1. Free choice for electricity customers - new IEA co-operation on demand response.
2. Getting renewables into the mainstream.
3. Saving electricity in a hurry - strategies for reducing power demand fast.
4. New IEA Hydrogen Co-ordinating Group meets.

5. Upcoming Events

- Futurestock 2003 - 9th International Conference on Thermal Energy Storage - Warsaw (Poland), 1-4 September, 2003.
- 3rd International Methane & Nitrous Oxide Mitigation Conference, Beijing (China), 14-19 September 2003.
- Coal - contributing to sustainable world development - 12th International Conference on Coal Science - Cairns, Queensland (Australia), 2- 6 November, 2003.

6. Publications and websites:

Trends in energy efficiency - ten years of international photovoltaics collaboration - findings of recent IEA work - solar energy building applications in IEA Countries - energy policies in Hungary and Ireland - Eurelectric Annual Conference.

7. Awards

Danish nominee receives Solar Heating & Cooling Programme's First Solar Award.

1. Free choice for electricity customers - new IEA co-operation on demand response. Designing a model for a turnkey demand-response infrastructure will be the task of a new project conducted internationally under the IEA's Implementing Agreement on Demand Side Management Technologies (DSM). The plan to initiate this work, which includes technology infrastructure design, was recently announced jointly by the IEA DSM programme and the US-based Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA). Co-ordination of the project, involving up to 10 participating countries, will be handled by PLMA. See announcement of next steps and background information.

The IEA Demand-Side Management programme has also recently initiated market-driven initiatives on: energy use, metering and pricing for demand management delivery; and the impact of energy standards on greenhouse gas reduction. See the programme's main website.

2. Renewable Energy …. into the Mainstream

For the past twenty-five years, the development of renewable energy has focused mostly on technology R&D. More recently, market experience has been growing, and further technical and cost improvements have resulted. Through that process, renewable energy technologies have become increasingly competitive, and are now on the threshold of large-scale markets. To raise awareness of the technological progress and economic and environmental value of renewables, the IEA Renewable Energy Working Party has sponsored the publication "Renewable Energy...into the Mainstream". This provides an overview of current technology status and market advances. It reviews renewables' benefits and potential in both IEA and non-IEA countries and provides pointers for getting renewables firmly established as a mainstream energy option. Click to download.

3. Saving electricity in a hurry - strategies for reducing power demand fast. Strategies for effective action to address temporary shortfalls in power supply were the theme of an IEA workshop in Paris on 19-20 June 2003. Participants from around the world shared recent experience and lessons learned. Remedial measures were studied from every angle. See workshop summary and presentations on the IEA's website.

4. New IEA Hydrogen Co-ordination Group meets.
If today's promising technologies for hydrogen and fuel cells are to contribute fully to creating a more sustainable energy sector tomorrow, governments need to work together on a well integrated strategy. To facilitate this, the IEA's Executive Director has formed the IEA Hydrogen Co-ordination Group (HCG) to support and enhance co-operation among IEA Member countries and speed hydrogen and fuel cell RD&D and infrastructure deployment. This Group met for the first time at IEA Headquarters in Paris on 18-19 June. See our summary of the proceedings. See also the summary and background information on IEA's March 2003 workshop Toward Hydrogen.

For more on IEA's collaborative R&D programmes on hydrogen and fuel cells, see the International Energy Agency Hydrogen Programme and the IEA Advanced Fuel Cells Implementing Agreement. They are among more than forty operating within the Agency's framework for international energy technology collaboration.

5. Upcoming Events

• Futurestock 2003 - 9th International Conference on Thermal Energy Storage - Warsaw (Poland), 1-4 September, 2003. Organised with participation from the IEA Implementing Agreement on Energy Conservation through Energy Storage, this 9th conference in the series is aimed at researchers, engineers and policy-makers active in thermal energy storage science and engineering. On the agenda: presentations on the latest scientific research, professional practice and individual experiences, lectures, roundtable discussions. For the conference announcement: http://www.itc.pw.edu.pl/futurestock/
  
  
• 3rd International Methane & Nitrous Oxide Mitigation Conference, Beijing (China), 14-19 September 2003. Designed for project developers, government officials, representatives from industry, and the financial, scientific, engineering and NGO communities, this event is co-sponsored by the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme. See the Programme's website for further information: http://www.ieagreen.org.uk/

• Coal - Contributing to Sustainable World Development - 12th International Conference on Coal Science, Cairns, Queensland (Australia), 2- 6 November, 2003. Organised jointly by the IEA, the IEA Clean Coal Centre and the hosts, the Australian Institute of Energy, this event will offer a broad technical program of plenary lectures and oral and poster presentations on advances in coal science. Also on the agenda are tours of major export, mining, and research facilities in Queensland and Southern Australia. For more information: http://www.aie.org.au/iccs/.

• The Road Towards an Energy-Efficient Future - Progress Report on the Implementation of the Energy-Related Decisions of the Aarhus Conference. Compiled in co-operation with IEA energy indicators analysts, this input to the Fifth Ministerial Conference Environment for Europe (Kiev, May 2003) was submitted to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) by the Energy Charter Secretariat. The report can be downloaded from the UNECE website.
  
  
• Photovoltaic Power Systems, Past, Present and Future - International Conference, Osaka (Japan), May 2003. This event marked ten years of successful international collaboration within the IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme. Participants reviewed achievements to date and defined the Programme's future mission. To access the conference papers, click into the Programme's website.
  
  
  
• Findings of Recent IEA Work, 2003 - A sampling of the IEA work under the headings of: Security of Supply and Energy Markets; Energy Diversification and Efficiency; Energy Technology; Environment and Climate Change; and Energy in the Wider World. This publication can be downloaded.
  
  

• Solar Energy Activities in IEA Countries 2002. This eighth edition from the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (SHC) reports on the status of solar building technologies, funding levels, research, technology advances and commercial developments in 14 IEA countries. The report can be downloaded. Click here to learn more about the SHC Programme.
  
  
• Energy Policies of IEA Countries - Hungary 2003 Review. A recent addition to the IEA's series of peer reviews of energy policies in Member countries. Click to learn more and order.
  
  
• Energy Policies of IEA Countries - Ireland 2003 Review. Another recent addition to the IEA's series of peer reviews of energy policies in Member countries. Click to learn more and order.
  
  
• Highlights from the June 2003 Eurelectric Annual Conference, The Big Bang - Energy and EU Enlargement, Prague (Czech Republic) are accessible on Eurelectric's website. This two-day event studied the challenges and opportunities associated with an enlarged EU energy market from the political, economic and business angles.

Danish nominee receives Solar Heating & Cooling Programme's First Solar Award. At a ceremony in Göteborg (Sweden) in June, Torben Esbensen of Esbensen Consultants A/S of Denmark was presented with the first IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme Award for outstanding leadership and achievements.

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