energy 2003
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ENERGYGerhard SchroederKey to development
Ted TurnerThe energy challenge
Richard G. LugarPlant power
M. KannappanNew energy for development
Margaret BeckettDelivering change
Ma KaiBenign growth
Leonard GoodBrightening the future
Volume 14 No 3
OurPlanetThe magazine of the United Nations Environment Programme
EDITORIAL
Klaus Toepferand Corrado Clini
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14 Benign growthMa Kai, Minister in Charge of the
State Development and Reform
Commission, China
14 Green energy
Liu Shuying, Vice Chairperson ofJilin Provincial Peoples Congress and
National Project Director for
Modernized Biomass Energy, China
16 At a glance: Energy
18 Sustainable dreamsChin-Chin Gutierrez, award-
winning actress and
conservationist: interview
19 Brightening the futureLeonard Good, CEO
and Chairman of the Global
Environment Facility
OurPlanetwww.ourplanet.com
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WaShuangyan/UNEP/Topham
This issue of Our Planet has been made possible by the generosity of the United Nations Foundation/BetterWorld Fund.
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OurPlanet,the magazine of theUnited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)PO Box 30552, Nairobi, KenyaTel (254 20) 621 234; fax 623 927;telex 22068 UNEP KEe-mail: [email protected]
ISSN 1013-7394
Director of Publication: Eric FaltEditor: Geoffrey LeanCoordinator: Naomi PoultonSpecial Contributor: Nick NuttallCirculation Manager: Manyahleshal KebedeDesign: Roger WhiskerWeb Editor: Chris CypertProduction: BansonPrinted in the United Kingdom
Front cover: Banson
21 Greening oilPhilip Watts, Chairman of the
Committee of Managing Directors
of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group
of Companies
23 Blue-sky thinkingTakeo Fukui, President and CEO
of the Honda Motor Co. Ltd
24 Books and products
25 New energy to assault povertyYouba Sokona, Head of Energy
Program, ENDA-TM, Senegal
26 New energy entrepreneurs
Francis Yamba, Director of theCentre for Energy, Environment
and Engineering, Zambia
28 Time to get seriousEileen Claussen, President of the
Pew Center on Global Climate Change
30 Breaking the iceMaria Maack, Environmental Manager
of Icelandic New Energy
32 In my lifetime 100 per cent
renewableAmaidhi Devaraj, student of Law atthe University of Bangalore, South
India
3 EditorialKlaus Toepfer, Executive Director of
UNEP, and Corrado Clini, Director
General of the Italian Ministry of
Environment and former co-Chair of the
G8 Task Force on Renewable Energy
4 Key to developmentGerhard Schroeder, Chancellor of the
Federal Republic of Germany
6 The energy challengeTed Turner, Chairman of the United
Nations Foundation
7 Plant powerRichard G. Lugar, Chairman of the US
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
8 Bioenergy: doing well
while doing rightTimothy E. Wirth, President of the
United Nations Foundation; C. Boyden
Gray, partner at Wilmer, Cutler &
Pickering; John D. Podesta, President
of the Center for American Progress
10 New energy for developmentM. Kannappan, Minister of Non-
Conventional Energy Sources, India
12 People
13 Delivering changeMargaret Beckett, Secretary of Statefor the Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs, United Kingdom
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YOUR VIEWS
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A
s delegates gather in Milan for
the next round of climate change
negotiations, some may wonder
why such an event is necessary whenthe Kyoto Protocol, the international
instrument for combating global warm-
ing, is not yet in force.
Surely, they will say, we can achieve
little of substance until 55 countries
representing 55 per cent of the
emissions of the industrialized world
have ratified it.
Such doubters should step outside
the cocoon of gloom and smell the
flowers.
In Italy which hosts this ninthsession of the Conference of the Parties
(COP9) to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change for
example, energy producers have been
obliged to deliver a fixed amount of re-
newable energy into the national grid
since 1999. A national plan for increasing
wind and biomass-based energy gener-
ation has been established: its fruits
include new 800 megawatt capacity for
wind, and 10 megawatts from biomass in
Maratta Bassa, Umbria.
New laws, economic incentives and
the fast tracking of projects both na-
tionally inspired and as part of European
Union initiatives have helped improve
the prospects for cleaner energy.
