Improvements in technology continue to transform the outlook for the energy sector, driving changes in business models, energy demand and supply patterns as well as regulatory approaches. What are the opportunities and challenges of scaling and accelerating the deployment of clean energy technologies? Eric Masanet, the head of the Energy Demand Technology Unit at the International Energy Agency (IEA), will present the IEA’s newly-launched Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) 2017—the agency’s annual comprehensive publication focused on global energy technology transformations. For the first time, ETP 2017 looks at how far clean energy technologies could move the energy sector towards higher climate change ambitions if technological innovations were pushed to their maximum practical limits. The analysis shows that, while policy support would be needed beyond anything seen to date, such a push could result in greenhouse gas emission levels that are consistent with the mid-point of the target temperature range of the Paris Agreement. The publication also features the annual IEA Tracking Clean Energy Progress report, which shows that the current global progress in clean energy technology development and deployment remains sub-optimal. A summary of key findings can be found, here.
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