Renewable energy: winds of change

UNESCO Courier, May, 1998 by France Bequette

UNESCO recognized that renewable energies are one of the keys to sustainable development as long ago as the 1950s, when they were still seen as a bee in the bonnet of woolly-minded conservationists. A number of factors - growing environmental awareness, the realization of the impact of the greenhouse effect on world climate, the catastrophic accidents that have occurred in the very nuclear plants that promised clean power, and the progress made concurrently in the technology of renewable energy use - have, however, drawn increasing attention to the potential they represent.

Rocketing oil prices in the early 1970s reinforced this interest still further, but when prices fell, fifteen years later or thereabouts, interest again waned and research programmes went on to the back burner. Today's very low oil prices ($16 a barrel) are no inducement to economy, nor do they encourage investment in new energy technologies, especially since they are mainly intended for the developing countries, which are either insolvent or getting on that way. They are, furthermore, complicated to put into operation, requiring an interdisciplinary approach, which is why UNESCO's Engineering and Technology Division co-operates with other institutions of the United Nations system, with many non-governmental organizations and with bilateral and multilateral aid agencies.

AN URGENT NEED

In 1993, UNESCO hosted the World Solar Summit, at which, for the first time, the international community examined the problem of renewable energy sources. As explained by Elie Absi, a member of the secretariat of the World Solar Commission which was set up in 1993, the generic term "solar" is used because all sources of energy, with the exception of nuclear and geothermal energy, are linked with the sun. The choice of the most suitable of these energy sources depends on local circumstances, available resources and level of consumption.

Demographic pressure is making the use of renewables a matter of even greater urgency. The planet's population is now increasing at the rate of nearly 250,000 a day. Agriculture is incapable of feeding the developing countries' four-and-a-half billion rural inhabitants (700 million households) scattered about the relatively isolated regions of Africa, Latin America, India and China. To keep these people on the land and restrict migration both from countryside to towns and from one country to another, it is essential to launch cost-effective craft, industrial or agro-food activities, on however modest a scale, and this cannot be achieved without energy supplies.

Output of electricity by conventional means has increased by leaps and bounds over the last thirty years but the main consumers have been city-dwellers. The World Bank spends $3.3 billion a year in the energy sector but only 7% of this goes to renewable energy in the developing countries. Out of the total of $8 billion similarly provided by multilateral aid agencies, only $1.5 billion is spent on rural electrification. Electricity supplies to the rural population are no better than thirty years ago. The reason is that maintenance and repairs are difficult, connection to the mains supply is costly, human settlements are widely scattered, access to isolated areas is difficult and consumption is often low (less than one kWh a day).

BIOGAS, GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AND WIND POWER

A few examples will suffice to show what can be done with renewable energy sources. In Guatemala, for instance, there is an ongoing shortage of oil and gas, and only 36% of the population, mainly in the towns, are connected to the electricity supply. This being the case, the main source of energy is firewood, leading to 900 sq.km. of woodland being deforested yearly - far exceeding the forest's regeneration capacity. The national agency responsible for the management of renewable energy, set up in 1983, employs locally-based technicians throughout the country. With the assistance of an anthropologist who helps persuade the local inhabitants to accept the new technologies, these technicians have the job of promoting and monitoring the use of solar installations (biodigesters and photovoltaic systems).

A geothermal unit and two small-scale hydroelectric power stations are planned. Backed by $2 million from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), a three-year (1996-1999) plan will provide dispensaries, schools and food shops with photovoltaic installations. In the village of Xetze, for example, where one of these systems has been installed, electric light now enables the womenfolk to carry on with their weaving in the evenings and, as their output of cloth has thus been put on a more regular basis, they have been able to set up long-term deals with foreign buyers.

Biogas is one of the cheapest sources of renewable energy, obtained by fermenting animal or vegetable waste products in a special container, the biodigester. Rich in methane and carbon dioxide, it is used for lighting, cooking and other purposes (see "A waste-free farm", UNESCO Courier, September 1997).