Power companies and banks are
actively involved, proving yet again that
saving the planet is a profitable business
which generates jobs.
Next year Germany will host the
International Conference on Renewable
Energies. Last October the United
Kingdom launched its RenewableEnergy and Energy Efficiency Partner-
ship (REEEP) and in November Italy
launched the Mediterranean Renewable
Energy Partnership on the occasion of
the Conference of the Parties to the
Barcelona Convention. These are ideas
that were born out of the World Summit
on Sustainable Development (WSSD) inJohannesburg last year and modelled on
recommendations made earlier by the
G8 Renewable Energy Task Force.
Among early success stories are the
installation of solar power in Brazil, India
and Sri Lanka through partnerships inc-
luding BP Solar and Shell Renewables.
REEEP may be the latest initiative of
its kind, but it is by no means the first
or the last. Last year the Global Network
on Energy for Sustainable Development
involving specialized centres in India,Argentina, Senegal, Kenya and other
countries was launched at
Johannesburg.
UNEP and the UN Foundation
whose sister body, the Better World
Fund, has generously supported this
issue of Our Planet have been de-
veloping the Rural Energy Enterprise
Development (REED) programme. It has
three spin-offs: AREED, in Africa;
CREED, in China, and B-REED focused
on the Bahia and Alagoas areas of north-
east Brazil. Other supporters include the
Fund for International Partnerships,
E+Co, the Blue Moon Fund, The Nature
Conservancy and UNEPs collaborative
Riso centre in Denmark.
REED aims to establish networks of
clean energy entrepreneurs and
businesses in developing countries.
AREED, for example, has invested in 15
clean energy enterprises, supporting
projects including the manufacturing
of efficient cooking stoves, solar
water-heating systems, wind-poweredpumping and improved distribution of
liquefied petroleum gas.
Access to energy is essential if the
United Nations Millennium Development
Goals and the WSSD Plan of Imple-
mentation are to be achieved, and the
proportion of the worlds people in
poverty is to be halved by 2015.
Some 3 billion people rely on dung,
coal, charcoal and kerosene for cooking
and heating. Inefficient use of these
fuels contributes to indoor and local air
pollution, linked to up to 5 per cent of
global disease.
The Global Environment Facility is
backing an assessment of the solar and
wind potential of developing countries.
And the Sustainable Energy Finance
Initiative (SEFI), launched only a few
weeks ago at a UNEP Finance Initiative
meeting in Tokyo, Japan, will comple-
ment attempts to overcome financialbarriers to a rapid, widespread uptake of
clean energy systems.
These are just some projects, part-
nerships and initiatives. Others are
underway in the United States, Japan
and elsewhere. Clearly not all will be
successful. Some may wither and die.
But many different kinds of flowers are
needed to make a beautiful bouquet, and
so many are now blossoming that there
is the real promise of a less carbon
intensive future.In Milan we must water this garden so
that the initiatives so actively backed by
many countries, companies and
communities can be growing strongly
when the Kyoto Protocol finally enters
into force
EDITORIALFrom the desks of
KLAUS TOEPFERUnited Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UNEP
and CORRADO CLINIDirector General of the Italian Ministry of Environment and former
co-Chair of the G8 Task Force on Renewable Energy
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KEY TO
developmentGERHARD SCHROEDER says thatsustainable energy supplies are essentialto combat poverty, prevent crises andconflicts and safeguard natural resources
money we will be helping the developing countries to make energy
more efficient and climate friendly.
For example, a project financed by Germany is promoting thedevelopment of energy consulting, the introduction of energy
audits and the use of energy-saving technologies in India. There,
electricity is both in short supply and expensive. Energy-intensive
production methods only drive up company costs. By introducing
more efficient processes, industry and small businesses could save
10 to 20 per cent of their energy costs. As for the impact on climate
change, it would mean 15 million fewer tonnes of CO2 emissions
each year. Several demonstration plants are showing how effective
such measures are and how energy conservation not only helps
protect our climate but also increases competitiveness.
Support for renewable energies
I have issued an invitation to an international conference on
renewable energies to be held in Bonn in June 2004. Renewables
2004 will focus on strategies and measures to provide active sup-
port for renewable energies, removing barriers to the expansion of
renewable energies and developing markets for them around the
world. The conference aspires to commitments to national and
regional targets, the adoption of an international action plan and the
drawing up of guidelines for good policies in the energy sector. I
am hopeful that the conference will stimulate a new dynamism in
the worldwide development and expansion of renewable energies.
