Speeches and Remarks 2006

Making Our Energy Economies Secure -- The Green Way

By Geoffrey R. Pyatt

This signed article appeared in the August 19, 2006 issue of The Economic Times

India and the United States share a deep and abiding interest in assuring reliable and abundant energy to power our economies and provide a basic foundation for the prosperity of our citizens. We also share a vision of promoting clean energy practices and clean development globally. 

President Bush has committed the U.S. to reducing the greenhouse gas intensity by 18 percent. India has ambitious renewable energy targets in place. How can we work together to promote environmental protection in a way that promotes prosperity and meets our energy needs?  The answer is to work in partnership to develop and deploy new technologies, build economic growth and forge proactive shared strategies to promote cleaner development. The U.S. and India are cooperating on many fronts to achieve these goals. 

I would like to highlight the innovative Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP) on Clean Development and Climate, President Bush's initiative to create new investment opportunities, build local capacity, and remove barriers to the introduction of clean energy technologies. Together, the six nations that make up the APP - China, India, Republic of Korea, Australia, Japan, and the U.S. - account for about half of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and a significant amount of total global economic output.

APP will pursue activities that promote the multiple benefits of enhanced energy security and efficiency, reducing pollution, and ensuring the welfare of our citizens. Our Partnership will work from the bottom up, focusing on projects that will produce measurable results in improving efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our industrial facilities, power plants, mines, buildings and appliances.  It will provide training, apply software tools and support the development of regional standards and labeling programs.

The Partnership is centered on the power of the marketplace and transformational technologies to foster economic growth and spur environmental progress.  In tandem with the private sector, its shared vision strengthens each partner's ability to meet their respective goals.  The APP countries welcomed over 150 industry representatives at the Ministerial launch in Sydney this past January. Ultimately it is the private sector that will deploy clean technologies and this input and participation are essential.

In the near-term, the Partnership will identify opportunities for working with the private sector to deploy cleaner energy technologies that will increase access to energy in developing countries while also mitigating air pollution and reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of our economies. We will, for example, support rural development by modernizing and improving the efficiency of hydro and geothermal power plants and solar, wind and bio-generation technologies. We will promote advanced coal technology research, including clean coal projects like the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle.  Additional collaboration is anticipated in reducing emissions by the cement industry and in improving the efficiency of hydrogen fuel. 

In the longer term, new clean technologies offer opportunities to make our energy economies more secure while achieving dramatic reductions air pollution and greenhouse gases. The medium and longer-term focus of this Partnership will be on developing and commercializing transformational energy technologies. Revolutionizing energy production will help achieve substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. 

The APP focuses upon practices that can improve efficiency without sacrificing profitability. Adoption of clean technologies must be done in cooperation with private industry and considering market forces.  Private sector involvement is the key to selecting practical and innovative projects that promote near-term results.  Government involvement is also necessary to engage the correct public sector officials and remove barriers to transitioning technology. 

And so far, the partnership is working. Eight task forces were designated under the framework of the APP (coal mining, steel, cement, power generation and transmission, cleaner fossil energy, cement, renewable energy and distributed generation, and aluminum).  Each task force composed of industry and government leaders has independently designed action plans that work toward the clean development and climate goals of the APP. 

On August 8-9, 2006, India hosted a meeting of the Coal Mining Task Force of which the U.S. and India are Chairs and Co-Chairs, respectively. They are discussing the potential launch of a range of projects that will have important health and environmental benefits.  One project plans to provide coal companies in India the ability to use underground coal gasification (UCG) technology.  This technology will allow Indian companies to access the energy resources in deep or inaccessible coal seams. This is only one of a number of projects that will engage India and partner countries in turning clean technology into a profitable market venture.

The Partnership builds upon existing international cooperative efforts launched by President Bush over the past four years, including the GenIV nuclear energy technology partnership, the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, and the Methane to Markets Partnership.  The Partnership also augments the bilateral partnerships already underway between the U.S. and each of the other five nations, including a vibrant U.S.-India bilateral partnership on energy.  These initiatives are part of a consolidated policy program and underpin the logic behind the more than $22 billion that the United States has spent on climate-related activities over the past five years - an unprecedented investment.

In order to advance the goals of the APP, we need to pursue our international efforts in a spirit of collaboration, not coercion, and with a true sense of partnership.  We view India as an essential partner in our efforts to make clean energy and development a global possibility. Its rapidly advancing - in many cases, world class - industries and considerable technical wherewithal will contribute vastly to the partnership.

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The author is Charge d' Affaires at the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi