by Mike Fell
16. March 2009 04:38
Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has suggested that the organization may change its name to become the International Energy and Environment Agency. Speaking at the European Wind Energy Conference (EWEC) which began today in Marseille, he indicated that renewable energy generation would have to increase from 18% of the total mix today to 40% in 2030 if we are to avoid crossing the crucial 450ppm of carbon dioxide threshold, beyond which highly damaging climate change is thought likely to occur.
However, he stressed that in the IEA’s view, carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be the most important technology in achieving this goal. In a small but significant variation on the Green New Deal, he emphasized that a “clean energy new deal” would be required to tackle our current economic and environmental challenges. The IEA phrase would admit a significant role for CCS and nuclear power, something that many advocates of the Green New Deal would probably oppose.
The European Wind Energy Conference continues until Thursday, and I’ll try to send in a couple of updates before I leave on Tuesday.