Sustainable energy supplies are a long-term goal. Germany is
playing its part to that end. Today, we are already leading theindustrialized countries in terms of energy efficiency, but we have
set ourselves still higher standards in our national sustainability
strategy. By 2020 we intend to double our energy productivity
levels of 1990.
Around a third of the worlds population lacks adequate
access to energy supplies. Improving this situation
provides one of the major challenges for future-oriented
policy at the start of the 21st century. Germany is participating in
efforts to facilitate sustainable energy supplies all over the world.We expressed this in particular at the Johannesburg World Summit
in September 2002 by announcing concrete programmes, which
sent out a strong signal to the international community.
Sustainable energy supplies are essential to combat poverty, to
prevent crises and conflicts and to safeguard natural resources.
Yet, we are still a long way from achieving this goal. The
quarter of the worlds population that lives in the northern
industrialized countries accounts for three quarters of the global
consumption of resources. At the same time, these countries are
the source of three quarters of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
with their effects on the global climate. In the next decades there
is also expected to be a steep rise in energy consumption in thedeveloping countries. Energy efficiency levels in those countries
as well as in some industrialized countries are low. This is
another reason for the rapidly growing danger posed to the global
climate by CO2 emissions. To put it simply, sustainable energy
supplies can only mean one thing: improving energy efficiency
combined with renewable energy use.
Therefore, developing and industrialized countries bear joint
responsibility. The industrialized countries must adopt new
approaches in industry and society in the pursuit of energy
conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energies. For their
part, the developing countries must be given the opportunity to
develop a sustainable future for themselves to free them from
long-term dependence on less sustainable energy forms. It was for
such reasons that the states participating at the Johannesburg
Summit agreed that the fights against poverty and for access to
sustainable energy must go hand in hand. The European Union
and several additional countries joined together in a group of like-
minded countries to commit themselves to timetables and targets
for increasing the use of renewable energies.
Strategic partnership
The Federal Government of Germany also announced in
Johannesburg that it would turn its cooperation with developing
countries into a strategic partnership under a programme ofSustainable Energy for Development. Over the next five years a
total of 1 billion (approximately $1.17 billion) will be made
available for this purpose 500 million for renewable energies and
500 million for improving energy efficiency. In providing this
Kenneth Akelis/UNEP/Topham
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Developing and industrialized countries bearjoint responsibility ... the fights against
poverty and for access to sustainable energymust go hand in hand
Germany is also making good progress in the expansion of
renewable energy. Wind energy is playing a major role in this.
Indeed, one third of the worlds wind power is now generated in
Germany. Accordingly the economic significance has increased:
around 130,000 people are employed in the renewable energies
sector here, especially in small and medium-sized businesses. The
goal of the Federal Government is to raise the proportion of
renewable energy used in power generation to 12.5 per cent by
2010, thus doubling the share it had in 2000.
Sustainable prosperity
In this way, we are developing a model of growth and prosperity
that is sustainable because it is not at the expense of the
environment, future generations or the developing countries.
Because we cannot call on the developing countries to make
careful use of the resources that they have at their disposal if we,
the richest countries in the world, are not prepared to contribute the
groundwork. It must be our common goal that successful
economic development and the reduction of poverty can be
combined with the protection of natural resources, in the
developing countries as well as the industrialized ones
Gerhard Schroeder is Chancellor of the Federal Republic
of Germany.
Heather Johnston/UNEP/Topham
TimJ.Johnson/UNEP/Topham
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Balancing the worlds growing
need for energy against ourcollective need for a healthy
environment in many ways lies at theheart of the development challenge.Globally, fossil fuels account fornearly 60 per cent of the emissionsthat are causing the Earths atmos-pheric blanket of carbon dioxide tothicken and trap more heat. In theUnited States, fossil fuels contributean even larger share 85 per cent of these emissions.
Of all the threats to the worldsenvironment, the prospect of climatechange looms largest. There isalmost complete consensus in thescientific community that our climateis changing and warming; theremaining uncertainty is about howfast and how much this will impactthe globe.
