REN21 - REN21 News and Update

Before the northern hemisphere's summer break, the renewable energy community was looking to Brussels for plans to meet the European Commission renewable energy target of a 20 percent share in primary energy by 2020. Preliminary indications show target shares for the electricity, transport, and heat markets could be 34%, 10%, and 14% respectively. A proposal for member country allocations has not yet appeared.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the US House of Representatives recently approved a national 15 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) proposed by the Democrats. However, the measure did not make it into the Senate version of the bill approved in June. Both the House and Senate must reconcile the bill before it can be sent to President Bush for signing.

Meanwhile, legislation and regulations promoting renewable energy development have advanced in several countries and on different continents, including Indonesia, Abu Dhabi, Bulgaria, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador.

Including sector-specific and non-binding targets, REN21 finds that more than 70 countries have quantitative renewable energy policy targets, including the 27 EU member countries. In 2005 and 2006, a number of countries dramatically increased their renewable energy mandates. These findings and others will be included in the upcoming "REN21 Renewable Energy Global Status Report" due in late autumn.

In the electricity sector, the controversy has eased between policies promoting price-based market development schemes such as feed-in-tariffs, and quantity-based schemes such as RPS. Enthusiasm for quantity-based obligation coupled to a tradable certificate scheme has been tempered by the comparatively high premium (to cover higher risk and transaction costs) that has in practice been paid for this type of scheme.

As a solution, minimum or "floor" prices for green certificates are proposed in order to reduce risk. Production tax credits are another way to reduce risk in RPS. In order to influence RE technology choice, banding (i.e. awarding differentiated credits for different technologies) is increasingly being introduced in US states and the UK. Feed-in tariff systems, on the other hand, are revised in Spain, Germany and elsewhere to increase competition by 'fine-tuning' tariff reduction over time. Although these are indications of convergence between the quantity and price based support mechanisms, a full harmonisation within the EU is presently ruled out.

The enormous potential for energy efficiency and renewable energy in the heat markets is also increasingly being realised by some countries. China's solar water heating market, for example, is rapidly becoming a standard reference, overshadowing efforts by smaller but very successful countries such as Barbados and Israel. Numerous countries and municipalities - particularly around the Mediterranean and in the Middle East - are shaping their regulations and support schemes to tap that market. Within the EU, heating and cooling via fossil fuels is being replaced by solar, biomass, and geothermal technologies.

The Brazilian government continues a campaign to emphasise the sustainability of the country's ethanol development and offer technical cooperation to other countries. Brazil is also working to standardise ethanol products for international trade, considering sustainability, along with several similar schemes under development. Although a respected international host organisation for developing the criteria has not yet emerged, experts agree that standardisation and sustainability criteria should be unified in one globally accepted scheme.

G8 summit in Heiligendamm boosts expectations for post-Kyoto agreement
The results of the G8 summit in June under the German Presidency were hailed as a breakthrough. Many are now optimistic that an effective and flexible agreement on greenhouse gas reduction can be negotiated for the period after 2012.
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UN holds first plenary on climate change - Secretary-General multiplies initiatives before next UNFCCC COP
The UN General Assembly held its very first plenary session devoted exclusively to climate change. The session included special climate change envoys of the UN Secretary-General and called for a high level meeting of Heads of State in September. REN21 Bureau and Steering Committee Members were involved in the interactive panel.
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UNFCCC: Renewable energy tops investment requirements for mitigation
In time before the "Vienna Climate Change Talks 2007" which will prepare the December meeting in Bali, the UNFCCC Secretariat has rendered available a summary analysis of existing and potential investment and financial flows for climate change mitigation and adaptation. In the mitigation scenario, built upon the "Beyond Alternative Policy Scenario of IEA's WEO 2006", investment in renewable energy power generation in 2030 is higher than in any other generation technology, including coal and its CCS.
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Interest in concentrating solar power grows in MENA region
At the MENAREC 4 conference in Damascus, information on several ongoing concentrating solar power projects in North Africa was welcomed by Ministers from both sides of the Mediterranean. The Damascus Declaration encourages countries to set quantitative targets, and calls for technical and financial assistance to develop RE in the region.
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Brazil's biofuel charm offensive reaches Europe
After high-level discussions with the US that led to a Brazil-US cooperation initiative for Latin America and Africa, Brazil has used a high level event between President Lula and the EU Presidency and Commission in July to promote Brazil’s position in Europe.
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IEA's Renewable Energy Unit launches analysis of global renewables policies
At a workshop in July on global best practise for developing renewable energy policy, the International Energy Agency’s Renewable Energy Unit launched its Global Renewable Energy Markets and Policies Programme.
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