A renewable energy revolution cannot wait for international agreements; it will only progress on the basis of investment autonomy and widespread adoption on ground level.
This was the message from Hermann Scheer, president of the World Council for Renewable Energy, at the opening ceremony of the Solar World Congress at the Sandton Convention Centre, yesterday.
Delegates from more than 70 countries gathered to attend the introductory keynotes by some of the world's foremost energy experts.
“He who accepts a wrong premise, becomes its victim,” said Scheer, explaining that many of the basic assumptions in the energy debate have been determined by the conventional energy paradigm.
“Lots of so-called realists said it is impossible to achieve [a move to renewable energy] because of resistance from groups such as existing international energy organisations, atomic agencies, and established energy institutions.”
Now, he added, the new argument is that renewable energy is the way of the future, but lots of time is needed, and this requires bridges. These include nuclear power, negative and disinformation about renewable energy, new coal and CO2 storage, and other arguments that claim it is not possible to implement renewable in the short-term.
“But the arguments for these bridges are not really true; they're based on wrong facts and wrong data, which many politicians believe. They see the stats and think we still need lots of time, because of conventional thinking and arguments and strategies that are too slow and too unambitious.”
Scheer noted that fewer than 10 countries have adequate renewable energy policies. “That means the majority have no adequate policies, and this has a lot to do with the premise of renewable energy.
“Leaders are globally talking and nationally postponing; you have endless discussions and a low level of implementation.”
Grassroots revolution
Scheer pointed out that renewable energy is often regarded in terms of its costs rather than its advantages. “In order to come to a strategy for a basic assumption, we need to let these parties see the issue in another light.
“If it's seen not as a burden, but as a benefit for all our societies for various reasons, then we will no longer have to wait for the outcomes of international treaties. What is at stake is a renewable energy revolution. Think of the various technological revolutions in the industrial age. Which one of these was based on an international treaty? Not one.
“Technological advancements happen because forerunners recognise the need and necessity and opportunity and find a way to implement it. This is what happened with information technology in the last 30 years. There were no treaties about the development of mobile or the Internet.”
Leaders are globally talking and nationally postponing; you have endless discussions and a low level of implementation.
Hermann Scheer, president, World Council for Renewable Energy
According to Scheer, changing thinking about renewable energy involves not only looking at carbon reduction benefits, but all the advantages, such as avoiding climate change and associated damage costs, the creation of regional economies, job creation, and the impact on construction and industrial sectors.
He added that if it is shown that the macro economic benefits of implementing renewable energy can be translated into micro economic benefits, then there's the creation of an industrial and cultural incentive for renewable energy.
“From 2000 to now, there has been the beginning of a technological revolution, mainly in Germany, based on a political framework, the so-called renewable energy act. It became successful for one reason - it created investment autonomy for business.” Scheer argued that the system worked because it accommodated a fee for the reimbursement of the investment cost by people in renewable energy.
Up and down
Scheer argued that it is necessary to disseminate the idea that looking to conventional energy means costs will go up; because of the depletion of resources, environmental costs and because of the running of the monopolistic costs of conventional energy.
Renewable energy prices, however, can only go down, according to Scheer, because with a few exceptions, renewables only involve technological costs, which go down with production and advances in research and development.
“The future for energy is renewable and we are now at this watershed. There's no time to waste to go to renewables. What we're doing today in renewable energy is a prerequisite for cheap and available energy for the future.”
According to Scheer, as soon as common people recognise that 100% renewable energy is possible, they won't believe in the need for bridges or postponement anymore, and then push government to bring the technology in.
Reaping resources
John Ledger, chairman of the Sustainable Energy Institute of SA, said the time of cheap electricity is over forever, citing predicted energy increases of 45% every three years in SA. “Solar technology is starting to gain interest in this part of the world,” he said. “This Solar World Congress is a watershed, and we believe from here solar technology and renewable energy in Africa are going to grow.”
Monica Oliphant, president of the International Solar Energy Society, said climate change had become a dominant environmental, social and political issue globally. “We are weeks away from the Copenhagen summit in Denmark, which will deliver a new binding agreement on climate change.”
To ensure maximum impact, strong alliances are being formed between like-minded organisations in order to influence global leaders to implement innovative policies that will deliver the necessary cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
According to Oliphant, with the exception of SA, Africa is the least responsible for mitigating GHG emissions, yet is most at risk of the effects of climate change, including reduced energy security, water availability and agricultural damage.
However, she noted that Africa has vast resources in terms of renewable energies. “Solar, hydro, geo-thermal, wind, marine power, bio-energy - you have the lot. This diversity can and must be used not only to deliver capacity, but to increase security supply by reducing exposure to environmental shocks.”
She added that an energy opportunity specific to Africa is in the energy trade, which will fuel a need to expand local energy networks. There is also an opportunity to capitalise on the large market of carbon credits, said Oliphant, which Africa has not seized fully.
David Mahuma, head of clean energy at the Department of Minerals and Energy, reiterated the fact that climate change will have the most devastating impact on African countries. “Our biggest challenge as a continent is scaling up energy access and mobilising energy financing.”
He pointed out that, despite Africa having abundant renewable energy resources, it did not feature on the list of top investors in renewable energy. “We cannot have a situation where the rest of the world is moving forward while we stay behind. He said the challenge was to overcome regulatory barriers impacting on the integration of renewable energy in the country.
Mahuma noted that one of several barriers facing the local renewable industry was high costs, but added that the situation is changing because of the great increases in energy tariffs.
The department outlined, in its 2003 renewable energy policy, that a target of 10 000GWh of renewable energy should be attained by 2013. Yet SA is still 90% reliant on coal.
We always come up with more jobs per unit of investment for renewable energy than for conventional energy.
Richard Worthington, manager, Climate Change Programme at the WWF
According to Kannan Lakmeeharan, MD of Eskom's systems operation and planning division, 80% of the utility's energy mix is coal-based, with plans to add two more coal-fired power stations and a pump storage station. “Some might see us as part of the problem and others as part of the solution; but now we have to look at what we're going to do going forward.”
The key policy issues that must accompany the debate in the next year, said Lakmeeharan, include the diversification of the generation mix to include lower carbon-emitting technologies; energy efficiency measures to reduce the demand for greenhouse gases; innovation, research and development; and investment through carbon market mechanisms.
Richard Worthington, manager of the Climate Change Programme at the WWF, said it is pointless to keep looking at targets for emission reduction in SA. “We are at a point now where we have to grow renewable technology as fast as possible.”
He added that drivers and objectives for renewable energy implementation include job creation, energy security, economic competitiveness, and water, soil and air quality.
“We always come up with more jobs per unit of investment for renewable energy than for conventional energy.”
While he agreed with Scheer that society cannot wait for international agreements before moving forward, he did stress the need for binding global order to facilitate the process. “A treaty that is fair, effective and science-based is critical to keep global warming well below two degrees.
“The window of opportunity is closing fast and we need to urgently progress to a low-carbon development pathway.”
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