Renewable energy sources discussed - first meeting of the reorganized UN Committee on New and Renewable Sources of Energy and on Energy for Development, Feb 7-18, 1994

UN Chronicle, June, 1994

A call of cleaner energy and increased use of renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind power, was heard at the first meeting of a restructured UN body designed to discuss ways to make energy use compatible with sustainable development.

At its first session (New York, 7-18 February), the Committee on New and Renewable Sources of Energy and on Energy for Development recommended specific policies and invited Member States to implement the Committee's options for developing a "new energy path".

In opening remarks, Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, said that the promise of new and renewable sources of energy had not yet been realized. He called on the Committee to give expert advice on what issues should receive priority consideration.

The question of energy for development was as important as that of new and renewable sources of energy, he said, while it was also important to manage the impact of energy utilization on the environment.

In a draft resolution, the Committee recommended "four domains" for action by Member States: more efficient use of energy and energy-intensive material; increased use of renewable sources of energy; more efficient production and use of fossil fuels: and fuel substitution from high-carbon to low-carbon-based fuels.

It also called for integrated national action programmes for the development of energy systems, and for the removal of subsidies for conventional sources of energy or establishing support for new environmentally sound technologies. Ways to use often-wasted energy, such as waste heat from industrial processes, were recommended.

The Committee urged the Economic and Social Council to support "centres of excellence" to provide training, technology support and resource data appropriate to regional needs. It wanted an assessment of clean energy sources--hydropower, wind, solar and geothermal energy--and substitutes for the unsustainable use of fuelwood.

It also recommended improving efficiency in fossil fuel conversion and of cleaner coal technologies, the expanded use of natural gas, the stimulation of the use of methanol and hydrogen from natural gas and biomass, and the development of an institutional framework for international cooperation in major energy sectors.

The UN was requested to organize and carry out an "urgent international effort" to bring energy and electricity to populations in interested countries which had no access thereto.

The Committee--comprised of 24 Government-nominated experts elected by the Economic and Social Council--had retained the mandate of the former Committee on the Development and Utilization of New and Renewable Sources of Energy. in addition, it assumed the mandate of the Committee on Natural Resources concerning energy. It will also consider energy-related sections of "Agenda 21".

The Committee recommended that it hold a special ten-day session in February/March 1995 to provide advice on energy for rural development to the Commission of Sustainable Development.