Fossil-based energy use and production are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Given the dominance of fossil fuels as global energy sources – a dominance that is projected to continue in coming decades – it is increasingly clear that meeting the global challenge of climate change will require development and deployment of advanced technology in the energy field. A wide range of regional, national, and international strategies are being pursued to mitigate energy-related greenhouse gases. On the national front, President Bush has established the Global Climate Change Initiative to guide multi-agency efforts, particularly those carried out through the Climate Change Technology Program and Climate Change Science Program.

	CLICK ON GRAPHICS TO ENLARGE
	All fossil-based fuels and end uses contribute to carbon dioxide emissions.

Worldwide production and use of fossil energy are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. In the United States specifically, 85 percent of human-made greenhouse gas emissions are energy related. Carbon dioxide is by far the dominant of these energy-related emissions, accounting for 95 percent of the total.¹

Compared to carbon dioxide emissions, volumes of methane from energy-related sources are far lower (4 percent of the total). Yet the global warming potential of this gas is much greater, making sources of fugitive methane (natural gas pipeline and storage systems, coal mining, and landfills) meaningful targets for greenhouse gas reduction as well.

	Sources: World Coal Council

Many market-based policy options have been offered to mitigate climate change on a national or international scale, including carbon taxes, cap and trade systems, incentive programs to promote changes to low- or zero-carbon emitting technologies, and various geo-engineering concepts for carbon sequestration. In addition, a range of smaller-scale and technology-specific approaches are being considered.

U.S. Policy Initiatives
When President Bush announced his Global Climate Change Initiative in February 2002, he committed the United States to a new strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade. The initiative calls for an 18 percent reduction in greenhouse gas intensity – the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to economic output – by 2012. Focusing on greenhouse gas intensity in the short term enables the sustained economic growth needed to develop new, clean energy technologies over the longer term.

To support the President's Global Climate Change Initiative, DOE released its Vision and Framework for the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program in August 2005. The Vision and Framework – a comprehensive strategy to promote the use of technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – provides guidance and direction to the ten Federal agencies involved in climate change research and development. The document outlines actions needed to achieve six complementary goals:

• Reducing emissions from energy use and infrastructure
• Reducing emissions from energy supply
• Capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide
• Reducing emissions of other greenhouse gases
• Measuring and monitoring emissions
• Bolstering the contributions of basic science to climate change.

The Climate Change Technology Program's activities form the technology component of a comprehensive U.S. approach to climate change, which also includes short-term actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity, advance climate science, and promote international cooperation. The CCTP was established by President Bush to strengthen and coordinate research and development efforts in the climate change arena and to accelerate the development and eventual deployment of the technologies needed to both power economic growth and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

International Policy Initiatives
The United States is not alone in its quest to prevent climate change. The issue is a global one, with global consequences. The seriousness of the issue and the worldwide commitment to finding solutions are evidenced by the fact that 189² countries, including the United States, have ratified the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since it was opened to signatures in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Entered into force in March 1994, the UNFCCC is a crucial step in the direction of aiming to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The Convention on Climate Change sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Under the Convention, governments:

• Gather and share information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies, and best practices
• Launch national strategies for addressing greenhouse emissions and adapting to expected impacts, including the provision of financial and technological support to developing countries
• Cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

After governments adopted the UNFCCC in 1994, a new round of talks was launched to decide on stronger and more detailed commitments for industrialized countries. After two and a half years of negotiations, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997. As of September 2005, 156³ states and regional economic integration units have signed the Protocol. The United States has elected not to sign this international agreement, which sets legally binding targets and timetables for cutting the greenhouse gas emissions of industrialized countries.

Instead, in 2003, the United States established the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, an international climate change initiative focused on the development of carbon capture and storage technologies as a means to accomplishing long-term stabilization of greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. This initiative is designed to improve carbon capture and storage technologies through coordinated research and development with international partners and private industry. Through September 2005, CSLF partners include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, European Commission, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Russian Federation, South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States.