International Energy Agency (IEA)
Logo of International Energy Agency
IEA member states
Secretariat		Paris, France
Membership		28 member states
Leaders
-	Executive Director	Maria van der Hoeven
-	Deputy Executive Director	Richard Jones
-	Chief-Economist	Fatih Birol
Establishment
-	Established	1974
Website www.iea.org

The International Energy Agency (IEA; French: Agence internationale de l'énergie) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. The IEA was initially dedicated to responding to physical disruptions in the supply of oil, as well as serving as an information source on statistics about the international oil market and other energy sectors.

The IEA acts as a policy adviser to its member states, but also works with non-member countries, especially China, India and Russia. The Agency's mandate has broadened to focus on the "3Es" of sound energy policy: energy security, economic development, and environmental protection.^[1] The latter has focused on mitigating climate change.^[2] The IEA has a broad role in promoting alternate energy sources (including renewable energy), rational energy policies, and multinational energy technology co-operation.

IEA member countries are required to maintain total oil stock levels equivalent to at least 90 days of the previous year's net imports. At the end of July 2009, IEA member countries held a combined stockpile of almost 4,300,000,000 barrels (680,000,000 m³) of oil.

On March 11, 2011, Former Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Maria van der Hoeven, was selected Executive Director.^[3][4] On 1 September 2011, she succeeded in this position Nobuo Tanaka.^[5] The Deputy Executive Director is Richard Jones.

History[link]

The IEA was established to meet the industrial countries' energy organization needs in the wake of the 1973–1974 oil crisis. Although the OECD had structures for dealing with energy questions such as the Council, the Executive Committee, the Oil Committee, and the Energy Committee, it could not respond effectively to the crisis. The OECD had adopted the Oil Apportionment Decision [C(72)201(Final)], laying out procedures to be carried out in the event of an oil supply emergency in Europe, but these procedures were not implemented during the crisis. In addition, the OECD had adopted recommendations on oil stockpiling in Europe. Due to their limited scope, these measures could have only a limited role in an oil supply emergency.^[6]

Establishment of the new organization was proposed by United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in his address to the Pilgrims Society in London on 12 December 1973. Also in December 1973, at the summit of the European Communities in Copenhagen, Danish Prime Minister Anker Jørgensen who chaired the summit, declared that the summit find "useful to study with other oil-consuming countries within the framework of the OECD ways of dealing with the common short and long term energy problems of consumer countries". At the Washington Energy Conference on 11-13 February 1974, the ministers of thirteen principal oil consumer countries stated "the need for a comprehensive action program to deal with all facets of the world energy situation by cooperative measures. In so doing they will build on the work of the OECD".^[7]

While creating a new energy organization, it was decided to utilize the framework of the OECD as it had experiences in dealing with oil and other energy questions, had expertise in economic analysis and statistics, had established staff, physical facilities, legal status and privileges andimmunities, and was the principal organization of the industrial countries. However, as the OECD has a rule of unanimity and not all member states were not ready to participate. Therefore, instead of an integrated approach, an autonomous approach was chosen.^[8]

The IEA was created on 18 November 1974 by the Agreement on an International Energy Program" (I.E.P. Agreement).^[9]

During its history, the IEA has intervened in oil markets three times by releasing oil stocks — in 1991 during the Gulf War, in 2005 for a month after Hurricane Katrina affected US production by releasing 2 million barrels per day (320×10^³ m³/d) and most recently in 2011 to offset continued disruption to oil supplies as a result of the 2011 Libyan civil war.^[10]

Member states[link]

Only the OECD member states can become members of the IEA. Except for Chile, Estonia, Iceland, Israel, Mexico, and Slovenia, all OECD member states are members of the IEA. There are 28 members:

Energy efficiency[link]

At the Heiligendamm Summit in June 2007, the G8 acknowledged an EU proposal for an international initiative on energy efficiency tabled in March 2007, and agreed to explore, together with the International Energy Agency, the most effective means to promote energy efficiency internationally. A year later, on 8 June 2008, the G8 countries, China, India, South Korea and the European Community decided to establish the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation, at the Energy Ministerial meeting hosted by Japan in the frame of the 2008 G8 Presidency, in Aomori.^[11]

Renewable energy[link]

In the past, the IEA has been criticized by environmental groups for underplaying the role of renewable energy technologies in favor of nuclear and fossil-fuels.^[12] In 2009, Guy Pearse stated that the IEA has consistently underestimated the potential for renewable energy alternatives.^[13]

The Energy Watch Group (EWG), a coalition of scientists and politicians which analyses official energy industry predictions, claims that the IEA has had an institutional bias towards traditional energy sources and has been using "misleading data" to undermine the case for renewable energy, such as wind and solar. A 2008 EWG report compares IEA projections about the growth of wind power capacity and finds that it has consistently underestimated the amount of energy the wind power industry can deliver.^[14]

For example, in 1998, the IEA predicted global wind electricity generation would total 47.4 GW by 2020, but EWG's report states that this level was reached by the end of 2004.^[15] The report also said that the IEA has not learned the lesson of previous underestimates, and last year net additions of wind power globally were four times greater than the average IEA estimate from its 1995-2004 predictions.^[14]

Amid discontent from across the renewables sector at the IEA's performance as a global energy watchdog, the International Renewable Energy Agency was formed on January 26, 2009. The aim is to have the agency fully operational by 2010 with an initial annual budget of €25m.^[16]

The IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (PVPS) is one of the collaborative R&D Agreements established within the IEA and, since its establishment in 1993, the PVPS participants have been conducting a variety of joint projects in the application of photovoltaic conversion of solar energy into electricity.

