Frameworks are needed to reduce the carbon intensity of electricity production says new report

A report by the WBCSD Electricity Utilities Sector Project says regulatory and market frameworks are needed in order to deploy low carbon solutions to reduce the carbon intensity of electricity production.

The electricity sector is currently responsible for approximately 41 per cent of global energy related CO2 emissions.

The report, Powering a sustainable future: policies and measures to make it happen, highlights that many low carbon technology solutions exist today but their development and deployment will not happen at a sufficient scale unless such frameworks are introduced.

Specific policies, the report says, will be necessary to drive the implementation of currently available technologies, while large scale multicountry R&D efforts are required for those future solutions that currently face technological or commercial barriers to deployment, such as integrated CCS technology within the sector.

Commenting on the role of business in leading the path towards a low-carbon future, Bjorn Stigson, President of WBCSD, stressed that "business must play a significant role in contributing to the innovation and development of new promising solutions, but support from government and society are needed to both develop and implement technologies at the necessary scale to enable the rapid transition required to tackle climate change.

The potential of end-use energy efficiency is substantial. There is a very real need to educate consumers about the benefits, both financial and for the environment, of energy conservation."

The interim report will be launched at a side event on Tuesday 11 December 2007 during the UNFCCC's climate conference in Bali.