The IEA ‘Clean Energy Technologies’ Symposium and the Launch of the IEA Policy Pathway ‘Energy Performance Certification of Buildings’

“The countries of Southeast Asia are set to play an increasingly important role in global energy markets in the decades ahead”, said Mr. Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) today in Singapore at the Clean Energy Technologies Symposium. In the IEA’s World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2009, the region’s energy demand expands 76% by 2030, a faster rate of growth than the rest of the world. Such rapid growth in energy demand will require enhanced energy efficiency to ensure security, growth and sustainability. The region’s share of global CO2 emissions reaches 5% in 2030, up from 3.5% today. Therefore, rapid and large-scale development and deployment of clean energy technologies and improved energy efficiency in the region are crucial.

The IEA, together with the Energy Market Authority of Singapore, is hosting the Clean Energy Technologies Symposium as an important event of the Singapore International Energy Week 2010. This is the first time that the IEA has brought a full team of energy technology experts to the region to present a wide range of analyses and policy recommendations including Energy Technology Perspectives 2010, a portfolio of Technology Roadmaps, Policy Pathways for Energy Efficiency and its multilateral technology initiatives.

"Technology breakthroughs will provide new insights and ideas to addressing the energy challenge", said the Chief Executive of the Energy Market Authority of Singapore, Mr Lawrence Wong, "and ultimately the technological innovation unfolding in the energy space will take many forms. What is needed is a dynamic process that will continually push the technology frontier and adapt to scientific discoveries. Singapore is happy to do our part to facilitate this Symposium, which will pave the way for the region to access the work of the IEA on new energy technologies."

“While we see the green shoots of an energy technology revolution happening, we must lock in and accelerate this revolution“, said Nobuo Tanaka. “With the right government policies, we can act NOW to grow these long-awaited green shoots. We can make a secure, cleaner energy future a reality through our actions“.

Mr Tanaka added: “I am also very pleased to be launching in Singapore today, the second of the IEA’s new ”Policy Pathway” series, Energy Performance Certification of Buildings. “Governments are missing a great opportunity to save energy in buildings. Energy efficiency can save energy and cut CO2 emissions at very little or no cost, but there remains a lot to be done if governments and industry are to capture these savings. This new Policy Pathway provides lessons learned from countries with buildings certification programmes”. Energy performance certification is a way to rate the energy efficiency of individual buildings – whether they be residential, commercial or public.

Mr Lawrence Wong said, "Through this new Policy Pathway series, governments and private organisations can tap on each others expertise and experience to effectively cross the chasm from discussion to action, and achieve energy savings through concrete measures".

The Policy Pathway series helps countries to implement essential energy efficiency policies. It provides policymakers with practical “how-to” guidelines for designing, implementing and evaluating energy efficiency policies. In these times of austerity, governments can save money by learning from the experiences of other countries.

Energy efficiency in Southeast Asia is particularly important. In the 450 Scenario in the WEO 2009, more than 60% of the total CO2 reduction by 2030 stems from efficiency improvements in the region. The overall energy savings by 2030 relative to the Reference Scenario exceed the current consumption of Malaysia, while greenhouse gas emissions and local pollution are also reduced. Mr. Tanaka said, “With only about 1% of the world’s proven reserves of oil, energy efficiency is the future resource of Asia that will enhance energy security as well as growth and sustainability.”

Armed with this information, “we hope countries will be better able to implement effective energy efficiency policies – and, therefore, achieve greater energy efficiency improvement,” said Mr. Tanaka. “If you give a country an energy efficiency recommendation, you hold their attention for a day. Help a country to implement the recommendation, and you can launch energy savings that last for years.” He resumed: “The IEA is working to make its ongoing efforts on clean energy technologies more accessible and collaborative with interested governments and industry in Southeast Asia, and we will be inviting participants at this Symposium to join us in future co-operation on the topics that interest them.”