Energy Technologies Scenarios to 2050

6. How essential is international collaboration?

The source document for this Digest states:

Taking forward international collaboration

International collaboration is essential to accelerate the development and global deployment of sustainable energy technologies in the most efficient way. A network for this already exists. The IEA itself has by far the most comprehensive network, in which thousands of technology experts from around the world co-ordinate their energy technology programmes. The EU energy technology programmes, Asia Pacific Partnership, Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, the Biofuels Partnership, and the International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy, the Generation IV International Forum and the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership are other important examples. These networks need strong international leadership from policy makers at senior level.

This book offers first attempts at global roadmaps for key energy technologies. We have identified 17 key technologies for energy efficiency, power generation and transport. They are at the heart of the energy technology revolution. We describe the actions required to deliver their potential. They are specific to each technology and depend, in part, on their current state of development. Such roadmaps can be particularly useful in providing guidance on how much abatement should be sought from each sector and technology, as well as on whether this process is on track. Further development of these roadmaps under international guidance, drawing together the energy technology programmes of all major economies, and in close consultation with industry, can provide the focus for the much closer international collaboration needed to achieve a global energy technology revolution. The IEA is ready to support this effort to achieve a more sustainable energy future.

Source & ©: IEA,  Energy Technology Perspectives 2008 : Scenarios and strategies to 2050. Executive Summary. (2008), Taking forward international collaboration. p.9-10.