The need for an international public/private collaborative program to address the challenges of climate change was identified in the late 1990s by investigators from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, operated by Battelle, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Phase I of the program, initiated in 1998, culminated in the publication of a document summarizing key findings, "Global Energy Technology Strategy: Addressing Climate Change". These findings were presented at the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as in testimony before the U.S. Senate and in numerous other policy and scientific venues. This work has laid the foundation for developing a long-term technological response to climate change in the United States and continues to be influential in the development and implementation of international climate policy.
Results of GTSP Phase I
- Climate is a long-term problem, with implications for actions today.
- Stabilizing the concentration of CO2 means fundamental change to the global energy system.
- Current investments in energy technology R&D that could reduce the cost of stabilization of greenhouse gases are inadequate.
- A strategy to develop and deploy technology should be part of a robust response to the climate change issue-along with climate science research, development of emissions limitation policy, and adaptation measures.