This report provides an overview of the status of renewable energy worldwide in 2005. It covers markets, investments, industries, policies, and rural (off-grid) renewable energy in developing countries. By design, the report does not provide analysis, recommendations, or conclusions. Contents: (1) Global Market Overview; (2) Investment Flows; (3) Industry Trends; (4) Policy Landscape; (5) Rural (Off-grid) Renewable Energy; and Glossary. Charts and tables.
Renewable energy plays an important role in contributing to the transition toward low-carbon development growth, in enhancing technology diversification and hedging against fuel price volatility, in strengthening economic growth, and in facilitating access to electricity. The global trends indicate a growing commitment to renewable energy development from developed and developing countries in both the introduction of specific policy levers and investment flows. Developing countries have now a long history of designing and implementing specific policy and regulatory instruments to promote renewable energy. Today, feed-in tariff policies are being implemented in about 25 developing countries and quantity based instruments, most notably auction mechanisms, are increasingly being adopted by upper middle income countries. This paper summarizes the results of a recent review of the emerging experience with the design and implementation of price and quota based instruments to promote renewable energy in a sample of six representative developing countries and transition economies. The paper discusses the importance of a tailor-made approach to policy design and identifies the basic elements that have proven instrumental to policy effectiveness, including adequate tariff levels, long term policy or contractual commitments, mandatory access to the grid and incremental cost pass-through. Ultimately, a low carbon development growth in the developing world depends on the availability of resources to finance the solutions that exhibit incremental costs. Policies introduced to support renewable energy development should be designed and introduced in combination with strategies that clearly identify sources of finance and establish a sustainable incremental cost recovery mechanism (for example, using concessional financial flows from developed countries to leverage private financing, strengthening the performance of utilities and distribution companies, or allowing the partial pass-through of incremental costs to consumer tariffs with a differentiated burden sharing that protects the poor). Without question, policy makers will have to ensure that the design of different policy mechanisms and the policy mix per se deliver renewable energy targets with the lowest possible incremental costs and volume of subsidies.
A component in the America's Energy Future study, Electricity from Renewable Resources examines the technical potential for electric power generation with alternative sources such as wind, solar-photovoltaic, geothermal, solar-thermal, hydroelectric, and other renewable sources. The book focuses on those renewable sources that show the most promise for initial commercial deployment within 10 years and will lead to a substantial impact on the U.S. energy system. A quantitative characterization of technologies, this book lays out expectations of costs, performance, and impacts, as well as barriers and research and development needs. In addition to a principal focus on renewable energy technologies for power generation, the book addresses the challenges of incorporating such technologies into the power grid, as well as potential improvements in the national electricity grid that could enable better and more extensive utilization of wind, solar-thermal, solar photovoltaics, and other renewable technologies.
Renewable Heating and Cooling: Technologies and Applications presents the latest information on the generation of heat for industry and domestic purposes, an area where a significant proportion of total energy is consumed. In Europe, this figure is estimated to be almost 50%, with the majority of heat generated by the consumption of fossil fuels. As there is a pressing need to increase the uptake of renewable heating and cooling (RHC) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this book provides a comprehensive and authoritative overview on the topic. Part One introduces key RHC technologies and discusses RHC in the context of global heating and cooling demand, featuring chapters on solar thermal process heat generation, deep geothermal energy, and solar cooling technologies. Part Two explores enabling technologies, special applications, and case studies with detailed coverage of thermal energy storage, hybrid systems, and renewable heating for RHC, along with case studies in China and Sweden. Users will find this book to be an essential resource for lead engineers and engineering consultants working on renewable heating and cooling in engineering companies, as well as academics and R&D professionals in private research institutes who have a particular interest in the subject matter. - Includes coverage on biomass, solar thermal, and geothermal renewable heating and cooling technologies - Features chapters on solar thermal process heat generation, deep geothermal energy, solar cooling technologies, and special applications - Presents case studies with detailed coverage of thermal energy storage, hybrid systems, and renewable heating for RHC - Explores enabling technologies and special applications
The United States and China are the world's top two energy consumers and, as of 2010, the two largest economies. Consequently, they have a decisive role to play in the world's clean energy future. Both countries are also motivated by related goals, namely diversified energy portfolios, job creation, energy security, and pollution reduction, making renewable energy development an important strategy with wide-ranging implications. Given the size of their energy markets, any substantial progress the two countries make in advancing use of renewable energy will provide global benefits, in terms of enhanced technological understanding, reduced costs through expanded deployment, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to conventional generation from fossil fuels. Within this context, the U.S. National Academies, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), reviewed renewable energy development and deployment in the two countries, to highlight prospects for collaboration across the research to deployment chain and to suggest strategies which would promote more rapid and economical attainment of renewable energy goals. Main findings and concerning renewable resource assessments, technology development, environmental impacts, market infrastructure, among others, are presented. Specific recommendations have been limited to those judged to be most likely to accelerate the pace of deployment, increase cost-competitiveness, or shape the future market for renewable energy. The recommendations presented here are also pragmatic and achievable.
This study presents options to fully unlock the world’s vast solar PV potential over the period until 2050. It builds on IRENA’s global roadmap to scale up renewables and meet climate goals.
This Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report (IPCC-SRREN) assesses the potential role of renewable energy in the mitigation of climate change. It covers the six most important renewable energy sources - bioenergy, solar, geothermal, hydropower, ocean and wind energy - as well as their integration into present and future energy systems. It considers the environmental and social consequences associated with the deployment of these technologies, and presents strategies to overcome technical as well as non-technical obstacles to their application and diffusion. SRREN brings a broad spectrum of technology-specific experts together with scientists studying energy systems as a whole. Prepared following strict IPCC procedures, it presents an impartial assessment of the current state of knowledge: it is policy relevant but not policy prescriptive. SRREN is an invaluable assessment of the potential role of renewable energy for the mitigation of climate change for policymakers, the private sector, and academic researchers.