The responsible course in the faceof these truths in the face of risksthat large is to get moving inthe right direction. Increased energyefficiency and increased use ofrenewable energy are tools to reducecarbon emissions that are readilyavailable today, and their use wouldgrow with economic incentives.
Energy and human development
Of the worlds 6 billion people, onethird enjoy the kind of energy ondemand that North Americans takefor granted, and another third have
such energy services intermittently.The final third 2 billion people simply lack access to modern energyservices. Not coincidentally, theenergy-deprived are the worlds most
impoverished, living on less than$2 per day. Their ranks will continueto grow. According to UN estimates,the populations of the 50 poorestnations will triple in size over the next50 years. Without access to modern,reliable energy sources, social and
economic development is notpossible.A number of new models have
helped demonstrate, on a limitedscale, various approaches for finan-cing and delivering affordable ruralenergy services. Our challenge is tobuild on these successes and continueto increase their impact by scaling upprogrammes that work and encouragethe flow of private capital into sus-tainable energy development.
UN Foundation role
To date, the UN Foundation has in-vested more than $28 million in UnitedNations projects working to address
the energy challenge. One of ourflagship projects, African Rural EnergyEnterprise Development (AREED),seeks to develop new sustainableenergy enterprises that use clean,efficient and renewable energytechnologies to meet the energy needsof under-served populations, whilereducing the environmental andhealth consequences of existingenergy use patterns.
The AREED approach offers ruralenergy entrepreneurs a combinationof enterprise development servicesand start-up financing. This integratedfinancial and technical support allowsentrepreneurs to plan and structure
their companies in a manner thatprepares them for growth and makeseventual investments by mainstreamfinancial partners less risky.
In Mali, where firewood andcharcoal represent more than 90 percent of the countrys household energyconsumption, AREED is working with alocal business to develop alternativecooking fuels to decrease the depen-dence on traditional sources whichcauses forest degradation and desert-
ification and contributes to overallpoverty. The local company is ad-dressing this need by manufacturingbriquettes from agricultural by-products, such as coconut husks,hulls of groundnut, sawdust and ricehusks. AREED is assisting the com-pany with a market study and strategythat will allow it to market its productmore effectively and prepare thecompany for business expansion.
AREED has been so successful thatthe UN Foundation has expanded itssupport to include similar activities inBrazil and China
Ted Turner is Chairman of the UnitedNations Foundation.
UNF
TheinWin/UNEP/Topham
The energy
challengeTED TURNER describesthe imperatives of tacklingenergy poverty and climatechange and work doneby the UN Foundationto address them
The responsible course
is to get moving in the rightdirection
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impact. For the United States, that will mean a major shiftin the way we conduct and fund agricultural science.Fundamental research will generate the innovations thatwill be necessary to feed the world.
The United States can take a leading position in aproductivity revolution. And our success at increasing foodproduction may play a decisive humanitarian role in thesurvival of billions of people and the health of our planet.
Directly related to our challenge to feed a growing worldis the necessity of providing a sustainable resource for fuels,chemicals and materials. I believe that agriculture and thewider sphere of plants represent a resource not only forfood, but also for the fuel, energy and materials essential tomodern society. Scientists have developed biotechnologies genetically engineered yeasts, enzymes and bacteria capable of breaking down plants, trees, grasses andagricultural residues (known as biomass) into theirconstituent chemical building blocks, principally in the formof complex sugars. From this intermediate step, we can
produce a wide variety of bio-based products includinganimal feed, chemicals and importantly fuel.
If a significant percentage of products currently derivedfrom petroleum can be produced from biomass, the majorindustrial economies will improve their strategic security by
7
In a world confronted by global terrorism, turmoil in theMiddle East, burgeoning nuclear threats and other crises,it is easy to lose sight of the long-range challenges. But
we do so at our peril. One of the most daunting of them ismeeting the world's need for food and energy in this century.At stake is not only preventing starvation and saving theenvironment, but also world peace and security. History tellsus that states may go to war over access to resources, and
that poverty and famine have often bred fanaticism andterrorism. Working to feed the world will minimize factorsthat contribute to global instability and the proliferation ofweapons of mass destruction.
