a three-workshop series responding to a G8 request and organised by IEA and the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum. It will assess the issues raised at the August 2006 San Francisco workshop Near-Term Opportunities for CO₂ Capture and Storage in the Fossil Fuel Sector. A third workshop, to be announced, will focus on recommendations to help accelerate development and commercialisation of carbon capture and storage. To learn more about these workshops, contact Jacek Podkanski at IEA.

• International Workshop Energy Efficient Set-Top Boxes & Digital Networks, Paris (France), 4-6 July 2007. Design criteria for these products must embrace low power requirements and now is the time to ensure that the right protocols and standards are in place. Hosted by IEA in conjunction with the International Task Force for Sustainable Products (ITFSP), this workshop will bring together stakeholders to share information on current developments in technologies, standards and policies, and to decide on the key elements for future activities. Visit IEA's website.

• Conference Building Low Energy Cooling and Advanced Ventilation Technologies in the 21st Century, Aghia Pelaghia, Crete (Greece), 27-29 September 2007. Co-organised by IEA's Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC) as its 28th conference, this event aims to cover all aspects of technology and building design dealing with ventilation and passive cooling techniques. AIVC is part of the IEA Programme on Energy Conservation in Buildings & Community Systems (ECBCS). Consult the conference website.