Richard Melson

on 27 - 28 September 2006, in Washington DC, USA.

Natural Gas as a Climate Change Solution:

Breaking down the barriers to methane's expanding role

Methane has the potential to play a significant role in a carbon-constrained
energy future as a relatively low-carbon fuel source. 
While much of the technology necessary to increase the supply of methane to the energy market
exists today, the application of that technology faces an array of commercial,
political, environmental and social barriers before its full potential can be realized. 
In addition, continued research and development of the technology
necessary to commercialize unconventional gas holds the promise of unlocking future reserves.

This one-day workshop will focus on the barriers to bringing methane to market,
with attention to both increasing supply and decreasing fugitive methane
emissions, on the current strategies for breaching these barriers and on case
studies that highlight successful implementation of these strategies.

Co-sponsored by the Methane-to-Markets Partnership, US EPA and IPIECA this day
will serve as an in-depth look at the factors influencing the pace of methane
development and delivery and will touch on a number of the themes addressed in
the Pace of Technology workshop.

Increasing the Pace of Technology Innovation and Application:
Enabling Climate Change Solutions

The creation of energy technology options to meet global demand for energy with
low greenhouse gas emissions is an essential component of a risk management
approach to global climate change. To be effective, the pace of deployment of
commercially viable energy technology is an additional, critical factor. This
workshop will consider the range of actions and policies to address energy
technology in the climate change context: their effectiveness, their depiction
in future scenarios, and the implications for business.

This workshop will bring together experts from academia, business, governments,
policy makers and international and non governmental organizations to improve
understanding of how to increase the pace of technology innovation and
application.

The workshop will focus on:
	Energy outlooks and the pace of technological progress
	Technology portfolio strategies to increase the pace of innovation and
application
	Opportunities and barriers to technology innovation and diffusion
	InnovationÂ  and technology options for efficiency, transport, methane, CO2
capture and geologic storage and energy supply

For more details on the workshop topics, access to the workshop programme and
registration form please click on the following link:

http://www.ipieca.org/