Renewable

Obstacles & Success Conditions for RE in Developing Countries7

In many developing countries there is a much larger potential for renewables like wind and solar energy than in industrialised countries. But there are obstacles that prevent the adoption of such "new" renewables in developing countries. Ulrich Laumanns and Danyel Reiche try to identify the most important obstacles and point to success conditions that can lead to a wider dissemination of "new" renewables in developing countries.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 13.5 % of the world's total primary energy supply (TPES) is produced by renewable sources of energy. Of this, the main share comes from developing countries. In 2001, developing and transformation countries accounted for 77.5 % of the global renewable energy supply. However, these figures are based on a broad definition of renewable energy (RE). When analysing this data, one finds that developing countries use RE mainly in the form of large hydropower and traditional biomass. Both in Africa and Asia, traditional biomass (basically in the form of charcoal and fuelwood) accounts for over 90 % of energy production from renewable sources of energy. In Africa, the traditional use of biomass for cooking and heating covers around 50 % of the total primary energy supply, rising to around 90 % for some countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.

These figures are impressive, but both traditional biomass and large hydropower produce negative social and ecological externalities which also have to be considered. In the case of traditional biomass, the energy source (in general, this is wood) can often not be classified as renewable, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Traditional use of biomass leads to considerable indoor and outdoor pollution and therefore poses a health risk to its users. In the case of large hydropower plants, extensive areas of land often have to be flooded, destroying biodiversity, habitats and forcing the local population to resettle. The so-called "new" renewable energies, such as wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, modern biomass, small hydropower and ocean energy, have a much smaller impact on the environment and the social structures and can therefore contribute to a larger degree to a truly sustainable development. However, when looking at the global scale, over 85 % of the energy production from "new" RE takes place in the industrialised countries. At first sight, this is a somewhat paradoxical situation, considering that developing countries have a much larger potential for renewables like wind and solar energy than industrialised countries. There are many obstacles that prevent the adoption of such "new" renewables in developing countries.

UK plans for major expansion of offshore wind

London, 10 December, 2007. Harnessing the vast potential of the UK's island status has entered a new phase as UK Energy Secretary John Hutton announced proposals to open up its seas to up to 33GW (yes, gigawatts!) of offshore wind energy.

He also announced that he will chair a panel of experts to advise him on renewable energy, underscoring the UK Government's determination to play its part in meeting the EU target of 20% renewable energy by 2020.

Speaking to the European energy industry in Berlin, Hutton launched a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the seas surrounding the UK, paving the way for a possible third round of wind energy development and beyond:

"The draft plan I'm setting out today could allow companies to develop up to 25 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2020, in addition to the 8 gigawatts already planned.

"This potential major expansion will be subject to the outcome of a Strategic Environmental Assessment. But if we could manage to achieve this, by 2020 enough electricity could be generated off our shores to power the equivalent of all of the UK's homes. This could be a major contribution towards meeting the EU's target of 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

"The challenge for Government and for industry is to turn this potential - for our energy and economy - into a cost-effective reality. This will be a major challenge.

"The UK has some of the best offshore wind resource in the world, a long history of design, installation and operational expertise in the offshore environment and the skills and manufacturing capability to transfer to this exciting new sector.

"The UK is now the number one location for investment in offshore wind in the world and next year we will overtake Denmark as the country with the most offshore wind capacity. I want to ensure the UK remains one of the best places for renewable business.

"Our trajectory on renewables is beyond question. They are as central to our future low carbon economy as chimneys were to the industrial revolution and road building following the invention of the mass produced car."

The first round of offshore wind farms, in 2001, comprised a number of small demonstration projects. The second round, in 2003, resulted in the award of options for leases for larger scale projects in three designated areas - the Thames Estuary, the Greater Wash and the North West. Based on current plans under the first and second leasing rounds, about 8GW of capacity could be operational by around 2014. This includes the 1GW London Array which is the largest planned offshore wind farm in the world.

The proposal for a possible third round, and further regular rounds, of offshore wind development now announced would open up the vast bulk of the UK's continental shelf to large scale development. It would allow for up to a further 25GW of offshore capacity on top of the planned 8GW. In total this could generate enough power for up to 25 million homes by 2020.

Mr Hutton announced that he will chair an enhanced Renewable Advisory Board with a bigger remit to advise the Government on the EU 2020 renewable energy target, and a wider pool of expertise to help deal with the issues and opportunities across renewable energy.

The Government is also working on a regulatory regime to ensure that all offshore projects can connect to our onshore electricity transmission and distribution networks, quickly, securely and as cheaply as possible. A response to the recent consultation will be published by BERR shortly.

These developments sit alongside plans in the Energy Bill, to be introduced shortly, to band the support provided by the Renewables Obligation to give greater support to offshore wind, wave and tidal energy. This will incentivise the expansion envisaged by today's proposals.

The amount of electricity from renewable sources of all kinds in the UK has doubled to almost 5% since the introduction of the Renewables Obligation in 2002. Current forecasts will see a further tripling to around 15% by 2015. Plans are also under way for a feasibility study into the potential for electricity generation from the Severn Estuary.

At the Spring European Council the EU agreed a target of 20% of all energy from renewables by 2020. This includes fuel for electricity, heat and transport. The Commission is due to propose how that target should be apportioned between Member States in January.

Heating up the EU biomass market

The European Biomass Association’s (AEBIOM) new European Biomass Statistics 2007 report offers a comprehensive analysis of the current bioenergy situation in the EU 27 member states. Herwig Ragossnig, of the European Biomass Association, looks at where the EU currently stands with regard to biomass, and finds that a strategy to encourage renewable heating is vital if the EU is to achieve the magic renewable energy target of 20% by 2020.

If the EU is to comply with its proposed renewable energy targets, a well-developed strategy needs to be put in place to boost the deployment of all renewable energy technologies which are commercially viable. This is not trivial, as evidenced by the current shenanigans surrounding the forthcoming EU renewable energy directive. But one thing is clear – biomass needs to be regarded as one of the main pillars in this strategy.

This article aims to give an overview of the contribution that biomass is currently making to the European energy system, and the potential that we can realistically expect in the future.
Biomass plays a specific role amongst the renewable energy sources (RES), and is a vital part of the European effort to increase the deployment of climate-friendly energy sources. Biomass useage covers about two-thirds of all renewables in Europe, and is the fastest growing sector in absolute terms. It is also important because it can offer a viable solution for every energy need.

The technology used to transform biomass to energy depends mainly on the form in which biomass is to be delivered as primary energy – and on the cost efficiency of the conversion technology. As such, many different conversion technologies are available to transform primary energy from biomass to heat, electricity or transportation fuels. Some of the existing technologies are already commercially competitive, while others are still at the development stage, but they will certainly play a more important role in the future as costs decrease and efficiency improves.