World Energy Outlook 2007: China and India Insights

Dr. Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency

Provides an overview of the WEO 2007 in respect to the IEA’s: Reference Scenario; Alternative Policy Scenario and 450 Stabilisation Case; as well as a High Growth Scenario (China/India), developed in co-operation with China’s NDRC & ERI, and India’s TERI, to provide an analysis of the impact of China and India on the global economy, energy markets and the environment. Detail on each scenario is provided, with links to China and India set out, and the following conclusions are put forward: the global energy system is on an increasingly unsustainable path; China and India are transforming the global energy system by their sheer size; the challenge is for all countries to achieve transition to a more secure, lower carbon energy system; new policies now under consideration would make a major contribution; the next 10 years are critical (including the pace of capacity additions, the fact that technology will be “locked-in” for decades and there will be a growing tightness in oil and gas markets); the challenge is global, so solutions must also be global.