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Technology rules! Can technology-oriented agreements help address climate change?
ECN Policy Studies, 2009, 255 p.

This thesis deals with climate change, technology and reciprocity. Climate change, as an international collective action problem, requires international collaboration in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the vulnerability for climate change impacts is highest in countries which hold little responsibility for the problem, while the cost of mitigating climate change is highest in less affected countries. This distributional characteristic of climate change leads to the central barrier of international collaboration: a specific agreement to reduce emissions is not in the interest of those countries that should most urgently act. Successful international agreements need reciprocity, i.e. a perceived equivalence of benefits between parties to an agreement. Agreements on emission reductions do not offer reciprocity to all parties, so there are weak incen-tives among parties to comply. This became clear as the Kyoto Protocol was implemented. Although agreed despite the distributional characteristics of climate change, the effectiveness of Kyoto was weakened because of the distributional problem structure of climate change as the defecting countries faced high costs of mitigation and had economic interests that prevailed over the need to reduce emissions. For reciprocity, the design of an international regime on climate change should therefore not be based on emission reductions. There is general agreement that the emission reductions required to address climate change will need to be achieved through major investments in a portfolio of low-carbon technologies. Technology is broadly defined: know-how, methods, procedures, experience of successes and failures, physical devices and equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This thesis explored whether reciprocity in international climate agreements can be enhanced through international agreements focused on innovation and technology. In particular, the role and potential impacts of technology-oriented agreements from different perspectives were explored. The main result is that technology-oriented agreements can provide more reciprocity than emission reduction targets, a finding that urgently needs to be recognised in the climate negotiations. In addition, a number of recommendations can be made to enable technology-oriented agreements. First, technology-oriented agreements should reflect the characteristics of the tech-nology they address and be aligned with the (vested) technological interests that prevail in the sector, to ensure a positive payback function of the agreements to important parties. Second, a smart combination of market-based and technology-oriented agreements would work best both for climate change in general and for technology transfer to developing countries, if collective ac-tion problems for international market-based instruments can be overcome. Third, if indeed market-based and technology-oriented instruments are combined, their co-existence under one regime is recommended over a fully fragmented regime. This is necessary to prevent problems related to lack of transparency and sketchy accountability that would compromise environmental effectiveness of the climate regime. And last, if technology-oriented agreements are applied as a replacement or as a geographically or functionally complement, they should be designed for technology implementation, to ensure both environmental and technological effectiveness.

CNEN – Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear
2009 – Boletim de Energia – Acesso livre

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Energy Security: A national challenge in a changing world
Department of Energy & Climate Change (UK), August 2009, 130 p.

In October 2008, the Prime Minister asked Malcolm Wicks MP, as his Special Representative on International Energy Issues, to carry out an independent review of international energy security and how developments internationally were likely to affect the UK’s energy security in the coming decades. His report was published on 5 August 2009 and complements the recently published UK Low Carbon Transition Plan, setting out an approach to energy security that will enable the UK to achieve its climate change objectives.

The report focuses on the changing UK and global energy picture, pointing out that even with ambitious climate change targets, the world is still likely to be reliant on coal, oil and gas to meet over two-thirds of its energy needs by 2030.

The report considers how global trends affect the UK’s medium and long term energy security and having concluded that energy independence is unachievable, addresses the UK’s international strategy and how we interact with multilateral agencies. In terms of the UK’s bilateral relationships, it recommends that Norway, Qatar and Saudi Arabia be prioritised as the most significant relationships for our energy security.

The report also considers actions we could take within the UK’s borders to reduce import dependency. It recognises that energy efficiency must be the starting point of all action and welcomes the ambitious proposals set out in the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan, in particular the support for households to reduce their energy use. It makes recommendations on maximising the UK Continental Shelf and considerations around gas storage.

In addition, if the UK electrifies much of its transport and heating, demand for electricity in 2050 could be 50 per cent higher than it is today, making it possible that electricity could account for half of our overall energy use; it is within this context that Malcolm Wicks’ review recommends that Government consider setting a higher aspiration for nuclear power generation and keep under review whether further policy instruments may be necessary to direct further investment in capacity towards non-fossil fuel power generation, including wind, tidal and wave.

CNEN – Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear
2009 – Boletim de Energia – Acesso livre

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UNEP 2008 Annual Report United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), January 2009, 106 p.

This summary of UNEP’s activities in 2008 provides an overview of the organization’s contribution to the fight against climate change in a year in which unequivocal evidence established that global warming is the defining challenge of our era. The report also looks at the broad range of other activities carried out by UNEP as it follows its mandate to provide environmental leadership and promote sustainable development.

CNEN – Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear
2009 – Boletim de Energia – Acesso livre

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Bioenergy – a Sustainable and Reliable Energy Source – A review of status and prospects Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), August 2009, 12 p.

