Renewables in Asia: It’s a tough race against fossil fuels
The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented shock to the global economy. It has also stifled the energy sector by bringing demand down at an...
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UNITED STATES
New York City introduced building codes in 2019 that require the installation of solar PV on all new buildings in the city. Driven in part by air quality concerns, the city also requires that homes and businesses that use oil for heating buy fuel blended with 5% biodiesel. Burning of coal, briquettes and some oils for heating has also been banned.
GERMANY
The Vauban district of Freiburg was established in 2001 as a demonstration project for sustainable community development. Through a combination of solar PV panels, high efficiency standards in all buildings, and a bio-fueled district heating grid, many houses in Vauban produce more electricity than they consume. Surplus electricity is sold back to the city grid, and the profits are split among the district’s households. Use of renewable energy is further supported through federal tax credits and financial support from the regional electric utility.
CANADA
Vancouver wants to be the “Greenest City in the World” by 2020. Renewable energy represents an important aspect of this plan: the city plans to use 100% renewable energy by 2050. Further, city officials have pledged that all new building will be net-zero emissions buildings starting in 2030, and that all buildings will meet this standard by 2050.
CHINA
Shenzhen has a 100% electrified bus fleet (comprised of 64 e-buses in 2018) and is now working on the replacement of the city’s taxis and trucks with electric vehicles. The city requires delivery companies to purchase ‘new energy vehicles’, including hydrogen and other zero-emission vehicles, and has allocated free parking space to electric vehicles. Other incentives such as reduced charging fees, usage subsidies and road access incentives are also used. Controlling air pollution has been a main driver.
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Seoul Metropolitan Government has established the Seoul Energy Corporation, to oversee the implementation of the city’s energy policies. This includes developing a city-wide feed-in tariff, direct subsidies, leasing schemes and loans for solar PV panels at preferential rates. By end-2018 13,125 households in Seoul have become prosumers, generating a combined 252,989 MWh of electricity.
FRANCE
Paris has developed various policies to promote the use of renewable energy. The EnerCit’IF project provides renewable energy co-operatives access to roof spaces to set up solar PV systems on publicly owned buildings. In the first half of 2019, solar PV systems were set up on nine schools in Paris.
The city has also issued green bonds specifically to finance renewable energy investments within its boundaries.
COLOMBIA
Medellin offers tax exemptions for companies that manufacture equipment for solar, wind and geothermal power to encourage more economic activity in the city’s renewable energy sector. Tax exemptions range from 20% to 100% for a given five-year period.
PORTUGAL
Évora launched the Inovcity project in 2010 to develop a ‘smart’ electricity grid for residents, businesses and public buildings. The project provides incentives for individuals and businesses to invest in distributed generation technologies, such as rooftop solar PV and small wind turbines, as well as in high-efficiency lighting. As of 2019, the project has been able to save around 60% in electricity costs.
DENMARK
Copenhagen plans to become the world’s first carbon-neutral city, by 2025. Wind power already supplies almost all the city’s power needs. The local district heating system supplies 97% of the city’s heat demand and is transitioning from fossil fuels to sustainable biomass. The city has invested heavily in carbon-neutral transport solutions, including pedestrian centres, bike routes, public transportation and support for electric vehicles.
SOUTH AFRICA
Cape Town includes citizens in renewable energy planning through discussion with community groups, civil society organisations and businesses to share solutions and discuss concerns and project updates. Another initiative, the local small-scale scale embedded generation programme, enables residential, commercial and industrial electricity customers to generate their own onsite electricity from renewable energy technologies and sell their surplus to the grid.
UNITED KINGDOM
To simplify the adoption of renewable energy in the city Bristol developed a comprehensive solar map for homes and businesses. Bristol has set a target for 1 GW of solar PV installed capacity by 2020, and founded Bristol Energy in 2016, aiming to increase the share of renewables while also fighting energy poverty.
INDIA
The metro system in Delhi is powered, in part, by an off-site solar PV facility, with auxiliary services such as lighting and air conditioning powered by on-site rooftop solar PV systems. The city has also recently expanded its solar PV policy to allow customers who do not have suitable roof space to participate in solar PV generation via Virtual Net Metering.
THE NETHERLANDS
Geothermal energy has been used for heating and cooling in Heerlen since 2008, when an abandoned coal mine near the city was repurposed into a source of geothermal heat. The project uses flooded underground mine shafts to access thermal energy to power a large-scale district heating system. The system provides homes and local businesses in Heerlen with heating and cooling services and reduces the city’s carbon dioxide emissions by 65%.
SCOTLAND
AUSTRALIA
On 11 March, 2019 the City of Sydney approved the purchase of 100% renewable energy for the city after their large-site electricity contract expires on December 31, 2019. This 100% renewables portfolio will enable them to achieve their 2021 and 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction and 2021 renewable energy targets ahead of schedule.
SWEDEN
Skellefteå has been a pioneer of renewable energy since the early 1900s when municipality-owned power company, Skellefteå Kraft, was founded. The company, one of the biggest power suppliers in Sweden, boasts an 80% share of renewables and has a goal of transitioning to 100% renewables by 2040. The city also is host to a leading CleanTech cluster. This cluster houses numerous companies specializing in environmental technologies, including bioenergy developers, basic and noble metals recyclers, and leading-edge companies that are developing wind technologies for cold climates.
