New REN21 assessment points to crucial role of policies
to make renewables work for climate change mitigation, energy security,
and economic and social developments
The report "
Renewable Energy Potentials - Opportunities for the Rapid
Deployment of Renewable Energy in Large Economies..." was
prepared by REN21 as an input to the Gleneagles Dialogue on Climate
Change. Various experts from renowned research groups contributed to the
assessment.
Background and overview
The debate on climate change has clearly shifted and the focus now is on
mitigation and adaptation. To cut global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
by at least half by 2050 and to achieve a peak and decline of emissions
by 2020, reduction measures must be implemented immediately and sweeping
actions prepared that will profoundly transform the world’s production
and consumption systems and patterns.
A major share of the potential for climate change mitigation lies in the
energy sector. In the short term, energy efficiency (EE) and renewable
energy (RE) are the major low-carbon options that are ready, viable, and
available today.
A number of countries have introduced RE deployment
policies in at least one of the three major markets: electricity,
transportation, heating/cooling. Several of these countries can already
demonstrate significant successes. Current annual global investment in
RE power production assets surpasses investment in nuclear and most
fossil fuel power, even when large hydropower – an already established
RE technology – is not taken into account. Investment in biofuel assets
is growing sharply and end-user investment in RE heat and cooling is
accompanying the upward trend in energy efficiency.
It is being increasingly acknowledged that RE technologies have moved
from the fringes to the mainstream of energy supply. However, there is a
widespread preconception that RE technologies will not be able to reach
a significant share of energy supply, even in the long run, because
there would not be sufficient RE resources to produce the required
power, heat, and fuels at an acceptable price.
The present report focuses on the world’s large economies, which consume
80 percent of global primary energy and produce a similar share of
global greenhouse gas emissions. Most of these economies are represented
in the Gleneagles Dialogue. A significant increase in the use of RE and
EE technologies in these countries will pave the path to a low-carbon
future.
The report focuses on energy production potentials from renewable energy
sources, their cost and regional distribution, as well as the extent to
which RE technologies are able to provide sufficient and cost-efficient
supply over the next 40 years. It identifies the long-term supply
opportunities renewable energy technologies offer in the energy markets
in the Gleneagles Dialogue countries (i.e. how much is realistically
possible) based on the technical potentials, but taking into account the
constraints that may hinder the realisation of the potentials (e.g.
competition for land-use, technology cost, stock turnover, and others).
Addressing the sustainable development issues discussed in the
Gleneagles Dialogue, the report also highlights the opportunities
renewable energies present, not only for climate change mitigation and
other environmental objectives, but also for economic development and
employment, as well as for energy security. It makes the case for the
fast and large-scale deployment of renewable energy.
The report also offers suggestions for achieving deployment potentials.
The main elements and principles of national RE promotion policies are
presented based on experiences to date in a number of countries. Finally,
possibilities for removing barriers and promoting RE technologies in
international policies and regimes are outlined and design elements
suggested.
An international platform for government, private
sector, and non-governmental leaders to jointly address the goal of
advancing renewable energy, WIREC 2008 was the third global
ministerial-level conference on renewable energy, following events in
Beijing in 2005 and Bonn in 2004. India has offered and been selected by
the WIREC 2008 participants to host the next International Renewable
Energy Conference in 2010.
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