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NEW YORK, New York, US, September 28, 2005
(Refocus Weekly)
A number of renewable energy options that currently
are in wide use are “viable options” for poverty alleviation in
developing countries and can contribute towards meeting the goals of the
Millennium Development Goals.
“Access to essential energy services will need to increase for the
MDG targets to be met,” concludes ‘Energy for Development: The Potential
Role of Renewable Energy in Meeting the Millennium Development Goals’
produced by the Worldwatch Institute for the Renewable Energy Policy
Network for the 21st Century (REN 21). “In some instances, renewable
energy technologies can meet needs that conventional approaches cannot;
in other circumstances, RETs can provide comparable services more
readily than conventional services, and at comparable costs.”
The report was released in conjunction with the World Summit at the
United Nations, and uses 26 case studies on solar, wind, small hydro,
biogas, ethanol and biodiesel to demonstrate renewable energy options
that currently are “in wide use in some regions and that are now ready
for large-scale introduction in many areas of the developing world.” As
their costs have declined as their reliability has improved, “renewable
energy technologies have often emerged as more affordable and practical
means of providing essential energy services.”
“Introduction of RETs is frequently hindered by their high cost and the
perception that they require heavy government subsidy,” the report
explains. “While high initial costs are a reality in many circumstances,
this is frequently exacerbated by the lack of a competitive energy
market and the large subsidies provided to conventional energy systems.”
“The investment patterns of governments and international finance
institutions, regulatory frameworks oriented to conventional energy
sources, externalization of costs and benefits, and governmental
purchasing policies that favour conventional sources are among the
obstacles to advancing renewables,” it adds. “If these barriers are
overcome and renewable energy production is scaled up, the cost of the
new energy options will decline significantly.”
The cost-per-unit of an energy technology and its ability to provide
essential energy services “are the most important indicators of its
suitability for poverty alleviation,” it adds. “The challenge is to
create a policy framework that allows renewable energy to be introduced
where it makes long-term economic sense, and to allow poor countries to
benefit from the declining cost curves that characterize renewable
energy markets in many industrial countries.”
“Delivering clean, efficient, reliable and renewable energy to
developing countries is absolutely critical for poverty reduction and
for meeting the internationally agreed development goals,” says Klaus
Toepfer of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), who attended
the release of the report. “Every time oil surges over $50 a barrel, the
overseas aid of many African countries - money intended for health care,
schools and other vital services - is gobbled up in paying the extra
fuel costs. It is also vital because, over the next few decades, the
world is likely to invest some $16 trillion in new energy
infrastructure; we need to ensure that this is low-carbon technology
that gives us a better chance to fight climate change.”
The report was sponsored by the German ministry for economic cooperation
and development and the REN21 Renewable Energy Policy Network, which was
created following the Bonn International Conference for Renewable
Energies last year. It was formally established in Copenhagen this
summer, and its role was endorsed by the G8 Summit in Gleneagles,
Scotland, in July.
Eradication of extreme poverty with modern energy is one of the key
goals of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, and the report
says, in many circumstances, wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and
bioenergy have an important role to play along fossil fuels. The
International Energy Agency estimates that, if the MDG poverty-reduction
target is to be met, modern energy services must be provided to an
additional 700 million people by 2015.
“The rapid recent growth in solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy,
coupled with ongoing technology improvements and cost reductions, is
making a growing array of renewable energy options available to help
achieve the MDGs,” it explains. “Although the strongest renewable energy
growth has been in grid-connected power systems and liquid fuels for
transportation, several renewable energy technologies are well-suited to
providing modern energy services for low-income people. Scaling up a
broad portfolio of renewable energy options can make a major
contribution to achieving the MDGs.”
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