With the world population expected to grow from 6 billionpeople today to 9 billion by mid-century, the demand foraffordable food will increase well beyond currentinternational production levels. People in rapidly developingnations will have the means greatly to improve theirstandard of living and caloric intake. Inevitably, that meanseating more meat. This will raise demand for feed grain atthe same time that the growing world population will need
vastly more basic food to eat.Complicating a solution to this problem is a dynamic thatmust be better understood in the West: developing countriesoften use limited arable land to expand cities to house theirgrowing populations. As good land disappears, peopledestroy timber resources and even rainforests as they try tocreate more arable land to feed themselves. The long-termenvironmental consequences could be disastrous for theentire globe.
Productivity revolution
To meet the expected demand for food over the next 50years, we in the United States will have to grow roughly threetimes more food on the land we have. Thats a tall order. Myfarm in Marion County, Indiana, for example, yields on aver-age 8.3 to 8.6 tonnes of corn per hectare typical for a farmin central Indiana. To triple our production by 2050, we willhave to produce an annual average of 25 tonnes per hectare.
Can we possibly boost output that much? Well, its beendone before. Advances in the use of fertilizer and water,improved machinery and better tilling techniques combinedto generate a threefold increase in yields since 1935 on ourfarm back then, my dad produced 2.8 to 3 tonnes perhectare. Much US agriculture has seen similar increases.
But of course there is no guarantee that we can achievethose results again. Given the urgency of expanding foodproduction to meet world demand, we must invest muchmore in scientific research and target that money towardprojects that promise to have significant national and global
Agriculture and the wider sphere of plantsrepresent a resource not only for food,
but also for the fuel, energy and materials
essential to modern society
Plant POWERRICHARD G. LUGAR calls for a new greenrevolution to combat global warming andreduce world instability
Our Planet
RichardG.Lugar
Richard G. Lugar inspecting corn on his US farm.
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reducing their dependence on Middle Eastern oil and allcountries, rich and poor, can spend far less on oil imports,dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and helpstrengthen their own rural communities while simul-taneously building a new bio-based industry worth hundredsof billions of dollars worldwide per year.
Shift to bio-based fuels
Bio-based fuels such as ethanol have clear potential to besustainable, low cost and high performance, are compatiblewith both current and future transportation systems, andprovide near-zero net greenhouse gas emissions. The impactof bio-ethanol on greenhouse gas emissions is particularlysignificant because the transportation sector relies almostexclusively on fossil fuels and accounts for one third of total
greenhouse gas emissions. A shift to bio-based fuels is along-term approach to the problem of global warming thatdoes not require a shift from automobiles or result inincreased costs for US employers and consumers.
As my friend, former CIA director James Woolsey, whohas worked with me on this issue, likes to say, this is not yourfathers ethanol. We currently derive ethanol from corn andother starches, an energy-intensive process that results inan expensive product. He notes that using biocatalysts, orother technologies nearing commercialization like thermaldepolymerization, we can cut costs by orders of magnitude,making bio-ethanol competitive with gasoline even if theprice of oil drops to $10-13 a barrel. Equally important,large-scale production wont require us to plough upmarginal land or displace food crops.
Before we can reap these benefits from the sustainable
Agricultural trade barriers remain one
of the most stubborn and persistent
obstacles to a truly open and fair
global trading system. Despite high-minded
rhetoric about the benefits of free-market
principles, Western countries have resisted
the removal of the $300 billion a year in
subsidies that long have tilted the system intheir favour. These subsidies promote
market inefficiencies and cripple the ability
of some of the poorest nations on Earth to
compete, even in their own markets.
These policies are not just inefficient
and contrary to our stated beliefs in free
and fair trade; they are also a cruel obstacle
to progress for farmers in other lands who
are struggling to make a living. Dairy cows
in Europe and Japan receive more each day
in government subsidies than the rural poor
are able to earn in the developing world.Technical advances in the science of
bioenergy the conversion of agricultural
wastes and other organic material to fuels
and other products offer a way out of this
seemingly intractable conflict and could
have surprising payoffs in other areas as
well: economic growth in the developing
world, reductions in the emission of green-
house gases, and easing the worlds
dangerous dependence on oil.
Multiple benefits
Bioenergy growing ones own fuel
offers the opportunity to do well while
doing right. For several decades, the United
States has promoted development of eth-
anol because it offers multiple national
benefits aiding farmers, the environment
and the nations energy security. But we
have only scratched the surface of bio-
energys promise.
