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The Global Outlook For Renewable Power In One Graph
By Share Print Energy produced from hydro, wind, solar, and other renewables sources is expected to exceed that from natural gas and double that from nuclear sources by 2016 – becoming the second most important energy source behind coal. Speaking at the 10 th Annual Renewable Energy Finance Forum in New York City last month, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said the global outlook for renewables is “robust”, with total renewable generation capacity expected to grow to nearly one-quarter of the global electricity generation capacity by 2018. Ms. van der Hoeven points to two main trends driving the renewables outlook: renewable deployment is expanding across the globe and renewables are becoming cost competitive versus fossil fuels in many circumstances. Led by investment and deployment in China, non-OECD countries are expected to account for two-thirds of the global increase in renewable power generation between now and 2018. This rapid deployment is “mainly driven by fast‐rising electricity demand, energy diversification needs, and local pollution concerns, while contributing to climate change mitigation”, according to Ms. van der Hoeven. China is expected to account for 40 percent of the global growth in renewable power capacity between 2012 and 2018. Although a large portion of China’s renewable portfolio is hydro and onshore wind, the country could have the largest deployment of solar PV systems if financial incentives and a stronger policy push are made. In addition to China, there is significant renewable deployment in Brazil, India, South Africa, and the Middle East. The IEA expects this growth to more than compensate for slower growth in Europe and the United States. COE) for onshore wind is competitive or close to competitive versus new coal or gas-fired plants in Australia, where wind is competitive versus the generation costs of new coal- and gas-fired plants with carbon pricing, and the best wind sites can compete without carbon pricing. In Turkey and New Zealand, onshore wind has been competing well in the wholesale electricity market for several years. Despite the healthy growth prospects, renewable energy deployment is becoming more complex and needs policy certainty to be successful. “To get investment at favourable rates, risks must be reduced and shared. Even for less deployed technologies such as concentrated solar power and offshore wind, technology risk is no longer seen as the main barrier to investment”, Ms. van der Hoeven explained. “The main challenge, the public enemy #1 for investors and the most important barrier to renewable energy deployment is policy uncertainty.” Countries such as Spain , Czech Republic , and Bulgaria have adopted retroactive policy changes that shake investor confidence. In the United States, uncertainty over Production Tax Credits at the end of 2012 provided little confidence for the renewable industry and investors. Reducing incentives for renewable projects is a legitimate policy action as long as the reductions “reflect cost reductions of technologies to maximize benefits to customers and tax-payers.” The IEA Medium-term Renewable Energy Market Report Executive Summary can be found here . Related reading: U.S. energy transitions in one graph Graph: IEA Continue reading
Europe Should Head To The Woods For Biofuels, Report Says
Posted on July 5, 2013 at 10:16 am by (AP Photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) In the European Union’s quest to reach 20 percent renewables by 2020, it should avoid the temptation to latch on to ethanol and other biofuels that drain scarce land and water resources, according to a government report issued Wednesday by the European Environment Agency. “Biomass from waste and residues from agriculture and forestry offer high resource efficiency whereas the environmental benefits from cultivating crops for bioenergy (‘energy cropping’) are often limited,” the report wrote. IEA: Renewables will surpass natural gas for power generation by 2016 Europe’s renewable targets were established in its 2009 Renewable Energy Directive, which also included a 10 percent target for transportation fuel. And while solar and wind energy have scaled up throughout Europe, reaching that 10 percent biofuel goal will be challenging, especially if ethanol is largely excluded from the mix. European consumption of ethanol grew from 2,000 barrels per day in 2001 to nearly 90,000 barrels per day in 2012, according to IndexMundi, a commodities website. But using corn-based ethanol to meet the biofuel target is being questioned, with critics saying the environment could be worse for the move. “While some bioenergy sources and technologies offer significant advantages over fossil fuel-based systems, others lead to environmental concerns,” the report said. “This is particularly the case where bioenergy involves using agricultural land to cultivate energy crops, since it often results in changes to land use, including expanding or intensifying agriculture at other locations.” Biomass: In 1776, energy was rooted in wood The issue echoes domestic debates over ethanol, with critics arguing that the benefits of ethanol are outweighed by the demands made on scare natural resources, especially water. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 required refiners to blend 15 billion gallons per year of ethanol from corn with conventional motor fuel by 2022. The U.S. is also encouraging the growth of biofuels, and has mandated a target of 36 billion barrels annually of biofuels by 2022 . Continue reading
"Biofuels Should Deliver Greenhouse Gas Emission Cuts And Not Compete With Food"
Transport / Environment − 10-07-2013 – 15:31 Corinne Lepage Fuel from food crops have been pitched as a way to reduce carbon emissions from transport, however questions have been raised about how green these biofuels really are. The EU has supported them for the last 10 years, but last year the Commission proposed to limit the amount of food-based biofuels. We asked Corinne Lepage, a French member of the ALDE group in charge of steering the fuel quality and renewable energy directives through EP, about the challenges posed by biofuels. According to Ms Lepage,the promotion of the first generation of biofuels from food crops such as rapeseed and palm oil affected developing countries by pushing up food prices. In addition land needed to be converted for biofuels production, leading to the destruction of forests and wetlands. As a result these biofuels actually generated more CO2 than they saved. “The cap on first generation biofuels is needed, but not in an indiscriminate way as the Commission proposed,” Ms Lepage said. She urged to distinguish between better and worse–performing food–based biofuels by including emissions related to the change of land use in the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions savings attributed to biofuels. This would stimulate the production of biofuels such as ethanol that do provide substantial benefits for the climate. She reminded that Parliament had already called in 2008 for these factors to be included in the calculation. “Ignoring this problem risks undermining the EU’s credibility in the fight against climate change and legitimacy of financial support [of about €10 billion per year from EU member states’ budgets ] to the industry,” she said. Ms Lepage said the current insistence on austerity might make it difficult to justify high subsidies until 2020, but added: “The existing investments should be protected and the industry should have several years to continue producing first generation biofuels to recoup investments and prepare for the swtich to advanced biofuels.” These advanced biofuels could come from non–food sources, such as waste or residue feedstock. The environment committee will vote on the proposals on 11 July and the plenary vote is due to take place on 10 September. REF. : 20130708STO16803 Continue reading
