Fatih Birol

05Apr

Innovation as a Path Forward on Energy and Climate Includes all Fuels

Just when you think the global energy crisis has reached rock bottom, it seems to find new depths. March will go down in the record books as the most expensive month for power prices in European history. And while the acute nature of the current pain stems from Russia’s weaponization of its energy resources, it’s […]
27Oct

Energy Reality Hangs Over Glasgow

The global energy crisis has come at an incredibly important moment. In the run up to the United Nation’s climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the world is getting a fresh reminder of the importance of existing energy systems and the precarious nature of the energy security, reliability and affordability too often taken for granted. […]
21Jul

Charting a Course Towards Globally Replicable Emissions Reduction

As much attention as domestic climate and energy policy are given, few policymakers seem willing to grapple with global energy trends and reality. Senator Joe Manchin is not one of them. As the senator has repeatedly pointed out, the energy transition and the move away from fossil fuels simply isn’t happening in much of the […]
30Jun

The World Needs U.S. Leadership on Coal CCUS

For years, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) was seen as just a coal technology, dismissed by environmentalists as little more than a talking point, an unnecessary or false solution to addressing emissions. Today, energy and climate experts – from Dr. Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, to John Kerry, the […]
10Mar

The Path Forward Goes Through CCUS

Does the world have the technology solutions it needs to decarbonize? The answer, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and technologists, including Bill Gates, is a resounding no. The ongoing debate about and relentless focus on near-term national emissions goals misses the bigger, far more important picture. The U.S. is likely to contribute 5% […]
04Feb

Dr. Birol’s Most Vital, Most Critical Technology

For any “Groundhog Day” fans, watching Dr. Fatih Birol testify before Congress catches us all in a Bill Murray moment. For the last three years, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Executive Director, Dr. Fatih Birol, has testified in front of Congress on energy issues and the climate challenge. Each time he testifies he is as […]
21Oct

An Energy and Emissions Reality Check from Candidate Biden

In a townhall last week, Joe Biden sought to distance himself and his energy plan from the Green New Deal. “The difference between me and the new green deal is they say, automatically, by 2030 we’re going to be carbon free. Not possible,” Biden said. He continued, making a case for investment into carbon capture, […]
17Sep

The Urgency Continues to Build for U.S. Leadership on CCUS

The clean energy technologies we will need tomorrow hinge on innovation today. That is the bottom line of a new International Energy Agency (IEA) study that analyzes what is needed to achieve global emissions reduction goals. What’s abundantly clear from IEA’s analysis is that the favorite technologies of American climate hawks – namely wind and […]
23Jul

Growing Urgency for U.S. Leadership on Advanced Coal Technology

Not nearly enough. That’s the conclusion of two new reports examining what’s being done to develop and deploy emissions-reduction technology for coal plants. The reports, one from the National Coal Council (NCC) and the other from the International Energy Agency (IEA), paint a clear picture about the urgency and necessity of doubling down on research, […]
24Jun

Coal Remains the World’s Leading Fuel for Electricity Generation

The world needs U.S. coal technology leadership more than ever. And if the U.S. is indeed concerned with tackling the global emissions challenge, coal technology can’t be an afterthought in the climate equation, it needs to be a centerpiece of the effort. The 2020 BP Statistical Review of World Energy highlights a trend that is […]