Green future in hands of developing nations [News]

By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 15 Dec 2011.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has urged governments to cut their carbon emissions, given a new report that shows developing nations in particular will drive nine-tenths of the growth in global energy demand in the next 25 years.

Even as high oil prices of more than US$100 a barrel limit economic growth, developing nations like China, India, Indonesia and Brazil will continue to consume more and more energy, said Dr Fatih Birol, chief economist of the intergovernmental energy organisation yesterday. They will be fed by all fossil fuels, nuclear energy and other renewables, but especially by coal.

That means greenhouse gas emissions from energy will rise: By 2035, China’s cumulative emissions since 1900 will have outstripped those of Europe. Read more

Delaying renewable energy will make it costlier eventually [News]

By Dennis Posadas, The Business Times, 26 Nov 2011.

Recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its 134-page report on the state of energy in the world. In the World Energy Outlook 2011 report, it said the growth of renewable energy is underpinned by subsidies that will rise from US$64 billion in 2010 to an estimated US$250 billion in 2035 – a lifeline that cannot be taken for granted in this time of fiscal austerity.

According to IEA chief economist Fatih Birol, ‘delaying action is a false economy. For every US$1 of investment in cleaner technology that is avoided in the power sector before 2020, an additional US$4.30 would need to be spent after 2020 to compensate for the increased emissions.’

This means that if we wait nine years more to act, costs to shift to clean energy can multiply by as much as four times what it is now.

However, the Singapore and Philippine governments do not take subsidies as a means to encourage renewable energy sources. Read more

Singapore, a regional natural gas hub? [News]

Abundant enough to sustain world production for over 250 years and available all over the world, natural gas produces one of the lowest levels of carbon emissions when burnt for electricity production.

And Singapore is well-positioned to be a regional natural gas hub, said Dr Birol Fatih, chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Natural gas was one of the main topics touched on by Dr Birol, who spoke at the Energy Market Authority’s (EMA) Distinguished Speaker Programme, which was attended by nearly 300 industry players in the energy sector. Read more

World Energy Outlook 2008 Launch in Southeast Asia

Speaker: Mr Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director, International Energy Agency

Venue: Casuarina Room, Shangri-La Hotel, 22 Orange Grove Road, Singapore 258350

The Executive Director of the IEA will outline key data and policies from the 2008 edition of the World Energy Outlook (WEO), including new energy projections to 2030 (by region and by fuel type), and key issues such as prospects for oil and gas production, and post-2012 climate scenarios. Details and registration is available here.