Clean energy partnership outlines goals

Clean energy partnership outlines goals

London (Platts)--11Aug2005

The governments of Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United
States announced the formation of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean
Development and Climate at a press conference held in Vientiane on July 28.
The vision statement accompanying the launch was wide-ranging but lacking in
detail and gave little indication of the actual or potential implications for
the regional electricity market.

Also notable by their absence were mandatory or even aspirational targets for
pollution or emissions reductions. However more details, if no binding
targets, are expected to emerge ahead of and during a ministerial meeting of
the partnership members due to be held in the Australian city of Adelaide in
November 2005.

The statement began by noting that "development and poverty eradication are
urgent and overriding goals internationally." It observed that the World
Summit on Sustainable Development had "made clear the need for increased
access to affordable, reliable and cleaner energy" and added that "the
international community agreed in the Delhi Declaration on Climate Change and
Sustainable Development on the importance of the development agenda in
considering any climate change approach."

Continuing, the statement noted that "we each have different natural resource
endowments, and sustainable development and energy strategies, but we are
already working together and will continue to work to achieve common goals. By
building on the foundation of existing bilateral and multilateral initiatives,
we will enhance cooperation to meet both our increased energy needs and
associated challenges, including those related to air pollution, energy
security, and greenhouse gas intensities."

To this end the statement said that members would work together, "in
accordance with their respective national circumstances, to create a new
partnership to develop, deploy and transfer cleaner, more efficient
technologies and to meet national pollution reduction, energy security and
climate change concerns, consistent with the principles of the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change."

The partnership said that it would collaborate to promote and create an
enabling environment for the development, diffusion, deployment and transfer
of existing and emerging cost-effective, cleaner technologies and practices,
through concrete and substantial cooperation so as to achieve practical
results. 

The document went on to list the likely beneficiaries in terms of technologies
and areas of activity, although with an emphasis on inclusivity rather than
detail or priorities. The statement noted that "areas for collaboration may
include, but not be limited to: energy efficiency, clean coal, integrated
gasification combined cycle, liquefied natural gas, carbon capture and
storage, combined heat and power, methane capture and use, civilian nuclear
power, geothermal, rural/village energy systems, advanced transportation,
building and home construction and operation, bioenergy, agriculture and
forestry, hydropower, wind power, solar power, and other renewables."

The statement added that the partnership would also cooperate on the
"development, diffusion, deployment and transfer of longer-term
transformational energy technologies that will promote economic growth while
enabling significant reductions in greenhouse gas intensities. Areas for mid-
to long-term collaboration may include, but not be limited to: hydrogen,
nanotechnologies, advanced biotechnologies, next-generation nuclear fission,
and fusion energy," it stated.

The document added that the partnership would share experiences in developing
and implementing our national sustainable development and energy strategies,
and explore opportunities to reduce the greenhouse gas intensities of our
economies. It would also develop a "non-binding compact in which the elements
of this shared vision, as well as the ways and means to implement it, will be
further defined. In particular, we will consider establishing a framework for
the partnership, including institutional and financial arrangements and ways
to include other interested and like-minded countries."

The statement noted that the partnership would also help members build human
and institutional capacity to strengthen cooperative efforts, and would seek
opportunities to engage the private sector. It concluded that the partnership
would complement, but not replace, the Kyoto Protocol.

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