This publication is the Executive Summary of a report jointly prepared for IEA Bioenergy by the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), E4tech, Chalmers University of Technology, and the Copernicus Institute of the University of Utrecht. The full report ‘Bioenergy – a Sustainable and Reliable Energy Source’ is available on the IEA Bioenergy website (www.ieabioenergy.com) and in hard copy. The purpose of the project was to produce an authoritative review of the entire bioenergy sector aimed at policy and investment decision makers. The brief to the contractors was to provide a global perspective of the potential for bioenergy, the main opportunities for deployment in the short and medium term and the principal issues and challenges facing the development of the sector.

CNEN – Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear
2009 – Boletim de Energia – Acesso livre

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The interest of Member States of the IAEA in introducing radiation technology into the polymer and plastics industry is growing. This publication summarizes a number of studies conducted in the framework of a coordinated research project (CRP) on controlling of degradation effects on polymers by radiation processing technologies. It reviews a variety of applications and details the most important results and achievements of the participating centres and laboratories during the course of the CRP. The publication is intended to be of use to scientists implementing the technology and managers of radiation processing facilities.

CNEN – Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear
2009 – Boletim de Energia – Acesso livre

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O livro foi elaborado pelo CGEE em parceria com o Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), e teve o apoio do Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia (MCT), da Comissão Econômica para América Latina e Caribe (Cepal) e da Organização das Nações Unidas para Agricultura e Alimentação (FAO). O livro verde do bioetanol se propõe a contribuir ao desenvolvimento do potencial dos biocombustíveis e seus desafios de produção no Brasil e na América Latina, no médio prazo. A publicação destaca quais instituições, empresas e indivíduos têm avanços ou planos na pesquisa na área, além de tratar de temas como inovação, investimento, legislação e normativos nos diversos elos da cadeia produtiva e de distribuição do biodiesel e bioetanol.

CNEN – Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear

2009 – Boletim de Energia – Acesso livre

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No Brasil o uso de biocombustíveis tem aumentado ao longo das últimas décadas e sua participação na matriz energética nacional deve ser ainda mais relevante no futuro  póximo. O etanol e o biodiesel são os principais tipos de biocombustível utilizados no setor de transportes. O Brasil foi responsável por 41% da produção mundial de etanol em 2006. No que diz respeito a automóveis, em 2007 a participação de veículos Flex no mercado foi de 65%. O Governo brasileiro implementou em 2005 o Programa Nacional de Biodiesel. Em 2008,a mistura de 2% no Diesel passa a ser obrigatória, representando 840 milhões de litros por ano.

CNEN – Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear

2008 – Boletim de Energia – Acesso livre

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Biomass is by many considered as the only alternative to phase-out the usage of fossil fuels such as natural gas and oil especially for the transportation sector where alternative solutions, such as hydrogen fuel cells and batteries, are not yet fully developed. Thermal gasification or other methods such as pyrolysis of the biomass must be applied in order to produce an intermediate product suitable for further upgrading to either gaseous or liquid products. This thesis will evaluate the possibilities of producing, substitute natural gas, (SNG) from biomass gasification by using computer simulation.

CNEN – Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear

2008 – Boletim de Energia – Acesso livre

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With enactment of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (H.R. 6) in December, we are embarking on a new energy policy path. This historic legislation couples increased vehicle efficiency and greater renewable fuel use, steps that can have an immediate impact toward securing a more sustainable energy and environmental future. The law increases the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to 36 billion gallons of annual renewable fuel use by 2022. And by requiring that nearly 60 percent of the new RFS be met by advanced biofuels, including cellulosic ethanol, it paves the way for commercialization of these vital next generation ethanol technologies. Clearly, this legislation will change the way we fuel our country. Importantly, it’s also changing our environmental footprint from transportation fuels. The increased production and use of renewable fuels, particularly from cellulose feedstocks, will dramatically alter our environmental landscape, utilizing sustainable supplies of biomass while reducing fossil fuel use and harmful greenhouse gas emissions. 2007 will also be remembered for witnessing the ground-breaking on the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in the U.S. Range Fuels will utilize leftover wood residues from timber harvesting to produce ethanol at its facility near Soperton, Georgia. Others will soon follow, utilizing a variety of technologies and feedstocks. At the same time, existing biorefineries continue to lead with technological innovations that are improving plant efficiencies while reducing energy consumption. As you read on, you will find valuable information on the U.S. ethanol industry, including historical data and current statistics on ethanol and its co-products. 2008 promises to be an exciting and challenging year. As always, the U.S. ethanol industry is dedicated to working with all of our ustomers, suppliers and carriers to meet the energy needs of a growing marketplace while ensuring a more sustainable energy future for all Americans.

CNEN – Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear

2008 – Boletim de Energia – Acesso livre

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A first-order system simulation was carried out to obtain first estimates of the design boundary conditions for a TCM reactor. The simulations showed that TCM storage is a very interesting means of creating a seasonal storage for solar heat. However, a number critical issues exist, such as finding suitable materials (reaction temperatures in the right range) and building an optimized TCM reactor that is able to produce sufficient power and has a limited temperature drop. Various reactor concepts are proposed in this paper.

CNEN – Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear

2008 – Boletim de Energia – Acesso livre