Most ethanol is produced from corn,using only the starch in the kernels. But
new conversion technologies could lead
to the cost-effective use of a wide variety
of feedstocks and agricultural waste pro-
Bioenergy:doing wellwhile doing rightTIMOTHY E. WIRTH, C. BOYDEN GRAY and
JOHN D. PODESTA describe the great potential for energysecurity and the environment in growing ones own fuel
Jacky Sawalha/UNEP/Topham Romain/UNEP/Topham Natalia C. Mazzucchelli/UNEP/Topham
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biomass resource, the cost of the new technology must beslashed. Again, research offers the only systematic meansfor creating the innovations and technical improvements thatwill bring down biomass processing costs. Given the privatesectors short-term horizon, and because many benefits ofbiomass processing are in the public interest, governmentsand multilateral institutions should take the lead in thisimportant effort and invest in the promise of a new greenrevolution.
Remarkable opportunity
From the days when I worked on our farm as a boy throughmy time in the United States Senate, where I have alwaysserved on the Senate Agriculture Committee, I havewitnessed tremendous change in the way we farm in the
United States and around the world. Although we are facedwith enormous challenges for the future, at no time hasagriculture been as exciting and full of opportunity as it istoday. Pessimists may say that humanity has got itself into ahopeless muddle, but I have faith in the limitless supply ofhuman ingenuity. We would be extremely shortsighted not totake advantage of the scientific breakthroughs that haveoccurred in agriculture and biomass conversion. If we do, wewill make life far less dangerous and far more prosperousfor future generations. If we do not, those generations willlook back in angry wonder at the remarkable opportunitythat we missed
Richard G. Lugar, a US Senator from Indiana, is Chairman ofthe Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and a member andformer chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
ducts like corn stalks and wheat straw
to produce ethanol and other products,
such as chemicals and plastics, that are
currently derived from fossil fuels. These
technologies allow farmers to harvest
double dividends selling cash crops like
corn and wheat, and converting the
leftover waste to fuel for the
transportation sector.
Bioenergys potential is huge eco-
nomically and environmentally. Currently,
ethanol accounts for less than 2 per cent of
US gas consumption. The new bioenergy
technologies could dramatically increase
that figure, producing as much as 150
billion litres the equivalent of one quarter
of our current gasoline use. Bioenergy will
also help prevent further global warming
because the carbon dioxide emitted as it isproduced and used is absorbed by the
plants as they grow. The net greenhouse
gas emissions are near zero.
Moreover, bioenergy could spur
economic development around the world.
Advanced ethanol technologies will pro-
vide poor countries with a new way to meet
transportation needs that are necessary pre-
requisites to economic progress and
growth. With the right technology and
basic training, these countries will be able
to grow their own fuels, allowing them to
redirect scarce foreign exchange earnings
away from imported oil to more productive
national investments including critical
social investments in health, education and
welfare.
Productive subsidies
The West is unlikely to abandon agri-
cultural subsidies but it can direct them in
a much more productive and less de-structive manner. By shifting subsidies
from food crops to bioenergy production,
the United States and others can support
farm income, reduce oil dependence and
make environmental progress, both at
home and abroad.
With gasoline prices reaching all-time
highs in many areas, climate change
threatening the stability of the worlds
ecosystem and the dangers of persistent
global poverty increasingly clear, indus-
trialized nations should lead the world
toward the rapid development of clean,
abundant biofuels
Timothy E. Wirth is President of the United
Nations Foundation; C. Boyden Gray, a
partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering,
was Counsel to former President George H.W. Bush; and John D. Podesta,
President of the Center for American
Progress, was Chief of Staff to former
President Bill Clinton.
Bioenergys potential ishuge economically andenvironmentally
Jacky Sawalha/UNEP/TophamRomain/UNEP/Topham
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OurPlanet
The Indian energy mix is a combination of commercialand traditional sources. Thirty per cent of energyneeds are met through traditional renewable sources
such as biomass and animal waste. More than 65 per cent ofthe population which does not have access to modern energyservices is dependent on biomass, animal waste and kero-sene for cooking and lighting. In 2001-2002, the consumptionof traditional fuels was estimated at 140 million tonnes of oilequivalent. Projections indicate that in 2011-2012 their share
will come down by 3 percentage points to 27 per cent.During the last two decades Indias renewable energy
programmes have grown in volume, technological maturityand reach. Initially, the thrust of the national effort wasdirected towards capacity building and research and de-velopment, mostly in national laboratories and educationalinstitutions. However, major expansion was witnessed inactivities from the 1980s onwards, focusing on large-scaledemonstration and subsidy-driven extension activitiesmainly in providing energy services to rural areas throughbiogas, improved cooking stoves and solar energy. Theseprogrammes created awareness, generated field experi-
ence, and helped set up a vast network of institutions andnon-governmental organizations reaching right down toself-employed workers at the grassroots level. The empha-sis is currently on commercialization with private sectorparticipation in power generation from wind, small hydroand biomass combustion/gasification, as well as in industrialapplications of solar and other forms of renewable energy.
