2Sustain

The first “green shoots” signaling what could become an energy technology revolution are now visible across the globe, according to the new study, Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) 2010,  recently released by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The IEA report says that these early signs of low-carbon future include:

• Global investment in renewable electricity generation. Led by wind and solar, these investments reached an all-time high of USD 112 billion in 2008 and remained broadly stable in 2009 despite the economic downturn.

• Expanded production of hybrid and all-electric vehicles. This enhanced production, combined with the purchase incentives available in many countries, could put more than 5 million hybrid and all-electric vehicles on the road in the next 10 years.

• Accelerated energy efficiency improvements. In OECD countries, the rate of energy efficiency improvement has increased to almost 2 percent per year, more than double the rate seen in the 1990s.

• Increased funding for low-carbon energy research, development and demonstration. Funding has increased by one-third between 2005 and 2008, helping to reverse a declining trend that started in the early 1980s. IEA countries and many other major economies aim to double such investments by 2015.

Despite this progress, the report also stresses that much more needs to be done to limit climate change, enhance energy security, and further economic development.

“What we need is rapid, large-scale deployment of a portfolio of low-carbon technologies; we need a massive decarbonization of the energy system, breaking the historical link between CO2 emissions and economic output, and leading to a new age of electrification,” says Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the IEA. Some 1.5 billion people still lack access to electricity, a factor that “adds tremendous urgency to electrification efforts worldwide,” he adds.

Interestingly, much of the energy revolution depends on technology that’s already available. For instance, the IEA sees increased energy efficiency as the most important “fuel” of the future. Low-cost options for reducing actual consumption – many of which are already available – offer the greatest potential for cutting CO2 emissions over the period to 2050.