The purpose of this chapter is thus to review the concept of peak oil, critique its main propositions and assess the arguments advanced by oil optimists against those of peak oil. The paper begins with a presentation of the Hubbert peak theory and of some recent applications of the theory at the...

L'avenir du climat planétaire à long terme se jouera au cours des prochaines décennies. Alors que le développement économique s'est fondé depuis deux siècles sur le développement massif des énergies fossiles, la question majeure pour l'énergie au XXIe siècle est certainement celle de...

Few papers have analysed the consequences of low climate stabilisation. Most models and scenarios assume that future trends in global GDP will be similar to the growth experienced in the past century, which would imply multiplying current output nineteen-fold in this century. However, natural...

In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident, countries like Germany and Japan have planned a phase-out of nuclear generation. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has yet to become a commercially viable technology with little prospect of doing so without strong climate policy to spur...

The report is prepared with three main objectives: i/ Review of general information and scientific literature to be shared with members of the scientific committee and with other contributors to the seminar. ii/ Analysis of energy trends and carbon emission patterns, and identification of major...

One of the most important outcomes during the last Conferences of the Parties was the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, which can be seen not only as a window of opportunity, but as a necessity to act. Our concern in the present paper is with the identification of an appropriate international...

This paper aims at clarifying some conceptual flaws blurring the equity-efficiency debates involved in the setting of objectives of GHGs emissions control beyond 2012. To this end, it carries out numerical experiments that test the viability of agreements grounded on two contrasting target...

This paper explores various dimensions of the learning process for low-carbon technologies under different mitigation scenarios. It uses the POLES model, which addresses learning as an endogenous phenomenon with learning curves, and a set of scenarios developed as part of the AMPERE project. It...