Capturing sun-rays, reaping the wind - UN Sec Gen report on concerns over decreased use of renewable energy sources

UN Chronicle, June, 1994

Despite the environmental appeal and economic feasibility of using renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind Power, technologies in that area have "not yet found widespread use in either developed or developing countries", the Secretary-General reported on 6 January.

In a paper (E/C.13/1994/3) on developments in the field of new and renewable sources of energy, reviewed by the new UN body created to deal with that subject, it was stated that the share of new and renewable energy in total energy consumption in 1990 was 17.7 per cent. That share dropped to 1.6 per cent when only solar, wind and geothermal energy, as well as modern biomass utilization, were included (excluding large-scale hydropower and such traditional uses of biomass as the burning of fuelwood and charcoal).

The drop in oil prices during the middle and late 1980s led to a decline in investment in renewable energy sources, the report stated, but interest in such alternatives has been rekindled with a growing concern over the state of the environment, particularly the threat of global warming due to the carbon dioxide mankind pumps into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels and forests.

Estimates on the future growth of new and renewable energy sources vary, the Secretary-General said. The UN Solar Energy Group on Environment and Development estimated that such sources could make up for a 3 3 to 50 per cent share of the world's total energy consumption by the year 2020. The World Energy Council put that share at just 21.3 per cent under current policies, and 29.6 per cent under an "ecologically driven scenario".

To Promote new and renewable energy sources, Governments could initiate: surveys to establish the Potential of new and renewable energy sources in both rural and urban areas; market surveys to gather comprehensive information on their costs and benefits, including environmental effects; and, where appropriate, apply differentiated corporate taxation that would "reward ecological responsibility while establishing a level playing field for all energy sources".

Also discussed was progress in implementing the Nairobi Programme of Action, adopted at the UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, held in Kenya in 1981.

It was noted that advances were achieved in large-scale applications of technologies, such as hydropower and geothermal energy, and that solar energy technologies and wind electric farms had reached maturity. Still, the overall impact of such renewable energy sources on the global availability of energy "remained insignificant", the report stated.

The Nairobi Programme identified five broad Policy areas for concentrated action: energy assessment and planning; research, development and demonstration; transfer. adaptation and application of mature technologies: information flows; and education and training.