Responding to a Gleneagles G8 Summit request, this book shows how changes in energy efficiency, economic structure, income, prices and fuel mix have affected recent trends in energy use and CO2 emissions in IEA countries. The results are a “wake-up call” for us all. Since 1990, the rate of...

Highly volatile electricity prices are becoming a more frequent and unwanted characteristic of modern electricity wholesale markets. But low demand elasticity, mainly the result of a lack of incentives and consumers’ inability to control demand, means that consumer behaviour is not reflected...

This book analyses the most recent developments in security of gas supply and reliability in all IEA regions. Reform has led to open markets, where supply and demand are balanced by the market. In the gas sector, supply is capacity-bound and large parts of the demand side are inelastic. The...

Electric power in OECD countries is mostly produced by large central generating stations, then transmitted along high voltage lines to local distribution systems that carry it to final consumers. Distributed generation plants are different. They produce power on an electricity consumer’s own...

In most IEA Member countries, natural gas demand varies strongly during the year, according to temperature. Flexibility is needed to cover seasonal swings and variations in gas demand, especially for household customers. This book analyses how new flexibility tools and mechanisms are developing...