Leaders from 15 countries and the European Commission met in Washington D.C. this week for the first Policy Committee meeting of the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC).
The partnership was launched at the Group of 8 (G8) Energy Ministers Meeting in Rome in May 2009.
Assistant Secretary Cathy Zoi of the Department of Energy’s Office of
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will serve a two-year term as the first Chair of the Committee.
Over the past year, IPEEC member countries have contributed more than $1.6 million in funding to support six key initiatives that advance energy efficiency.
These projects include:
The Worldwide Energy Efficiency Action through Capacity Building and Training project will help share best practices for energy efficiency through on-site training workshops and online materials. Italy has provided seed funding for this project, while training materials are being developed with technical assistance from the International Energy Agency and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Mexico will host the first on-site workshop later this year, which is expected to draw attendance from across the Americas. (Lead country: Italy)
The Sustainable Buildings Network (SBN) will connect numerous building efficiency organizations to focus on intelligent tropical architecture, zero-energy buildings, and innovative policies to make existing buildings more efficient. The SBN has held a half-dozen workshops, including an in-depth review on May 10 at the EE Global Forum with building experts from around the world. (Lead country: Germany)
The Assessment of Energy Efficiency Finance Mechanisms project will examine how energy efficiency efforts can better leverage financing from domestic sources, such as commercial banks. Examples of successful financing models, such as utility financing, energy performance savings contracts, and shared savings contracts, will be shared with countries that need expanded access to capital for energy efficiency investments. Private sector investment in efficiency will be critical to expanding these efforts, DOE said. (Lead country: India)
The Energy Management Action Network for Industrial Efficiency will provide a forum for policymakers and industry leaders to share best practices for managing and reporting industrial energy consumption. (Lead country: Japan)
The Improving Policies through Energy Efficiency Indicators project will accelerate efforts to develop and implement methods for energy efficiency indicators that measure and report energy performance (e.g. energy consumption per ton of steel produced). Governments use energy efficiency indicators to document energy productivity improvements and identify opportunities for additional energy savings. Consistent application of better efficiency indicators is expected to help countries meet their energy and carbon reduction goals. (Lead country: France)
Increased use of lighting and appliances like TVs, air conditioners and refrigerators, is estimated to account for more than half of the future growth in electricity consumption. The Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment project is a global initiative launched with support of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) to collaborate on test methods to measure appliance efficiency and coordinate incentives for manufacturers to provide more efficient equipment and appliances which could dramatically reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions while saving consumers money. The U.S. has committed up to $3 million annually to support this project. (Lead country: United States)
IPEEC members include: the Federative Republic of Brazil, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, the European Commission, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Mexico, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Indonesia and South Africa also sent representatives to the meeting as observers, and Australia joined as a member during this week’s meeting.
All IPEEC members are also members of the MEF’s Global Partnership that is collaborating on policies and programs to accelerate the world’s transition to clean energy technologies. All MEF partners have been invited to send ministers with lead responsibility for clean energy technologies to the first-ever Clean Energy Ministerial to be hosted by US Department of Energy Secretary Chu July 19-20 in Washington, D.C.
Loading...