News | Energy Efficiency

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=142225

THE ability to attract finance and improve grid infrastructure are key in the big-scale deployment of renewable energy technologies, the sector said yesterday.

This was in reaction to a move by various governments to approve a United Nations (UN) report projecting that renewable energies , such as solar, wind or hydro power, could supply almost 80% of global demand by 2050. SA is due to host a global climate change conference in Durban in December.
Proponents of renewable energy have historically stressed its ability to replace fossil fuels. Governments’ approval of the report will now put pressure on authorities to create an environment that is conducive to investment in renewable energy.
This comes at a time when the local renewable energy industry is aggrieved by the National Energy Regulator of SA’s decision to cut the renewable energy feed-in tariffs.
The report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also said a shift to cleaner energies would help cut greenhouse gas emissions, which it blamed for climate change, including floods.
"Close to 80% of the world energy supply could be met by renewables by mid-century if backed by the right enabling public policies," the IPCC said after government delegates approved a special report at talks in Abu Dhabi.
One of the authors, Sven Teske of Greenpeace, said he was happy with the overall report but that the summary for policymakers had been toned down, including previously clear statements that renewable energies were largely cost effective.
"This is an invitation to governments to initiate a radical overhaul of their policies and place renewable energy centre stage. On the run up to the next major climate conference, COP17 in SA in December, the onus is clearly on governments to step up to the mark," Mr Teske said.
Mark Tanton, MD of wind development company Red Cap, said the report confirmed a widely-held view within the industry that renewable energy was capable of meeting energy demand. He said renewable energy technologies had been criticised for being costly. "Actually in (the) medium term, wind is going to be cost-effective under business- as-usual," Mr Tanton said.
However, he said the industry would face technical and logistical difficulties, which included SA’s grid infrastructure. Rapid deployment of renewable energy required investment in grid infrastructure.
Saliem Fakir, head of the Living Planet Unit at WWF-SA, said access to international finance to kick-start projects was key to the development of renewable energy. With Reuters