1. Tradable Renewable Energy Certificates – working collaboratively to boost the market
2. Reducing oil use in transportation
3. Energy efficiency in transition economies
4. Climate Technology Initiative established as IEA Implementing Agreement

5. Upcoming Events

• 3rd International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting (EEDAL’03), Turin (Italy), 1-3 October 2003.
• Economies in Transition, the IEA and Renewable Energy - Public Information Event - Budapest (Hungary), 13 October, 2003.
• Coal - contributing to sustainable world development - 12th International Conference on Coal Science - Cairns, Queensland (Australia), 2- 6 November, 2003.
• International Workshop on Saving Energy in Set-Top Boxes, IEA Headquarters, Paris (France), 20-21 November 2003.
• Zero Emissions Technologies: Fossil Fuels for Sustainable Development, IEA Asia Pacific Conference, Gold Coast, Queensland (Australia), 17-19 February, 2004.
• 7th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, Vancouver (Canada), 2-9 September 2004.

6. Publications and websites:

Demand Response in liberalised electricity markets – Expanded IEA Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDE) website – Project Broker for greenhouse-gas mitigating technology - Photovoltaics performance and markets - Renewables Information (2003) - Key World Energy Statistics (2003) - IEA statistical updates on natural gas, oil and IEA non-member countries – Energy policies in Switzerland – Out soon: IEA World Energy Investment Outlook 2003.

1. Tradable Renewable Energy Certificates – working collaboratively to boost the market. In co-operation with the European network TRECKIN, the IEA has just launched a website (http://www.trecnet.org/) to provide a forum for developing knowledge on Tradable Renewable Energy Certificates (TRECs). The Renewable Energy Certification Expert Network (TRECNET) features a broad base of information on trading systems in place and under development, as well as an on-line expert discussion group for sharing experience. TRECNET is expected to act as a catalyst for certificate trading and the development of trade schemes. It will notably support seminars and conferences dealing with TREC issues and create links between partners around the globe. TRECNET is run by a world-wide network of committed participants. Membership is open to organisations anywhere in the world.

2. Reducing oil use in transportation. Transport’s share in oil use is likely to account for virtually all growth in oil consumption in OECD countries between 2000 and 2030. Energy use in transport is likely to soar by 50% over that period, and so are CO2 emissions. Long-term vision is needed to tackle transport’s threat to environment and sustainability, but short-term action is also needed to lessen current dependence on imported energy. Market failures have thwarted widespread introduction of more fuel-efficient motors using current technologies. Advanced technologies for using hydrogen, electricity and renewables-derived biofuels demand further costly development. What can be done? An IEA study, Transport Technologies and Policies for Energy Security and CO2 Reductions, examines the challenges and options. It identifies short, medium, and long-term strategies enabling government, the motor industry and vehicle drivers to co-operate on accelerating progress towards a more sustainable transport system. Click to download.

3. Energy efficiency in transition economies. Potential energy savings in Central Europe are estimated at more than 20% of total current final energy consumption. The IEA has developed a portfolio of activities to help economies in transition introduce market-oriented, energy-efficient policies. More efficient energy technologies have a greater impact if combined with programmes for deploying them and measures to ensure rational markets. And greater energy efficiency promises not only improved energy security and climate protection, but also enhanced business competitiveness and consumer welfare. To learn more about IEA’s approaches and activities in this area, consult the Agency’s paper Energy Efficiency in Economies in Transition (EITs): A Policy Priority.
The IEA is a participant and co-sponsor in a European programme to curb energy demand from household appliances in these countries, Central and Eastern European Countries Appliance Policy (CEECAP).
Meanwhile, the Agency’s initiative on improving energy efficiency in District Heating in Transition Economies seeks to identify priorities and the most appropriate policy approaches.
Consult also the website of IEA’s Office of Non-Member Countries and its newsletter.

4. Climate Technology Initiative established as IEA Implementing Agreement. Building on its existing links with the IEA, the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) has recently become one of the IEA’s Implementing Agreements, joining some forty other programmes within the IEA’s Framework for International Energy Technology Co-operation. The CTI’s mandate is to foster international co-operation for accelerated development and diffusion of climate-friendly technologies and practices. Its participants undertake a broad range of co-operative activities in partnership with developing and transition countries, the UNFCCC, and other international bodies. The CTI’s new status as an IEA Implementing Agreement will serve to consolidate the participants’ commitment to greater outreach to IEA non-member countries. Current participating countries are Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States. New participants are welcome. More information about the CTI Implementing Agreement, and about participating in its activities, can be obtained from the Chairman of its Executive Committee: seki-shigetaka@meti.go.jp.

5. Upcoming Events

• 3rd International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting (EEDAL’03), Turin (Italy), 1-3 October 2003. Key representatives from government, international organisations, industry and academia will up-date on the energy and environmental impact of residential appliances and lighting, on policies adopted and planned, and on technical and commercial advances in dissemination and penetration of more energy-efficient technology. The conference is organised by the European Commission and SOFTECH, in collaboration with the United Nations, the International Energy Agency and the Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP). For further information, click here. Contact: alan.meier@iea.org.
  
  
• Economies in Transition, the IEA and Renewable Energy - Public Information Event - Budapest (Hungary), 13 October, 2003. Organised by the Hungarian Ministry of Economy and Transport, the Energy Centre Hungary and the International Energy Agency’s Renewable Energy Working Party, this event will provide a forum for scrutiny of current policies, strategies and technology status, as well as prospects for the future. Taking a detailed look at all types of renewable energy and how their deployment is advancing, the gathering will seek to identify ways of encouraging wider deployment. See IEA’s website. To learn more and register, please contact: Public Information Event Secretariat at the Energy Centre Hungary, Ms. Viktória Csorba (viktoria.csorba@energycentre.hu).
  
