Top 33 Quotes & Sayings by Fatih Birol

The developed, oil-consuming countries can do several things to ease the transition to the new energy order. One would be to boost vehicle efficiency.

Renewables are critical in our fight against climate change.

We should not only look at the short-term economic benefits of fossil fuels but also at the bad news for climate change. We should therefore not greet the fossil fuel age unconditionally.

Tar sands are attractive, but like biofuels, they will never replace Middle East oil.

Renewable energy is no longer a niche fuel.

Energy is a linchpin of economic prosperity, with energy security, reliability, and affordability key preconditions for sustainable growth.

I love football, and I love my work.

Fossil fuel subsidies are a hand brake as we drive along the road to a sustainable energy future.

I believe there should be some financial incentives to make the right choice: to make them to buy the right car or not to buy a car but using public transport systems. I believe that these financial incentives are important.

The energy sector presents exceptional opportunities for governments and investors.

Strong policies and innovation can make the difference for energy security, climate change, air quality, and universal access to modern energy services in parallel - in short, building a secure, affordable, sustainable energy system that is available to all.

Industry has to find a way. together with the governments, to find new modes, new modalities for transportation.

We are considered to be a watchdog, the IEA, and a watchdog fulfils its task only if it barks. So I bark when I think there is a need for barking.

Humanity's future, to say nothing of its prosperity, will depend on how the world tackles two central energy challenges: securing reliable supplies of affordable energy and switching to efficient low-carbon energy.

The golden era for coal is over.

We should not cling to crude down to the last drop - we should leave oil before it leaves us.

I think my biggest fear is having another global war which might have been a result of sharing the primary commodities in the world.

India needs three things for its energy sector: investment, investment, and investment.

When I look at the many energy-using sectors - such as businesses, households, electricity generators, the transportation sector - I see that the business sector is the one which uses the energy efficiency potential the highest, because they know that using energy more efficiently will also reduce their costs.

We have to use cars much more efficiently. We have to look at alternative technologies of cars such as biofuels or, even more importantly, electric cars.

I have refused to buy a car for the reasons of sustainability.

I always thought that using more efficient energy sources, pushing the clean energy technologies such as renewable energies are important.

When a person from a community goes and buys a car, he or she should have the incentive, financial incentive, to buy a more efficient, more environment-friendly car. This shouldn't be only left to the intention of the people. We cannot only rely on the ethics or the moral of the people.

I think, for OPEC, the main challenge is to have a price level which brings good profits to them, good incentives for the investments, but at the same time, to prevent prices going to very high levels.

Governments have always played an important role in energy investment, but this role has been increasing due to both geography and technology.

We need a universally accepted definition of reserves reporting.

Energy is significantly underpriced in many parts of the world, leading to wasteful consumption, price volatility and fuel smuggling. It's also undermining the competitiveness of renewables.

Just 8% of the $409bn spent on fossil-fuel subsidies in 2010 went to the poorest 20% of the population.

We are on the brink of a new energy order. Over the next few decades, our reserves of oil will start to run out and it is imperative that governments in both producing and consuming nations prepare now for that time. We should not cling to crude down to the last drop – we should leave oil before it leaves us. That means new approaches must be found soon..... The really important thing is that even though we are not yet running out of oil, we are running out of time.

If production does not increase in Iraq in an exponential way between now and 2015, we have a very big problem, even if Saudi Arabia meets its obligations. The figures are very simple, you do not need to be an expert. It is enough to know how to do a subtraction. China will grow very quickly, India also, and even Saudi Arabia projections of the 3 Mb/day will not be enough to meet the rise of Chinese demand.

We are on track for a 3.5 deg C rise by 2040 (i.e. 4.2 deg C relative to pre-industrial)... When I look at this data, the trend is perfectly in line with a temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius, which would have devastating consequences for the planet. We have 5 years to change the energy system, or have it changed

Energy markets can be thought of as suffering from appendicitis due to fossil fuel subsidies. They need to be removed for a healthy energy economy.

There are many disturbing news. We believe that the production of conventional petroleum reached peak oil already in 2006. The oil fields in the North Sea and the US are collapsing ... time is running out.