Renewable Energies (ISPRE) (Disbanded)

Terms of Reference

The central mission of ISPRE is to provide strategic guidance for renewable energy R&D efforts worldwide, in order to help improve the effectiveness and coherence of R&D efforts being implemented at national, regional, and international levels.

To carry out this mission, the main tasks of ISPRE will include:

• to compile information about the current state of renewable energy R&D efforts taking place worldwide;
• to identify critical gaps in existing efforts, and ‘white spots’ on the global R&D map where needed information is not available;
• to develop recommendations for future R&D priorities and strategies;
• to identify opportunities for enhancing synergies and R&D collaborations among public, private, and academic sectors at national, regional and international levels;
• to recommend strategies for fostering greater interaction among nationally-focused and disciplinary-focused R&D efforts;
• to help inform national and international financial institutions of the value of investing in renewable energy R&D efforts, and to help link targeted R&D efforts to existing economic development and technology demonstration projects.

ISPRE will not be directly involved in the development of energy policy or make policy-prescriptive recommendations, but rather will help bridge the way from science to sound policy-making.

ISPRE may recommend strategies for strengthening educational and training efforts, but will not itself organize or carry out educational and training programmes.

These analyses will be communicated in assessment reports, advisory briefs, and other publications as appropriate. The specific focus and timing of ISPRE reports will be determined in accordance with the needs expressed by the sponsors. It is anticipated that a major assessment report will be issued / updated approximately every two years, and that additional publications focused on specific technical topics may be carried out on a more frequent timescale as needed.

The range of topics to be addressed by ISPRE will include the optimization of renewable energy technologies that are already widely used, the further development of emerging technologies that have the potential to make substantial future contributions to global energy supplies, and the examination of numerous cross-cutting issues related to the design and implementation of energy systems and services. The Panel’s focus will extend from basic scientific research to issues of technology development, demonstration, and deployment.

ISPRE will be co-sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS), and the Renewable Energy Policy Network (REN21).