European Affairs
c/o The European Institute
1001 Connecticut Avenue
NW, Suite 220
Washington, DC
20036-5531
Tel: (202) 895-1670
Fax (202) 362-1088
info@europeanaffairs.org
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Two of the central energy challenges of this century will be to
provide modern energy services for the nearly 2 billion people
who lack them and to develop new technologies to supply affordable,
reliable and sustainable energy that reduces greenhouse gas
emissions. The United States and its partners have been working
hard to meet these challenges, and will continue to do so.
Developed countries in Europe and North America require affordable
and abundant energy supplies to maintain relatively high
standards of living and strong economic growth. In developing
countries, the lack of modern energy services is a serious constraint
on already low living standards and a brake on development.
Improving access to energy, especially in the developing world, was one of the key goals of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, at
which the United States worked with many others to develop a comprehensive program
to increase the availability of modern energy services. The program, known as
the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, codified a commitment by all participants
"to take joint actions and improve efforts to work together at all levels to improve access
to reliable and affordable energy services for sustainable development.
The plan calls for specific actions
such as enhancing rural electrification,
increasing the use of renewable sources
of energy, producing cleaner liquid fuels
and improving energy efficiency through
intensified regional and international
cooperation.We believe that our efforts
to increase access to energy services must
be compatible with environmental stewardship.
Developing and deploying new
technologies to provide abundant
sources of cleaner energy over the coming
generation is a fundamental element
of our policies.
Partnerships are also essential. We
are working not only with other governments,
but with businesses, civil society,
academia, multilateral development banks and the private sector at large.
Partnership with Europe, meaning not
only the European Union, but also individual
member states, is crucial. The 25-
nation European Union and the United
States account for almost 40 percent of
the world's economic activity, and this
great wealth allows us to invest in research
into diverse energy sources.
Moreover, our resources are based on a
robust private sector, which has the ability
to bring these various technologies to
the market quickly.
Together, we are making great strides
in increasing energy efficiency and developing
renewable energy sources. The
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
Partnership (REEEP), which aims to expand
the global market for renewable
energy and energy efficiency technologies,
is an excellent example of the kind
of public-private partnership we want to
promote.
In May 2004, the UK joined the Efficient
Energy for Sustainable Development
Partnership program, one of the
key elements of the U.S. Clean Energy
Initiative stemming from the Johannesburg
summit. Under the agreement, the
UK and the United States are working
together to leverage human and financial
resources to build new markets for renewable
energy and increase energy efficiency.
The United States is also working on
a range of initiatives, together with a
number of European countries, to implement
the Global Village Energy Partnership.
This is a major public-private
partnership that was launched in Johannesburg
to focus on increased access to
modern energy services around the
world, particularly in the areas of developing
countries that are most in need.
We have contributed significantly to
these kinds of joint efforts. For example,
President Bush's 2005 budget calls for
$4.1 billion in tax incentives through
2009, which are designed to encourage
the use of cleaner and more energy efficient
technologies, such as hybrid and
fuel cell vehicles, combined heat and
power systems and other alternative energy
sources.
"In fact, the United States is the largest producer and
consumer of energy from renewable sources
We are also pursuing a robust program
to develop market competitive renewable
energy sources. In fact, the
United States the largest producer and
consumer of energy from renewable
sources. If we continue to lower the costs
through research and development, renewable
energy sources will be competitive
with any other type of energy.
In 2004, the Department of Energy
spent nearly $350 million on renewable
energy research, development, demonstration,
deployment and related activities.
The budget for fiscal year 2005 seeks
nearly $375 million to continue these
kinds of activities.
The results so far have been significant.
Since 1990, the cost of wind-generated
electricity has fallen by a factor of
16, from 80 cents per kilowatt hour to 5
cents per kilowatt hour. By 2012, we expect
to bring the price down to 3 cents
per kilowatt hour. Also since 1980, the
cost of a grid-connected residential solar
system has fallen by a factor of eight,
from $2 per kilowatt hour to 25 cents
per kilowatt hour. By 2020, we expect to
bring the price down to 6 cents per kilo-watt hour.
This is a crucial development, because
as prices for these technologies
continue to fall, their use will almost certainly
rise. In addition to increasing energy
supplies and limiting consumption
of non-renewable resources, renewable
sources can also contribute to the reduction
of greenhouse gas emissions into
the atmosphere. Further steps will also
be necessary, and we are working very
aggressively with others to develop clean
energy technologies.
"We are committed to stabilizing greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous human interference
with the climate system
We are committed to the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change
and its ultimate objective of stabilizing
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a
level that prevents dangerous human interference
with the climate system. Science
tells us that, while we can make
some progress, we cannot achieve this
shared goal with existing technologies.
We are accordingly working with others,
especially with a number of European
countries, to accelerate the development
of cutting-edge technologies.
One key initiative in this area is the
Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum
that we launched in June 2003.We know
that coal is and will continue to be an
important source of affordable energy
for both developed and developing countries. The challenge is to identify
ways to burn coal cleanly, and through
the Carbon Sequestration Leadership
Forum countries are looking at ways to
reduce costs and to improve the technology
for capturing carbon and storing it
below ground before it enters the atmosphere.
The United States has many partners
in this initiative, including not only
the European Union and a number of
European countries, such as France,
Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom,
but also developing countries, such as
India and China.
Norway, for instance, has an offshore
platform (Sleipner West Field) in the
North Sea that captures carbon dioxide
generated during the extraction of natural
gas that would be otherwise escape
into the atmosphere and redeposits it
underground. Sleipner is part of a
broader initiative called the Storage in
Saline Aquifers Project, which is backed
by a number of energy companies from
Europe and North America, with research
and technology provided by both
governments and private entities.
Another important project is the FutureGen
power plant, sponsored by the
United States, international partners,
and the private sector. This is a $1 billion
coal-based zero emissions electricity and
hydrogen power plant that employs carbon
capture and storage technologies
such as those being developed through
the Carbon Sequestration Leadership
Forum.
We are working with some 15 countries and the European Commission
on a visionary partnership to create a hydrogen economy, which is
vital to our longterm energy policies. The International Partnership
for a Hydrogen Economy is based on the premise that, by working
together to share best practices and to establish codes and standards,
we can make the commercial use of hydrogen power feasible in our
lifetimes. Partnerships between North America and Europe will be
critical in addressing the fundamental synergy between energy and
the environment. And on many of these issues, Europe and the United
States share a common agenda, namely working to ensure that all
people have access to clean and abundant sources of energy, while
striving, at the same time, to conserve our environment for future
generations. We need to work together on these important initiatives
related to hydrogen, renewable energy, nuclear energy and other
emerging technologies. We also need to ensure that we are taking
into account the important needs of both developed and developing
countries as we pursue these near term and longer term goals.
Paula Dobriansky is U.S. Under Secretary of
State for Global Affairs. She is responsible for a broad range of
foreign policy issues, including democracy, human rights, labor,
counter-narcotics and law enforcement, refugee and humanitarian
relief and environmental/scientific issues. She was previously Senior
Vice President and Director of the Washington Office of the Council
on Foreign Relations.
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