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International Energy Agency
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The International Energy Agency (IEA, or AIE in Romance languages) is a Paris-based intergovernmental organization founded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the oil crisis. The IEA was initially dedicated to preventing disruptions in the supply of oil, as well as acting as an information source on statistics about the international oil market and other energy sectors. Recently, they have expanded their mandate to include energy security, economic development, and environmental protection.
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Encyclopedia
The International Energy Agency (IEA, or AIE in Romance languages) is a Paris-based intergovernmental organization founded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the oil crisis. The IEA was initially dedicated to preventing disruptions in the supply of oil, as well as acting as an information source on statistics about the international oil market and other energy sectors. Recently, they have expanded their mandate to include energy security, economic development, and environmental protection. The latter has focused on mitigating climate change. They have a role in promoting and developing alternate energy sources, rational energy policies, and multinational energy technology co-operation. Until recently, it did not study nuclear power in detail, except as a contribution to the overall energy balance and economy. Nuclear power is also covered by the Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD and the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations.
IEA member countries are required to maintain total oil stock levels equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports. At the end of June 2007, IEA member countries held a combined stockpile of almost 4.1 billion barrels of oil, 1.5 billion of which governments control for emergency use. Almost 1.6 billion barrels were held in the form of petrol products which need no further processing.
The Executive Director of the IEA is Nobuo Tanaka.
Intervention history
- In 1991 Gulf War.
- In 2005 the IEA released two million barrels a day for a month after Hurricane Katrina affected USA production.
- On August 29 2008 the IEA announced that if Hurricane Gustav caused major damage to gulf oil and gas equipment, strategic reserves would be released.
Member States
Only OECD member countries can become members of the IEA.
On 7 March 2007, the IEA invited Slovakia to become member of the IEA. To become a member, Slovakia had to complete the internal procedures to accede to the Agreement on an International Energy Program (I.E.P. Agreement), which is the IEA's founding document. This has been successfully accomplished and Slovakia became a member on 30 November, 2007 and
Poland joined the IEA on 25 September 2008. Remaining OECD members Iceland and Mexico are not members of the IEA.
Energy efficiency
At the Heiligendamm Summit in June 2007, the G8 acknowledged an EU proposal for an international initiative on energy efficiency tabled in March 2007, and agreed to explore, together with the International Energy Agency, the most effective means to promote energy efficiency internationally. A year later, on 8 June 2008, the G8 countries, China, India, South Korea and the European Community decided to establish the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation, at the Energy Ministerial meeting hosted by Japan in the frame of the 2008 G8 Presidency, in Aomori.
Renewable energy
The Energy Watch Group (EWG), a coalition of scientists and politicians which analyses official energy industry predictions, claims that the IEA has had an institutional bias towards traditional energy sources and has been using "misleading data" to undermine the case for renewable energy, such as wind and solar. A 2008 EWG report compares IEA projections about the growth of wind power capacity and finds that it has consistently underestimated the amount of energy the wind power industry can deliver.
For example, in 1998, the IEA predicted global wind electricity generation would total 47.4 GW by 2020, but EWG's report states that this level was reached by the end of 2004. The report also said that the IEA has not learnt the lesson of previous underestimates, and last year net additions of wind power globally were four times greater than the average IEA estimate from its 1995-2004 predictions.
Amid discontent from across the renewables sector at the IEA's performance as a global energy watchdog, the International Renewable Energy Agency was formed on January 26, 2009. The aim is to have the agency fully operational by 2010 with an initial annual budget of €25m.
See also
External links
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