NGO Forum

From: phys.org

Fatih Birol, chief economist of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, is the lead author of an eye-catching new report projecting that the United States will become the world’s leading oil producer within a few decades. Birol, who also chairs the World Economic Forum’s Energy Advisory Board, has been named by Forbes magazine as one of the most influential people on the global energy scene. He is often called on to brief high-level political figures on energy issues—including briefings last year for President Barack Obama, among other leaders, on the implications of America’s boom in natural gas.

From: WSJ

By Ben Winkley

Coal is much maligned, but much in demand.

In a world making noises about a cleaner, greener way, the black stuff is an anachronism—dirty, polluting, the way of the past.

In its favor, coal is cheap, plentiful and there is much existing infrastructure in which to burn it.

As with all forms of energy, China is leading the way on demand. The Asian giant is both the world’s largest consumer and producer of coal, although a slide in the domestic price will feed through to a notable slump in imports this year, Bloomberg reports.

From: UPI

PARIS, Jan. 4 (UPI) — The International Energy Agency called for more support of carbon capture technology this week in the wake of an EU move to cut funding for CCS development.

The IEA on Tuesday renewed its call for more investments in carbon capture and storage projects as essential to reducing greenhouse gases in a world that is still “hooked on fossil fuels.”

But delays in funding for CCS research and demonstration projects are resulting in missed chances to tap more than two-thirds of the world’s current proven fossil-fuel reserves and still meet European climate change goals, the agency said in a statement.

From: Boston Globe

As chief economist for the Paris-based International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol helps shape energy policies worldwide. He recently guided the publication of the agency’s World Energy Outlook, which predicts the United States will soon become the world’s largest oil producer. While in Cambridge recently to speak at MIT, he sat down with Globe reporter Erin Ailworth.

Why do you believe the US will soon overtake Saudi Arabia as the largest oil producer?