Maria Van der Hoeven took over as Executive Director of the IEA on 1 September 2011. Previously, she served as Minister of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands from 2007 to 2010, and as Minister of Education, Culture and Science from 2002 to 2007. She was an elected member of the Netherlands House of Representatives of the States General from 1991 to 2002.
Q1. What do you hope to achieve in your tenure as Executive Director of IEA?
Maria Van der Hoeven: While we rely on our Members to set the direction of our work, my priority is to see to it that the IEA focuses on its core business of energy security in this time of unprecedented economic uncertainty. We must bring our vast expertise to the table and work with Member governments, non-Member governments and industry to advance policies that will lead to smart energy investments and encourage sensible behaviour. Only in this way can we expect to reshape world energy systems to be more secure, diverse, open and sustainable.
To achieve those goals, it is also important that the IEA evolve to further embrace non-Member partner countries. I am very satisfied with the outstanding co-operation that the IEA has with China, India and Russia, and we enhanced that cooperation during the IEA Ministerial meeting on 18-19 October in Paris. Also present at the Ministerial were delegations from Brazil, Chile, Estonia, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa. Obviously, strengthening the IEA's ties with all of these countries is a top priority of mine in the coming years.
Q2. The IEA recently intervened directly in the oil market for only the third time in its 40-year history, with members releasing reserves in an attempt to drive down high prices. Though this did prompt a fall in the oil price, the effect was short lived. You also recently mentioned that the reserves should not be used to lower oil prices. Would you have done it differently then, and how?
MVH: I agree that reserves should not be used in response to price, but rather in response to a supply disruption. However, when IEA Member countries decided to release 60 million barrels of emergency oil stocks this past June, they were doing just this: Acting to ensure adequately supplied markets in a time of supply disruption. The Libya Collective Action that our members undertook aimed to add liquidity to a market that was both confronting the loss of Libyan supply and anticipating a seasonal rise in oil demand during the third quarter. The action was intended to act as a bridge to higher OPEC supply, and we believe the action met its aims. In September, our members decided to formally end the action, but we continue to monitor the market and are prepared to act again if there is a significant supply disruption, or an imminent threat thereof.
Q3. There have been claims that IEA is too focused on fossil fuels. Given your own personal conviction that energy production and use should be made comprehensively more efficient and cleaner by improving energy efficiency, developing and using renewables, how would you reconcile both aspects
MVH: One need only look at the way the IEA is structured today and the work in which we are engaged to see how our organisation has evolved over the last four decades to meet the challenge of ensuring a more secure, sustainable energy future.
When the IEA was established in 1974, its core mission was to ensure security of oil supplies for its members. That is still key to our work today, but the IEA has changed a great deal over the past 37 years. Those who think we are too focused on fossil fuels may be surprised to learn that the largest of our three directorates is the one that deals with sustainable policy and technology. Among the objectives of this directorate are developing global strategies to accelerate market penetration and diffusion of a broad range of energy technologies including transport, buildings and industry; Promoting and supporting the implementation of ambitious, cost-effective policies to improve energy efficiency; And assessing and designing policy responses to energy-related CO2 emissions.
Q4. You recently said that in your opinion, "it will be very difficult to achieve a clean energy household in 2050 without nuclear energy". With the spectre of the Fukushima incident still looming, there is uncertainty as some countries look to abandon their nuclear ambitions while others continue. What are the pertinent issues that governments need to address as they consider their energy mix?
MVH: Every country has a sovereign right to decide on the role of nuclear power in its energy mix. Nevertheless, nuclear is one of the world's largest sources of low-carbon energy, and as such, has made and should continue to make an important contribution to energy security and sustainability.
The 2011 World Energy Outlook, which will be launched on 9 November, will examine the effect of lower nuclear investment in detail. Indeed, a lower nuclear future could open up new opportunities for renewables, particularly as some phase-out plans envision the replacement of nuclear capacity largely with renewable energy sources. However, it is also likely to lead to higher demand for gas and coal, higher electricity prices, increased import dependency on fossil fuels and electricity, and more difficult decarbonisation. Such a scenario would therefore make it much more difficult for the world to meet the 2C climate stabilisation goal, and would have potentially negative impacts on energy security.
Q5. A Memorandum of Understanding was recently signed between ASEAN and the IEA at the 29th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting, with the objective of strengthening regional cooperation between both parties. How do you plan to engage ASEAN on the challenges of energy security and climate change, against a backdrop of unprecedented economic uncertainty?
MVH: I will answer your question in two parts.
First, I have to say that the IEA has been working with ASEAN member countries on regional and bilateral programmes since early 2000. Consequently, we were very pleased to sign the ASEAN-IEA Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Co-operation because it gave both a formal recognition of our work to date and support for our programmes in the future.
In relation to ASEAN energy challenges, our 2010 World Energy Outlook estimated that ASEAN's primary energy demand will jump by 84 percent between 2008 and 2035. So, independent of the current global economic uncertainty, ASEAN will face major challenges on the energy front as ASEAN rapidly develops. Secure and sustainable energy, and reducing GHG emissions are key. We are planning two major ASEAN-IEA projects at the moment: Examining how best to assist ASEAN prepare for potential oil supply disruptions, and modelling and analysing future best technologies for the power sectors of ASEAN's member countries. We are happy to consider how our research, statistics, and analysis can be best used to address these pressing challenges to ensure secure and sustainable energy.