SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Renew-
able Energy Agency (IRENA) Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Renewable energy technology will be critical 
for the United States and the world in overcoming 
dependence on oil and reducing levels of dangerous 
global warming pollution. 
(2) The institutional support for renewable en-
ergy technology needs to be strengthened to match 
this growing level of importance to the United States 
and the world. 
(3) International agencies have been formed on 
two occasions to address the unique problems and 
geopolitical dynamics associated with different en-
ergy sources: the International Atomic Energy Agen-
cy (IAEA) and the International Energy Agency 
(IEA). 
(4) The IAEA, formed in 1957, represents the 
culmination of President Eisenhower’s ‘‘Atoms for 
Peace’’ proposal, emphasizing safe, secure, and 
peaceful use of nuclear technologies. Under the guid-
ance and oversight of the IAEA, nuclear power has 
grown from supplying almost none of the world’s 
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electricity at the IAEA’s founding to nearly 16 per-
cent in 2004. 
(5) The IEA, formed during the 1973–74 Arab 
oil embargo, enhances energy security among oil 
consuming countries through an oil reserve and 
sharing program triggered in the event of an actual 
or potentially severe oil supply disruption. With IEA 
helping to counterbalance the Organization of Petro-
leum Exporting Countries, global oil consumption 
has surged 47 percent over IEA’s lifetime. 
(6) Renewable generating capacity grew 26 
gigawatts in 2005, expanding worldwide nonhydro 
renewable capacity to over 182 gigawatts. However, 
nearly two-thirds of this capacity lies in just six 
countries. Meeting the world’s energy demands in 
the coming century while simultaneously reducing 
heat-trapping emissions and growing the global 
economy will require actions across nations to re-
form policy, expand markets for renewable energy 
technologies, and gather and disseminate informa-
tion and best practices regarding renewable energy 
resources, and appropriate technologies. 
(7) From 1970 to 2005, the direct cost to the 
United States of dependence on foreign oil was 
$7,000,000,000,000 (in constant 2000 dollars). 
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(8) Oil dependence harms the economy and con-
sumers, entangles the military in foreign conflicts, 
and endangers public health and the environment 
through the threat of global warming. 
(9) Significant public health, national security, 
and environmental costs are associated with the 
emission of greenhouse gases from the burning of 
fossil fuels. In the United States and many other 
countries, these costs are not currently paid by the 
polluters—a failure of competitive markets which 
leads to the overuse of carbon-emitting energy and 
the under-production of carbon-free energy. 
(10) Annual revenue of solar, wind, and biofuel 
energy companies increased to $55,000,000,000 in 
2006, a 39 percent increase over 2005. Venture cap-
ital directed towards energy technology has grown 
from less than $50,000,000 a year in 1996 to over 
$2,400,000,000 in 2006, representing nearly 10 per-
cent of total venture capital investment in the 
United States. 
(11) In the United States alone, over a billion 
tons of greenhouse gas emissions could be eliminated 
each year at a profit through energy efficiency meas-
ures by 2030, avoiding the construction of hundreds 
of power plants. 
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(12) Renewable energy tends to have higher 
construction and maintenance costs and low or zero 
fuel costs, while fossil energy has an opposite cost 
structure. This results in a higher number of jobs 
per unit of energy generated from renewable energy 
than conventional fossil fuels. The construction, 
manufacturing, installation, operation and mainte-
nance jobs produced by a megawatt of photovoltaic 
solar, for example, is 7 to 11 times greater than the 
jobs generated by an equivalent amount of coal or 
gas generated electricity. 
(13) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change has stated that to stabilize greenhouse gases 
at CO2 equivalent concentrations of roughly 450– 
500 parts per million—where global temperature 
rise could be limited to 3.6–4.3°F and sea-level rise 
due to thermal expansion limited to 4.6 feet—global 
emissions would need to peak by 2015 and decline 
to as little as 15 percent of 2000 levels by the year 
2050. 
(14) In 2004, carbon dioxide emissions from 
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Devel-
opment (OECD) countries were surpassed for the 
first time by emissions from non-OECD countries. 
Carbon dioxide emissions from developing countries 
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are projected to account for over 75 percent of glob-
al emissions growth by 2030. Encouraging growth of 
renewable energy in developing countries reduces the 
extent and likelihood that these economies will follow 
a carbon-intensive, fossil energy development path. 
(15) At least $20,000,000,000,000 of invest-
ment in energy generation and infrastructure will be 
needed worldwide in order to meet the world’s en-
ergy needs in 2030 (in constant 2005 dollars). En-
ergy generation and infrastructure typically turns 
over every 40 years, making near-term energy in-
vestment decisions instrumental in determining fu-
ture emissions of greenhouse gases. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INTERNATIONAL RENEW-
ABLE ENERGY AGENCY. 
(a) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
President, 
acting 
through the Secretary of State and in coordination with 
the Secretary of Energy, shall immediately seek to estab-
lish an international renewable energy agency to be known 
as the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). 
In addition, the President shall direct the United States 
Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use 
the voice and vote of the United States to seek to establish 
such an international renewable energy agency. 
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(b) DUTIES.—The agency described in paragraph (1) 
should— 
(1) support governments in establishing policies 
and programs that promote renewable energy and 
energy efficiency measures; 
(2) assist in conducting country studies that 
analyze the potential of renewable energy; 
(3) provide a global status report for renewable 
energy and review progress on the implementation of 
renewable energy programs and projects; 
(4) provide long-term projections and scenarios 
in order to identify market potential, barriers to de-
ployment, and failures in markets and policies, as 
well as plan for future demand for renewable energy; 
(5) organize training programs, information 
campaigns, and courses relating to renewable energy 
for civil servants, scientists, businesses, and non-
government organizations; 
(6) assist in developing and supplying cur-
riculum relating to renewable energy for schools and 
universities, including post-graduate education pro-
grams; 
(7) cooperate with financing institutions to de-
velop and support innovative financing mechanisms 
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to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency 
measures; 
(8) facilitate the transfer of knowledge and best 
practices gained from successful renewable energy 
programs to interested member parties; 
(9) develop common, nondiscriminatory inter-
national norms and quality standards including cer-
tification relating to renewable energy; and 
(10) draft and disseminate statistics, technology 
information, reports on project implementation, and 
progress of legislation and policy programs relating 
to renewable energy. 
(c) MEMBERSHIP.—The President shall seek to in-
clude in the membership of the agency described in para-
graph (1) interested member states of the United Nations. 
SEC. 4. REPORT. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the President shall transmit to Congress a 
report on the implementation of this Act. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURE.—The term 
‘‘energy efficiency measure’’ means an improvement 
in process or technology that— 
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(A) reduces energy inputs for an identical 
level of service; or 
(B) increases or enhances services for an 
identical amount of energy inputs. 
(2) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 
gas’’ means— 
(A) carbon dioxide; 
(B) methane; 
(C) nitrous oxide; 
(D) hydrofluorocarbons; 
(E) perfluorocarbons; or 
(F) sulfur hexafluoride. 
(3) RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term ‘‘renew-
able energy’’ means an energy supply based on— 
(A) solar radiation, 
(B) solar heat, 
(C) wind power, 
(D) tidal or wave power, 
(E) biomass, 
(F) geothermal energy, 
(G) small hydropower, or 
(H) large hydropower, 
if the energy supply is operated in accordance with 
the recommendations of the United Nations Dams 
and Development Project. 
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SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
To carry out this Act, there is authorized to be appro-
priated to the President $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2008. 
Æ 
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