Vimal Kumar Varun
National Information System for Science & Technology
DSIR, New Delhi-10016
Malti Goel
Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi-110016
The Greenhouse Gas Technology Information Exchange (GREENTIE) is an international programme of the International Energy Agency (IEA). It aims to tackle greenhouse gas related pollution problems by diffusing and exchanging information on technologies. GREENTIE builds on the network that the IEA and OECD have established over 20 years in the global communication of information on science and technology among member countries. GREENTIE, offers free to participating countries.
The GREENTIE published a Directory, which contains contact details from more than 7000 data entries on organizations and experts; covers the fields of energy and greenhouse gas mitigation technologies. The Directory is classified by technology expertise, industry, products, etc.
The Challenge
With concentrations of greenhouse gases such as CO2, CFC’s and methane continuing to rise in the atmosphere, the threat to the global climate is now widely acknowledged. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signatory countries have agreed to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The technologies needed are developing all the time. For all those who are working towards greenhouse gas mitigation, keeping up with the pace of development presents a major challenge. GREENTIE helps to meet this challenge by providing a worldwide information service.
The Likely Benefits
By transferring knowledge on technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, GREENTIE plays a significant role in addressing global environmental concerns. National governments who have joined GREENTIE see it as an important contribution towards their commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
For the scientific community, GREENTIE is a powerful tool for knowledge transfer. For suppliers of technologies, GREENTIE provides access to new markets. And for policy planners and decision makers, the people who can bring about the application of technologies, GREENTIE provides an independent and free information service that can quickly help identify the various options available.
The Concept
Organizations such as R&D institutions, manufacturers and implementing agreements of the IEA and OECD keep detailed information on greenhouse gas mitigation technologies. By forming links with these organizations, GREENTIE has made this information accessible to its users.
Network
To obtain information for the Directory, GREENTIE has set up a global network of contacts made up of GREENTIE Liaison Groups (GLGs) in member countries and other organisations such as the IEA and the OECD. GREENTIE has more than 20 countries participating in building the network in its developing phase. GLGs have the local knowledge needed to identify information sources for greenhouse gas mitigation technologies. They are also on hand to distribute GREENTIE’s products and to help users make effective use of GREENTIE’s facilities. The GREENTIE network is coordinated by GREENTIE Centre in the Netherlands. The GREENTIE concept serves all those whose work concerns greenhouse gas mitigation, including policy makers and planners, to factory managers and engineers.
GREENTIE Products & Services
Through an assessment of user needs, GREENTIE has developed the following range of products:
Enquiry Service
Anyone with a question concerning greenhouse gas mitigation can contact GREENTIE. These questions may seek:
- information on the technology options that are appropriate to a certain situation; or
- information on suppliers of a specific technology.
GREENTIE in its developing phase has developed products for use in answering enquiries.
The Supply Identification Paper (SIP)
SIP is a customised document containing information on relevant technology suppliers. On receiving the enquiry, technical experts at the GREENTIE Centre use the GREENTIE Directory and other database of the IEA and OECD to search out information on the technologies needed to solve the problem, together with contact information on the relevant suppliers. All this data is compiled in a SIP at no charge. With the SIP, the GREENTIE user can take the next step towards greenhouse gas mitigation.
General Readers
While many enquiries are user-specific, some are of a more general nature. A list of priority areas have been identified for preparation of general readers. They are expected to be useful to a wider audience and are therefore dealt with differently. Like the SIP, general readers contain information on technology suppliers and give background information on technologies. Unlike a SIP, a general reader publication is widely distributed, not just in response to enquiries.
The Search From the Directory
Whereas the SIP and general readers contain selected information from the Directory, the full Directory will also be available soon. Two software products, GREENTIE floppy disk and GREENTIE online will bring this information to your fingertips in a digital format.
The Directory is also available in various printed as well as electronic formats in the GREENTIE product range. The major categories include:
Search by Technology Expertise in:
- Energy Supply Technologies: fossil fuels, renewable energy, nuclear, energy transfer.
- Energy End-Use Technologies: transportation, buildings and construction related, industrial .
- Agriculture and forestry, practices.
- Others.
Search by Market Sector:
Agriculture, hunting and forestry; fishing; mining and quarrying; manufacturing; electricity, gas and water supply; construction; transport, storage and communication; financial intermediation; real estate, business activities; public administration and defence education; health and social work; other community and social activities; private households; extra-territorial organisations.
Search by Product or Services:
Project management; consultancy; engineering; traning & education; reasearch & development; resources; equipment /machinery; plants; databank; financing; reports/publications; components; software.
Search by Life-cycle Stage:
Basic reasearch; development; prototyping; demonstration; application.
Search by Greenhouse Gas:
CO2; CFC’s; CH4; N2O; O3; CO; NOx; H2O; and other
The Directory Classification System
The entries in the Directory have all classified using two internationally recognised systems:
- Technical expertise categories: as defined by the IPCC Working Group II, Second Assessment Report.
- Economic Activities: as defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) of all economic activities.
Future Plans
To fulfil its role as effectively as possible, GREENTIE’s product range will continue to expand. The near future will see the introduction of more products, with more in-depth technology information.
Links to other information sources
From the many energy and environment related sites on the Internet, GREENTIE has been developing links with following information centres:
- The International Energy Agency (from April ‘96)
- IEA Technology Information Centres
- IEA-CADDET Energy Efficiency
- IEA-CADDET Renewable Energy
- IEA-Heat Pump Centre
- NOVEM
- CC:INFO, Climate Convention Information
- The World Solar Summit Process
- ETDE
- Oakridge National Laboratories
The Newsletter
GREENTIE distributes a free newsletter called GREENTIMES to update all those concerned with greenhouse gas mitigation on GREENTIE’s activities and products. For more information, please contact Country Liasion Officer: Dr (Mrs) Malti Goel, Director, Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Technology Bhawan, New Delhi-110016, Email : mlg[at]nissat[dot]ernet[dot]in
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are grateful to the Educational & Research Network (ERNET), Department of Electronics, Government of India, Electronics Niketan, 6 CGO Complex, New Delhi-110003 for providing IP Connectivity to GREENTIE’s Home Page (URL http.//www.greentie.org). The second author is also thankful to the Department of Science & Technology for providing encouragement to participate in the GREENTIE programme.
