The IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG) is an Implementing Agreement of the International Energy Agency

International Energy Agency

The International Energy Agency is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis...

, and was founded in 1991. IEA GHG is an international collaborative research programme focusing its efforts on studying technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. IEA GHG aims to provide its members with informed information on the role that technology can play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The IEA GHG Programme has three main activities which are:

• Evaluation of technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
• Promotion and dissemination of results and data from its evaluation studies,
• Facilitating practical research, development and demonstration activities (R,D&D)

IEA GHG’s activities to date have covered all the main anthropogenic greenhouse gas

Greenhouse gas

A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...

es (CO₂

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

, CH₄

Methane

Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...

, N₂O

Nitrous oxide

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...

 and High GWP gases), although the work remains primarily focused on ways to control and reduce emissions of CO₂, which is the principal greenhouse gas.

Programme Members

The members of the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme are made up of a number of member countries, the European Commission and multi-national industrial sponsors. Each member pays into a common research fund and has a seat on the IEA GHG Programme’s governing board, the Executive Committee, which meets twice yearly.

• IEA GHG Members

Technical Evaluations

Technical and economic evaluations of technology options for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. The technical options considered cover include all the major sectors where greenhouse gas emissions arise, which includes the: power generation, major industrial, transportation and building sectors. These evaluations provide objective information to IEA GHG members which can then be used by the policy making, industrial, scientific and academic communities. The Technical Reports are available to organisations in all member countries and to all sponsor organizations free of charge. Non members are able to access the reports for a charge.

Networks

IEA GHG is in a unique position to facilitate co-operation between the leading research groups on greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. IEA GHG therefore coordinates several international research networks. The networks bring together the expertise and experience of organisations at the forefront of research, development and demonstration into GHG mitigation technologies.

Practical Research & Development

In order to assist in moving technologies towards application, IEA GHG encourages practical development and demonstration (R, D&D) projects. Practical R, D&D projects can play an important role in this area by helping to build confidence in technologies. IEA GHG does not itself have sufficient resources to fund practical R, D&D projects, but it can participate in these activities and in so doing gain an insight into the results obtained and feed this information back to its members and into its technical evaluation activities.

Publications

The IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG) provides publicly available information through a number of channels on work related to its activities. These dissemination activities include a regular bimonthly newsletter and topical summary reports.

Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conferences

The Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT) conference series was formed in 1997 following the merger of the earlier series of ICCDR and the Greenhouse Gas: Mitigation options conference. The IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D programme (IEA GHG) is the guardian of the conference series. The GHGT conferences are held every two years in IEA GHG’s member countries. The conference series rotates between, North America, Europe and Asia. The GHGT conference series has established itself as the principal international conference on greenhouse mitigation technologies. The GHGT conference series has become a focal point for international research on CO₂ capture and storage. Interest in the topic of CO₂ capture and storage has grown considerably in recent years, as has research funding which is reflected in the large number of papers presented at this conference on the topic.

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

IEA GHG has been instrumental in establishing a new journal with Elsevier. The journal entitled “The International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control” will cover developments in greenhouse gas control in the power sectors and in the major manufacturing and production industries. It will aim to cover all greenhouse gas emissions and the range of abatement options available, and comprise both technical and non technical related literature in one volume.

Summer School on Carbon Capture and Storage

A new international initiative to develop an annual summer school on CCS. The first of these summer schools takes place in August 2007 in Germany and the second in Canada in 2008. These and are planned to be held annually rotating around the world. The target group are young scientists, e.g. PhD students and Post Docs with background in engineering, geo-technologies, socio-economics. The goal is to provide students with diverse backgrounds a broad understanding of the issues surrounding CCS and encourage their active participation in this area.