According to a 2011 projection by the International Energy Agency, solar power generators may produce most of the world’s electricity within 50 years, dramatically reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases that harm the environment. Cedric Philibert, senior analyst in the renewable energy division at the IEA said: “Photovoltaic and solar-thermal plants may meet most of the world’s demand for electricity by 2060 -- and half of all energy needs -- with wind, hydropower and biomass plants supplying much of the remaining generation”. “Photovoltaic and concentrated solar power together can become the major source of electricity,” Philibert said.^[17]

In 2011, IEA chief economist Faith Birol said the current $409 billion equivalent of fossil fuel subsidies are encouraging a wasteful use of energy, and that the cuts in subsidies is the biggest policy item that would help renewable energies get more market share and reduce CO2 emissions.^[18]

In November 2011, an IEA report entitled Deploying Renewables 2011 said "renewable energy technology is becoming increasingly cost competitive and growth rates are in line to meet levels required of a sustainable energy future". The report also said "subsidies in green energy technologies that were not yet competitive are justified in order to give an incentive to investing into technologies with clear environmental and energy security benefits". The renewable electricity sector has "grown rapidly in the past five years and now provides nearly 20 percent of the world's power generation", the IEA said.^[12] The IEA's report disagreed with claims that renewable energy technologies are only viable through costly subsidies and not able to produce energy reliably to meet demand. "A portfolio of renewable energy technologies is becoming cost-competitive in an increasingly broad range of circumstances, in some cases providing investment opportunities without the need for specific economic support," the IEA said, and added that "cost reductions in critical technologies, such as wind and solar, are set to continue."^[12]

For the first time in 2012, an annual medium-term report which analyses the renewable energy sector will be published by the IEA. This publication on renewable energy - "which is now the fastest growing sector of the energy mix and accounts for almost a fifth of all electricity produced worldwide - will join annual medium-term reports on oil, gas and coal, which the IEA already produces". With this report, "renewable energy takes its rightful seat at the table alongside the other major energy sources".^[19]

Peak oil[link]

Ahead of the launch of the 2009 World Energy Outlook, the British daily newspaper The Guardian, referring to an unidentified senior IEA official, alleged that the agency was deliberately downplaying the risk of peak oil under pressures from the USA. According to a second unidentified former senior IEA official it was "imperative not to anger the Americans" and that the world has already entered the 'peak oil' zone.^[20]

The Guardian also referred to a team of scientists from Uppsala University in Sweden who studied the 2008 World Energy Outlook and concluded the forecasts of the IEA were unattainable. According to their peer-reviewed report, oil production in 2030 would not exceed 75 million barrels per day (11.9×10^⁶ m³/d) while the IEA forecasts a production of 105 million barrels per day (16.7×10^⁶ m³/d). The lead author of the report, Dr. Kjell Aleklett, has claimed that IEA's reports are "political documents".^[21]

The anticorruption NGO Global Witness wrote in its report Heads in the Sand that "Global Witness' analysis demonstrates that the Agency continues to retain an overly-optimistic, and therefore misleading, view about potential future oil production." According to Global Witness, "the Agency's over-confidence, despite credible data, external analysis and underlying fundamentals all strongly suggesting a more precautionary approach, has had a disastrous global impact."^[22]

See also[link]

	Energy portal
	Renewable Energy portal

Biography[link]

• Scott, Richard (1994) (PDF). History of the IEA: The First 20 Years. Volume I: Origins and Structure. OECD/IEA. ISBN 92-64-14059-X. http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/1990/1-ieahistory.pdf. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• International Energy Agency
• IEA- Annex 18
• Decision establishing an International Energy Agency
• World Energy Outlook
• IEA's Database of Energy Efficiency Policies and Measures
• IEA's Database of Climate Change Policies and Measures
• IEA Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems Programme (ECBCS)

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Fatih Birol
Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev
Born	(1958-03-22) March 22, 1958 (age 54) Ankara, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Occupation	Chief Economist, International Energy Agency

Dr Fatih Birol (1958 Ankara, Turkey) is the Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency and Director, Office of The Chief Economist, with overall responsibility for the organisation's economic analysis of energy and climate change policy.^[1] He oversees the annual World Energy Outlook series which is the flagship publication of the IEA and is recognized as an authoritative source for energy analysis and projections.

He is also responsible for the IEA Energy Business Council ^[2] which provides policymakers with a business perspective on energy market issues.

Awards[link]

Throughout his career, Dr. Birol has been decorated with numerous awards in recognition of his contribution to the energy debate. He was recently named by Forbes Magazine as the world's fourth most powerful person in terms of influence on the world's energy scene.

In 2009, alongside awards from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Polish Ministry of Economy, Dr. Birol was honoured with the Officers Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland). He was awarded the Golden Honour Medal of the Austrian Republic in 2007 and was made a Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Government in 2006. He received the annual award of the International Association of Energy Economics for 'Outstanding Contribution to the Profession' in 2005. These followed awards from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2004 and the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2002.

Fatih Birol (middle) and U.S. Secretary Steven Chu at the Oxford Union

Early career[link]

Prior to joining the IEA, Dr Birol worked for six years at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna.

He is a frequent contributor to print and electronic media ^[3] and delivers numerous speeches each year at major international summits and conferences.^[4] He earned a BSc degree in power engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul. He received his MSc and PhD in energy economics from the Technical University of Vienna.

Outlook[link]

In the International Energy Agency annual World Energy Outlook report, 2011, Birol is quoted as saying “Energy will become viciously more expensive and polluting if governments don’t promote renewable and nuclear power in the next two decades instead of burning coal”.^[5][6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Fatih Birol's biography
• International Energy Agency
• World Energy Outlook
• IEA Energy Business Council