Consensus Science Roadmap Published for Directing Global Energy Development

Consensus Science Roadmap Published for Directing Global Energy Development

October 22, 2007

'Lighting the way' details scientific framework for
securing economic growth and climate protection


    BEIJING, Oct. 22 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The
InterAcademy Council released a report today commissioned
by the governments of Brazil and China identifying and
detailing the scientific consensus framework for directing
global energy development. Lighting the way: Toward a
sustainable energy future lays out the science, technology
and policy roadmap for developing energy resources to drive
economic growth in both industrialized and developing
countries while also securing climate protection and global
development goals. 

    An international teleconference for news media will be
held on Monday, Oct. 22, at 10 AM U.S. EDT/ 12 Noon Brazil/
2 PM GMT/ 3 PM London/ 10 PM CST (China Standard Time).
Call-in information is available upon request. 
    Lighting the way calls for immediate and simultaneous
action in three areas: 
    
    -- Concerted efforts should be mounted to improve
energy efficiency and 
       reduce the carbon intensity of the world economy,
including the 
       worldwide introduction of price signals for carbon
emissions. 

    -- Technologies should be developed and deployed for
capturing and 
       sequestering carbon from fossil fuels, particularly
coal. 

    -- Development and deployment of renewable energy
technologies should be 
       accelerated in an environmentally responsible way.

    "The 'business as usual' energy path we are on
today is not sustainable and is counter to the long-term
prosperity of every nation," said Nobel Laureate
Steven Chu today, co-chair of Lighting the Way and Director
of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.  "This report
stresses the urgency of the energy problem, and then goes
on to describe technologies that can be applied today,
needed scientific and technological innovations, and policy
tools that could be used to help policy makers guide their
countries toward a more prosperous, secure and
environmentally sound energy future." 

    Lighting the way recommends that governments, united in
inter-governmental organizations, should agree on realistic
price signals for carbon emissions, recognizing that the
economics and energy systems of different countries will
result in different individual strategies and trajectories.


    The report has been delivered directly to leaders of
the Chinese and Brazilian governments by the study
co-chairs Chu and Jose Goldemberg, former Secretary of
State for the Environment for the State of Sao Paulo,
Brazil. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao personally received the
report's findings and recommendations in a meeting with Chu
in Beijing and Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology
Sergio Machado Rezende received the report in a meeting
with Goldemberg. 

    Lighting the way was produced by a study panel of 15
world-renowned energy experts from Brazil, China, Europe,
India, Japan, Russia, the US and other nations, chosen from
nominations by over 90 academies of science around the
world. The InterAcademy Council, representing the world's
leading academies of science, engineering, and medicine,
appointed the panel that includes Rajendra Pachauri,
Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. 

    Lighting the way is available in its complete form on
the IAC website, http://www.interacademycouncil.net . 

    The InterAcademy Council launched the study in 2005 and
commissioned 19 reports to inform seven energy workshops
held in 2005 and 2006. The report underwent an extensive
peer review monitored by Ralph Cicerone, President of the
U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and R.A. Mashelkar,
President of the Indian National Science Academy, and
incorporates the analysis and actions of leading global
energy and development institutions, such as the United
Nations Development Program, the World Bank and the
International Energy Agency. 

    Addressing the unequal access to energy and economic
development experienced by one-third of the world's
population, Lighting the way calls for ensuring access to
basic, modern energy services to the world's poorest people
as a necessary part of global energy development. The report
concludes that it is in the best economic and societal
interest of developing nations to "leapfrog" past
the wasteful energy trajectory followed by today's
industrialized nations, and provides recommendations for
how governments, industry and multinational agencies, such
as the United Nations and the World Bank, can pave the way.


    Lighting the way outlines incentives that can
accelerate the development of innovative solutions,
provides recommendations for financial investments in
research and development, and explores other transition
pathways that can transform the landscape of energy supply
and demand around the globe. 

    In addressing mitigation of the environmental impacts
of energy generation and use, Lighting the way will inform
global action on climate change, such as implementation of
the Kyoto Protocol, agenda setting for the Asia-Pacific
Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, and ongoing
multinational talks on future global action to reduce
greenhouse emissions. 

    For more information and to download the report, visit
the IAC website at: http://www.interacademycouncil.net .


    For more information, please contact:

     John P. Campbell 
     InterAcademy Council
     Tel:   [phone]
            [phone]

     Anne Boyd Rabkin 
     Resource Media
     Tel:   [phone] x302
            [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]