The prospect of handling soaring electricity demand within a carbon-constrained energy sector has placed smart grids centre-stage on the global energy scene. A smart-grid future has vast ramifications and involves numerous stakeholders. To explore collaborative pathways towards widespread smart grids and feed into an upcoming IEA smart grids technology roadmap, the IEA organised a “Smart Grid – Smart Customer Policy Workshop” in Washington DC (United States) on 23-24 September. The meeting took place alongside the inaugural GridWise Global Forum, co-hosted by the GridWise Alliance and the United States Department of Energy, and organised in partnership with the IEA and others. To learn more about the promises and challenges of smart grids, theOPEN Bulletin questioned Guido Bartels, Chairman of the GridWise Alliance, and IBM’s General Manager, Global Energy & Utilities Industry. Click here to read the interview.
Energy poverty: early release of WEO 2010 analysis. Now downloadable, an excerpt from the forthcoming IEA World Energy Outlook 2010 entitled Energy Poverty: How to make modern energy access universal. This analysis provides valuable insight on the energy-access challenge, its magnitude and the scale of investment needed to provide universal access to modern energy services by 2030. The excerpt was released by the IEA in co-operation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) during the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit in New York in September. Visit the WEO energy and development web pages. The IEA World Energy Outlook 2010 will be published on 9 November.