  
• 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. Click here for more information.
  
  
• International Workshop on Saving Energy in Set-Top Boxes, IEA Headquarters, Paris (France), 20-21 November 2003. Design improvements in TV-connected and other set-top boxes, including converters and decoders, could generate large energy savings. Bringing together manufacturers, service providers and representatives from government energy offices, this event will seek to establish an informal agreement among the various players to ensure effective and consistent efficiency programmes. For more information, see IEA website. Contact: alan.meier@iea.org.
  
  
• Zero Emissions Technologies: Fossil Fuels for Sustainable Development, IEA Asia Pacific Conference, Gold Coast, Queensland (Australia), 17-19 February, 2004. This event will explore the viability, development and deployment of zero emissions technologies for fossil fuels, and their potential as part of a portfolio of cleaner energy options for the Asia Pacific region. Organised by the IEA Working Party on Fossil Fuels, with support from the United Nations, IEA member countries, the Australian and Queensland Governments and the United States Department of Energy, it will bring together players from government, environmental bodies and non-governmental organisations. Click here for the brochure and registration form.
  
  
• 7th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 September 2004. Organised by the University of Regina and Natural Resources Canada, in co-operation with the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEAGHG), this conference will provide a forum for the discussion of the latest advances in the field of greenhouse gas control technologies, including capture, storage and utilisation of carbon dioxide (CO2). See IEAGHG Programme’s website.
  

• Demand Response, a new website created by the IEA Demand-Side Management Programme (DSM), tells about the Programme's work on ways to enable electricity demand in a liberalised market to respond to fluctuating electricity supply and prices. Costly power outages have recently highlighted the dangers of poor elasticity in electricity demand, often resulting from consumers' inability, or lack of motivation, to control that demand. A new IEA DSM task on Demand Response is in preparation and aims to identify remedies, including a turn-key Demand Response infrastructure model. The United States-based Peak Load Management Alliance, which is participating actively in shaping the new task, has hosted workshops as part of the preparations (see proceedings). See also press release on the role of demand response and distributed resources in addressing grid reliability issues. For more, visit the IEA DSM Programme's general website.
  
  
• Expanded IEA Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDE) website. Over 3 million bibliographic records and almost 100,000 full-text documents are now available in various energy-related areas on ETDEWEB. Launched in 2000, ETDEWEB now includes information from 1974 to the present (over 2 million additional historical records) on the environmental impact of energy production and use: climate change; energy R&D; energy policy; nuclear, coal, hydrocarbon and renewable energy technologies. ETDEWEB is the Internet version of the international database "Energy", the product of the IEA Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDE), an IEA Information Centre Implementing Agreement. ETDEWEB is accessible to participating countries at: http://www.etde.org/organization.html. Contact: cutlerd@osti.gov.
  
  
• IEA Greentie’s Project Broker. This free “middleman” service is for companies seeking suppliers of greenhouse-gas mitigating technology. Made available by the IEA Greenhouse Gas Technology Information Exchange (Greentie), the Project Broker searches among its list of close to 3000 suppliers to find the products that meet users’ specified requirements. The service covers: energy efficiency, renewable-energies and other technologies, consultancy, finance and project management.
  
  
• From the IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme, a number of publications, including some newly downloadable papers presented at the 3rd World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Osaka (Japan), May 2003:
  - Performance analysis and reliability of grid-connected PV-systems in IEA-countries;
  - Understanding temperature effect on PV system performance;
  - Subsidies versus rate-based incentives for technology, economical and market development of PV. The European experience;
  - Performance analysis of stand-alone PV-systems from rational use of energy point of view.
  Visit the IEA-PVPS website for these and many other reports and sets of statistics, also the Proceedings of the Programme’s tenth anniversary conference in Osaka in May 2003.
  
  
• Renewables Information (2003). Downloadable for free in PDF format, this is the latest edition of IEA’s annual publication providing comprehensive information on the use of renewables and waste in the OECD countries. The report addresses a need for development of reliable statistics on this energy form and seeks to increase understanding of the current market and trends over recent years. It contains analysis of renewables and waste energy supply, electricity production and installed electricity generating capacity. For free download, click here. Renewables statistical tables can also be accessed via the IEA’s renewables information database.
  
  
• Key World Energy Statistics (2003) – a free downloadable new volume from the IEA containing timely, clearly-presented data on the supply, transformation and consumption of all major energy sources.
  
  
• More IEA energy statistics publications are available now through IEA’s Online Bookshop: Natural Gas Information 2003; Oil Information 2003; Energy Statistics of Non-OECD Countries, 2000-2001; Energy Balances of Non-OECD Countries, 2000-2001.
  
  
• Energy Policies of IEA Countries – Switzerland 2003 Review. A recent addition to the IEA’s regular series of peer reviews of energy policies in member countries. Click to learn more and to order.
  
  
• Coming soon: IEA World Energy Investment Outlook 2003. Due out on 4 November, this new study from the IEA quantifies for the first time the significant energy sector investment needed over the next 30 years to meet soaring global energy demand. The study identifies both the amount of capital required to finance the construction of energy supply infrastructure and the obstacles that the sector must overcome in order to attract it. This pioneering work includes oil, gas, coal, electricity and renewables investments and covers all world regions. For more information on World Energy Investment Outlook 2003 and to order your copy online, see: www.worldenergyoutlook.com . Copies ordered before 1st November 2003 will benefit from a 10% discount, with a 30% discount granted to non-profit organisations and students.
  

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