Future Energy Leaders Program
Detailed program — Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The need for clearer international rules governing energy trade and investment has been identified as a potential problem in the WEC Scenarios. Concerns about security of supply by consuming nations and security of demand by supplying nations are more pronounced than ever and threaten the international fabric of the globe. The World Trade Organization Agreement govern trans-border movement of energy in various ways, but do not deal with energy in a coordinated manner and leave many aspects unclear and unanswered questions, particularly regarding new forms of energy such as biofuels and the carbon footprint. The main objective of the Task Force is to provide a systematic analysis of how trade rules affect international energy trade and to make recommendations for improving  those rules consistent with the interests of the energy industry. Ultimately, the objective  is to work directly with the WTO and other international organizations (such as the OECD, the IAEA, UNCTAD, etc.) as well as NGOs active in the field on preparations for the next round of trade negotiations (post-Doha) so as to put energy goods and services into the mandate.

Market structures, technologies, environmental standards, and other factors are changing the way the electricity sector operates and are posing new challenges for power plant operators around the world. New strategies, greater collaboration within the industry, and new tools are required to make it possible to collect, analyse, and leverage plant performance initiatives. The Committee’s main objective is to promote international data exchange and best practices for generating plant performance and to achieve the most effective use of generation assets and energy resources worldwide. This objective will be accomplished by enhanced international data exchange and communications, benchmarking workshops and presentations. The new generating plant performance indicators database will be at the centre of the process with continuous power plant reliability statistics collection and direct entry of data into the database by participating companies and organisations.

The introduction of market liberalization in many countries/regions and the unbundling of generation from transmission, have exposed transmission “bottlenecks” limiting the development of well-functioning markets. Despite a fairly strong opposition to construction of new transmission lines, strong interconnections between countries can reduce the supply volatility and mitigate its impacts. The objective of this study is to identify and demonstrate, both in quantitative and qualitative terms, the potential benefits of properly designed, maintained and operated transmission infrastructure using the state-of-the-art technologies and management practices, including “smart grids”. The Task Force will provide a picture for each continent of the existing interconnections and of projects under discussion including environmental and to socio/political aspects, and the latest technologies.

In the past few years there have been important advances in the field of alternative transportation fuels, primarily ethanol and biodiesel. Both the automobile industry and the biodiesel producers have played a major role in developing the technical and normative prerequisites. The challenge is to develop biofuels which do not compete with the food chain, which are sustainable, and for which the carbon footprint is known and a net gain.  The main objective of the Task Force will be to identify and evaluate the leading production technologies and the main barriers to an accelerated development and deployment of biofuels standards and technologies worldwide and formulate recommendations for removal of these barriers.

The objective of this study is to provide an annual assessment of policies, regulations and/or standards and their effectiveness in addressing climate, growth or equality goals. The study will take into account regional characteristics as policies are not necessarily transferable from one region to another. It will also measure progress toward achieving the WEC development goals. Second, it should enhance WEC’s visibility by publishing and promulgating the results of the assessment and proposing ways in which good practices in one country or region might be used in others. Benchmarking will be an early priority, first on a regional and then on a global scale.

In recent years we have seen an increase in the number of pressure groups of all kinds wanting a voice in the development all projects which could have a potential environmental or social impact. What role do organisations like NGOs, citizens groups, professional associations want to play in the planning and development of energy policies and infrastructures. How do they perceive the energy sector and, considering the need to increased supply to satisfy demand, how do they want to work with industry representatives?