USA
San Diego may benefit from California’s relatively progressive environmental policies, but the city is deliberately embracing renewable energy to reach its goal of 100% renewables by 2035. Its Metropolitan Transit Agency was the first transit agency in California to use biogas from renewable sources to fuel 100% of its fixed route bus fleet. The city also supports residents and businesses that want to engage with Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs). CCAs offer an alternative to the incumbent utility company. providing residents and businesses the option to select an electricity provider that uses higher share of renewables in its energy mix.
BRAZIL
In 2008, Rio de Janeiro passed a law requiring that all new and refurbished public buildings install solar water heaters. Decarbonisation of this sectors is high: electric water heating accounts for an estimated 22.6% of electricity consumption in the Brazilian residential sector.
ECUADOR
Quito, Ecuador is working to densify its Bus Rapid Transit and Metro transport corridors with a new policy that also supports renewable energy. Depending on how well a developer scores on an eco-efficiency assessment, the developer can apply for a buildable increase, in the designated corridor, above the standard permissible floor area for that zone.
MOZAMBIQUE
Despite no sewage system or consolidated waste management system, Quelimane, Mozambique recognizes its role in climate change. The municipality is turning its waste into an asset. It uses organic composted waste for community farming and is conducting experiments in partnership with Sweden into the conversion of food waste into cooking gas. They also boast a remarkable cycling rate of 90% among city residents.
NIGERIA
In Lagos, Nigeria, solar is becoming a popular investment. This is in part due to the city government’s Eko Solar project that has installed solar panels to electrify all primary healthcare centers and more than 20 primary schools. Residents, businesses, and local government authorities continue to invest in building solar capacity across the state despite the project’s end.
AUSTRIA
In Graz, Austria, the city and Big Solar Graz are building the world’s largest solar thermal system to provide 10% of the city’s district heating supply, using 200,000 m² of solar panels and a 900,000 m³ seasonal pit storage. Construction is planned to start in late 2019.
SWITZERLAND
Local businesses and associations can fundraise for renewable and energy efficiency projects in an innovative, yet familiar way. An exclusive crowdfunding site, sig-impact.ch, allows community members to contribute funds to the greening efforts of local organizations in exchange for rewards, including discounted services and gifts from the recipient company.
USA
In 2018, renewable energy supplied 100% of Burlington’s electricity. More than a third of the renewable power is generated at a city-owned and operated 50 MW biomass power plant fueled by wood, most of which arrives via rail from sustainably managed forests in Vermont and New York, and all within a 100-kilometer radius of Burlington.
GERMANY
Residents of Bonn have the opportunity to shape their own renewable energy landscape with membership in a citizen energy cooperative. The BürgerEnergie Rhein-Sieg eG cooperative gives community members the option to buy shares in local renewable energy infrastructure and have an equal vote – regardless of the amount of equity bought – in the future development of the cooperative.
SPAIN
Barcelona takes the energy poverty challenge to heart. Climate justice and citizen action are at the heart of it Climate Plan 2018 – 2030. The city is mandated to ensure that energy access and social equity are woven into every aspect of its Climate Plan. This has led to a number of inclusive actions, including a “No Cuts” policy prevent gas, water, or electricity supplies from being cut off for the most vulnerable communities, the development of energy rights support services, and accessible climate shelters that provide cooled spaces during high heat events.
SOUTH AFRICA
The University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa has helped the city make big strides in its transition to renewable energy. Their project installed a first-of-its-kind Southern African district heating project, which combined solar, co-generation, and gas heating technologies to serve more than 1,000 students living in 14 residence halls.
UKRAINE
In Zhytomyr, Ukraine, the city government has made a commitment to reach 100% renewables by 2050. To reach this commitment, they are constructing four biomass fired combined heat and power plants with a total capacity of 100MW and have developed an incentive programme to help community members purchase and install residential solar PV systems.
BURUNDI
In Burundi, 95% of the population do not have access to electricity, and the national supply cannot keep up with growing demand. Bujumbura, Burundi’s largest city, has taken a number of actions to improve electricity access with renewables. Through partnerships with the private sector and investment banks, the city is installing solar-powered “light islands” throughout the city. These “light islands” allow activities to continue after nightfall and improve safety and quality of life. The city has also installed a 260kW PV system at Hospital University Center of Kamenge. The grid-connected system will provide more reliable energy for the hospital and help reduce cuts in power during blackouts. Any surplus energy will be feed back into the grid.
UZBEKISTAN
In 2017 65% of the city of Tashkent’s traditional city-wide heating infrastructure was past its useful life. Instead of repairing the systems with the same technology, the city is decentralizing and improving the efficiency of the heating system by building solar collectors and local boiler houses across the city’s existing district heating network.
CHILE
Chile has introduced two new metro lines that are powered by 42% and 18% of solar and wind energy respectively. Serving 2.2 million people daily, this investment is estimated to have cut Santiago’s yearly carbon dioxide emissions by 130,000 tonnes.
JAPAN
In March 2019, the five-kilometer Tokyu Setagaya rail line became the first urban rail service in Japan to be powered entirely by renewable energy. The light rail line, which transports 57,000 passengers each day, is powered by geothermal and hydro power. The rail service used 2,200 megawatt-hours of electricity in 2018. The switch to renewable power is projected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 1,263 metric tonnes per year.