ASrIA - Understand the Energy Issue

Energy management and the use of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydrogen and biomass are at the heart of the debate on mitigating climate change. Information sources provided in the following pages represent an overview of the issues, opportunities and constraints.

European Business Council for a Sustainable Energy Future
http://www.e5.org/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=38

The European Business Council for Sustainable Energy (e5) is an initiative representing future-oriented businesses at the fore of economic and technological leadership in the EU. These businesses are dedicated to create employment opportunities, develop export markets and secure a reliable energy supply. e5 promotes a new economical rationale embodied by the Kyoto Protocol - where climate is business. Its activities fall into two main categories: business development and policy advocacy.

The International Energy Agency ('''IEA''') is a Paris-based intergovernmental organisation founded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974. It is committed to advancing security of energy supply, economic growth and environmental sustainability through energy policy co-operation

IEA has been mandated by its member countries to provide analytical work on the energy dimension of climate change and the implications of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol on the energy sector. The IEA also undertakes work on options for the future evolution of the international climate change mitigation regime. The IEA participates actively in UNFCCC meetings (COP 8, COP9, COP 10 and COP 11).

IEA Clean Coal Centre
http://www.iea-coal.org.uk/site/ieaccc/home

A basic aim of the IEA is to foster co-operation among the twenty-four IEA participating countries in order to increase energy security through diversification of energy supply, cleaner and more efficient use of energy, and energy conservation. This is achieved, in part, through a programme of collaborative research and development of which IEA Clean Coal Centre is by far the largest and the longest established single project. IEA Clean Coal Centre provides a source of unbiased information on sustainable use of coal world-wide. Services are delivered to governments and industry through direct advice, review reports, facilitation of R & D and provision of networks.

International Finance Corporation (IFC)
http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/p_2005SustReport_15/$FILE/ClimateChange.pdf

IFC is taking a leading role in developing new business models that stimulate private sector investment in sustainable energy and at the same time support sustainable economic development in emerging markets. The IFC helps finance clean energy projects that contribute to reducing rising greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. This is done primarily with concessional resources from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the financial mechanism for the climate convention (http://www.gefweb.org). In recent years, IFC has been actively seeking to finance a greater number of energy efficiency (EE) projects and to develop special initiatives to accelerate the market penetration of these technologies.

IFC is actively seeking to participate in the financing of energy projects based on the use of renewable energy resources. Efforts focus on renewable energy technologies such as: run-of-the-river and conventional hydro, geothermal, biomass, wind, and solar (photovoltaic and solar thermal).

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
http://www.nrel.gov/overview

NREL is the USA�s primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D. Its mission is to develop renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and practices, advance related science and engineering, and transfer knowledge and innovations to address the nation's energy and environmental goals. NREL is home to three national centers of excellence: the National Center for Photovoltaics, the National Bioenergy Center and the National Wind Technology Center.

US Department of Energy
http://www.fossil.energy.gov

The Department of Energy's overarching mission is to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; to promote scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission; and to ensure the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear weapons complex. The Office of Policy and International Affairs directs a number of Presidential initiatives to address climate change
http://www.energy.gov/environment/climatechange.htm:-

US DOE Climate Change Challenge
US DOE Power Partners programme,
US DOE Futuregen project

The Nature Conservancy Project: The Department of Energy will work in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and companies such as General Motors Corp. and American Electric Power to study how carbon dioxide can be stored more effectively by changing land use practices and investing in forestry projects. Using newly developed aerial and satellite-based technology, researchers will study forestry projects in Brazil and Belize to determine their carbon sequestration potential. Researchers will also test new software models that predict how carbon is sequestered by soil and vegetation at sites in the United States and abroad. The U.S. Government will provide $1.7 million of the $2 million cost of the three-year project.

UNEPFI Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative
http://www.unepfi.org

UNEP is working to create the policy and economic framework where sustainable energy can increasingly meet the global energy challenge. Changing attitudes and helping mainstream financiers to consider sustainable energy investments are key components of the energy work within UNEP and the starting point for the Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative (SEFI), a partnership between UNEP FI, UNEP Energy, and the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE). SEFI aims to foster a sustainable energy finance community that brings together financiers, engages them to do jointly what they may have been reluctant or unable to do individually, and catalyses public-private alliances that together share costs and lower barriers to investment.

WISIONS - Promotion of Resource Efficiency Projects
http://www.wisions.net/pages/wisions.htm

WISIONS is an initiative of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, organised with the support of the Swiss-based foundation ProEvolution, to foster practical sustainable energy projects. WISIONS provides consulting support to ensure the potential seen in visions of renewable energy and energy efficiency can become mature projects through its Sustainable Energy Project Support: SEPS. WISIONS also promotes good practice in resource efficiency through its publication of relevant successful projects in its Promotion of Resource Efficiency Projects: PREP.

World Renewable Energy Network (WREN)

WREN is a major non-profit organization registered in the United Kingdom with charitable status and affiliated to UNESCO, the Deputy Director General of which is WREN�s honorary President. It has a Governing Council, an Executive Committee and a Director General. It maintains links with many United Nations, governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Established in 1992 during the second World Renewable Energy Congress in Reading, UK, WREN supports and enhances the utilisation and implementation of renewable energy sources that are both environmentally safe and economically sustainable. This is done through a worldwide network of agencies, laboratories, institutions, companies and individuals, all working together towards the international diffusion of renewable energy technologies and applications. Representing most countries in the world, it aims to promote the communication and technical education of scientists, engineers, technicians and managers in this field and to address itself to the energy needs of both developing and developed countries.