| NucNet latest: IAE roadmaps analyse low-carbon technologies | | Print | |
| Thursday, 09 July 2009 | |
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9 Jul (NucNet): Nuclear power will be part of a package of low-carbon technologies needed to provide a major share of the world’s energy needs and limit the rise in global average temperature, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today. The Paris-based IEA said it is working on 19 energy technology ‘roadmaps’, including nuclear, solar and wind power, electric/hybrid vehicles, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the cement industry, which together “have the potential to provide almost 90 percent of the reductions needed to halve global energyrelated CO2 emissions by 2050”. Limiting the temperature increase to around 2 degrees Celsius (°C) will require that CO2 emissions be reduced by at least 50 percent by 2050, the IEA said. To realise this scenario, the IEA said emissions would need to be limited to 26 gigatonnes (Gt) by 2030, compared to its expectation that emissions will reach 41 Gt “if policies don’t change”. The IEA’s analysis came as G8 leaders issued a joint statement, on the second day of their summit in Italy, in which they encouraged “more rapid application of the many cost-effective technologies already available to improve the energy efficiency of power generation facilities, buildings, industry and transport”. The statement said leaders recognised “the broad scientific view that the increase in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels ought not to exceed 2°C”. IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka, who attended the G8 summit, said improvements in energy efficiency would account for the bulk of the emissions reduction (54 percent) it thought necessary, followed by more renewable energy, nuclear power and CCS after 2020. Mr Tanaka said the IEA had calculated that of the total 2.6 trillion US dollars (USD) (about 1.8 trillion euro) of public spending in short-term economic stimulus packages announced to date, USD 100 billion had been directed at energy efficiency and clean energy. “This is a step in the right direction. But, much more needs to be done; investment in energy efficiency and clean technologies would need to increase four-fold if we want to keep the rise in global average temperature under 2°C. This means USD 400 billion more every year over the next 20 years,” Mr Tanaka added. The IEA’s analysis is available in full on the agency’s website (www.iea.org). Statements from the G8 summit are available on the meeting’s official website (http://www.g8italia2009.it). Comments (0)
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