Reaching millions
Wind, biomass and small hydropower contribute about 3.5per cent of the installed capacity for electric power. Againstan estimated renewable energy potential of about 80,000megawatts from commercially exploitable sources, morethan 4,000 megawatts has been harnessed to date. Biogasand solar lighting systems have reached 3.5 million and 1million households respectively. Many technologies arecurrently at the threshold of economic viability. A modestmanufacturing capacity has been set up in the country, andinstitutional mechanisms developed to support the deploy-ment of renewable energy technologies.
The spread of these various renewable energy tech-nologies in India has so far been aided by a mix of policy andsupport measures. Incentives available include soft loans,concessional rates of customs duty, exemption from excise
duty and sales tax, and 80 per cent accelerated depreciationbenefit to commercial projects. Subsidies are available insome programmes especially those deployed in ruralareas, such as improved woodstoves, biogas plants, solarlanterns and home lighting systems.
India faces a major challenge of providing energy to morethan 600,000 human settlements spread over 300,000square kilometres with a population of 1 billion which isstill growing and expected to stabilize at around 1.6 billionduring the next 40 to 50 years or so. The task is severelycompounded by low living standards, with around 75 per centof the population below a per capita per day internationalpoverty line of $2 at purchasing power parity (PPP) rates.Their low purchasing power has resulted in low levels of per
capita energy and electricity consumption.
In this context the major national aims are: providing reliable energy supply through a diverse and
sustainable fuel mix that addresses security concerns; the speedy commercial exploitation of renewable power
potential; the eradication and removal of energy poverty across the
country; ensuring availability and affordability of energy supply,
including safety aspects related to it; electrification of all households in remote villages
by 2012; electrification of around 18,000 remote villages through
renewables by 2007 (those that are not likely to beconnected to the grid by 2012);
10 per cent power capacity addition through renewablesby 2012;
3 million family-type biogas plants and 7 million solarlighting systems by 2012.
New energyfor development
M. KANNAPPAN describes Indias programme to bring renewable sources of energyto its villages and to become a world leader in the new technologies
We in India recognize that efficientmanagement of energy is essential in
achieving the goals of sustainabledevelopment
N.K. Puri/UNEP/Topham
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Our Planet
11
India is also looking forward to becoming a global leader innew and renewable energy technologies. Its efforts promo-ting renewable energy are in harmony with global concerns.
At present the global interest in renewable energy ismainly on account of climate change. The global concernscan be articulated as the need to: cap global CO2 emission levels by around 60 per cent by
2050 to arrest the process of global climate change; cap and roll back higher levels of fossil fuel consumption:
liquid hydrocarbons would otherwise become beyond thereach of many;
work towards lowering the relative price of new andrenewable power technologies through a continuous andfocused research and development effort;
improve access to reliable, affordable, economicallyviable, socially acceptable and environmentally soundenergy services and resources.
These global concerns are expected to lead to the usheringin of what has been termed a carbon-free economy which isexpected to be based on a fuel mix mainly provided by thegreen or renewable energy technologies.
The key to realizing the full potential of renewables isaccepted to be the development and deployment of bothnew and existing technologies. We have been tracking tech-nological developments and have initiated research anddevelopment in some frontier areas. Our perception is thatthe future energy technological scenario would be: more diverse than today;
a versatile fuel mix, on account of new and emergingtechnologies including CO2 capture and storage;
local generation through biomass/wind/hydro etc; micro-generation through new innovative end-use
packages from fuel cells, solar photovoltaics, etc.
However, the underlying objective, while progressing on thisroad map, has to be that new and renewable energy tech-nologies are accessible, affordable, reliable and safe forutilization.
