The Global Energy Technology Strategy Program (GTSP) is a long-term research program designed to address climate change issues within the context of an international, public/private collaboration. The objective of the program is to assess the role that technology can play in addressing the long-term risks of climate change. Our approach to these questions builds on our unique integrated modeling framework and related tools for understanding the dynamics of the interactions among energy needs, technology options, the economy, natural resources and land use (including agriculture), and climate change. Research is conducted in collaboration with scientists from institutions around the world. An international steering group representing diverse perspectives and interests from government agencies, research institutions, and private industry guides the GTSP research agenda. GTSP sponsors serve a key role in supporting research that will provide options and solutions to climate change impacts.
The Need for a Strategic Perspective
The long-term impact of climate change is one of most critical challenges facing our world today. Technology can and will play a major role in addressing the long-term risks of climate change. Decisions made today, however, can cost us trillions of dollars in the future if they are not made with a sound understanding of the existing energy infrastructures worldwide, the realities of capital stock turnover, and the role of innovation in pacing change. Many potential pathways can help stabilize atmospheric carbon concentrations while at the same time delivering the economic growth, development, and energy security demanded by society.
Improved technology options can both reduce the amount of energy needed to produce a unit of economic output and at the same time lower the carbon emissions per unit of energy used. Incremental improvements in technology help, but will not get us where we need to go. The current rate of public investment in energy R&D is not sufficient to achieve even the baseline technological improvements projected in current global change scenarios. A technology strategy that identifies a diversified portfolio of options and their likely timeframes for development and deployment is required to manage the uncertainties of the timing and regional impacts of climate change. Companies interested in managing their risks and preserving long-term flexibility in a carbon-constrained world need to understand their options and the global energy-economic systems within which these technologies are deployed.