International body calls for $45T investment in energy infrastructure

Nuclear power and sequestration of coal power plant emissions will play an important role in reducing carbon emissions, an international policy group said today.

In moves aimed at mitigating global temperature increases below 2.4^oC, reducing CO₂ levels below where they are today, the International Energy Agency (IEA) called for a dramatic increase in investment in clean technology.

The IEA's new BLUE plan calls for annual investments between 2010 and 2050 to "decarbonize" the power sector requiring, among other efforts, 55 fossil-fueled power plants with carbon capture and sequestration, 32 nuclear plants, 17,500 large wind turbines and 215 million square meters of solar panels.

The organization's new BLUE map also calls for widespread adoption of near-zero emissions buildings and, in one set of assumptions, deployment of nearly a billion electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Identifying some 17 technologies in total in its report, IEA noted that "there is currently no single technology that can lead to a sustainable energy future."

The BLUE scenario also forecasts carbon prices rising to between $200/tonne and $500/tonne by 2050, depending on the level of technology progress.

Another less aggressive scenario presented by the IEA, named ATC, shows how CO₂ emissions could be brought back to current levels by 2050.

In either of the scenarios, innovation and investment must clearly continue, said the IEA.

"While RDD&D spending has declined in recent years, we need to reverse this trend." 

The IEA advises on energy policy to 27 countries, and was founded during the oil crisis of 1973-74 to coordinate measures in times of oil supply emergencies.

It employs 190 people around the world.