Meeting energy goals
We in India recognize that efficient management of energyis essential in achieving the goals of sustainable develop-ment. We consider new and renewable energy developmentand deployment to be of great importance for long-termenergy supply security, decentralization of energy supply(particularly for the benefit of the rural population), and
environmental benefits and sustainability. In this context,the Indian renewable energy programme can be said to be agoal-oriented effort to meet the countrys energy require-ments in an environmentally sound way
M. Kannappan is the Minister of Non-Conventional EnergySources, India.
Nitin Sawal/UNEP/Topham
Indranil Sarkar/UNEP/Topham
Somabhai B. Mistry/UNEP/Topham
B. Rajan Babu/UNEP/Topham
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UNEP is launching a new international environmentalaward which each year will recognize sixChampions of the Earth,
one from each region of
the world. The champions
will be rewarded for their
creativity, vision and lead-
ership and for thepotential of their work
and ideas for replication
worldwide. See www.
unep.org/champions
OurPlanet
12
PEOPLE
Two outstanding inter-nationalists, and friends ofUNEP, have died tragically:
Anna Lindh, the Swedish
Foreign Minister, who was
murdered in Stockholm; and
Sergio Vieira de Mello, the
United Nations envoy in Iraq,
who was killed in the car
bomb attack on the UN
offices in Baghdad. They were
two of the worlds mostcapable and inspirational public figures.
Anna Lindh entered the Swedish cabinet as Minister of the
Environment in 1994 and served in that post for four years. She
was known for her honesty and negotiating skills and inspired
trust on all sides. A message pinned to a single red rose outside
the hospital where she died said: You were proof that an
ordinary hard-working girl could take on the world.
Sergio Vieira de Mello, the High Commissioner for Human
Rights who was on secondment to Iraq for a four-month
assignment, had unparalleled experience of handling difficult
situations: he had successfully been both the special envoy in
Kosovo after the war and Interim Administrator of EastTimor after the withdrawal of
Indonesia. He was steadily
building trust in Iraq before
his death.Kofi Annan, the UN
Secretary-General said of
Vieira de Mello: I can think of
no-one we could less afford to
spare or who would be more
acutely missed. Millions of
Swedes, and many millions
more around the world, will feel
the same about Lindh
Xie Zhenhua the initiator,leader and implementer ofChinas environmental protec-
tion programme and Dener
Giovanini, who has created a
successful network against wild
animal trafficking in Brazil,
share the 2003 UNEP Sasakawa
Environment Prize. Mr Xie, who
now holds the post of Minister,
State Environmental Protection
Administration of China, has
been working in the field for more than two decades, bringingabout significant improvements in his country. He initiated a
water treatment campaign that brought safe and clean
drinking water to 200 million people. He guided the phase-
out of polluting and wasteful processes, equipment and
products at over 100,000 medium and small-sized enter-
prises and developed low-pollution or no-pollution industries
in their place, finding solutions for laid-off workers.
Under his leadership, 1,757 nature reserves covering
13.5 per cent of the area of China have been created. He has
encouraged the growth of environmental non-governmental
organizations, and of media coverage of the area. He has
succeeded in persuading Government authorities to reroutekey infrastructure projects to avoid sensitive sites. And he has
brought about his countrys implementation of the Montreal
Protocol, under which China has accounted for half the
phase-out of ozone-depleting substances across the
developing world. Over the past seven years Chinas GDP has
grown by 8 per cent annually, but the total discharge of the
main pollutants has declined every year.
Mr Giovanini created
the National Network for
Combating Wild Animal
Trafficking in 1999 to curb,
and ultimately stop, an
illegal trade worth $1.5
billion a year in Brazil.
In just four years he has
put in place an effective,
multi-pronged and rapidly
expanding network in a
country which has anti-
trafficking laws but lacks
the infrastructure to add-
ress the problem system-
atically. Some 1,600 police
and Government agents have been trained, and police and
customs officials have been linked with a network of 234volunteer veterinarians. The network has also found
alternative work for poor people engaged in the trade, by
teaching them how to tend wild animals and construct
appropriate habitats for them
UN/DPIPhoto
PawelFlato/InformationRosenbad
GovernmentofChina
DenerGiovanini
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13
Alow-carbon economy is attainable.
All countries need to have the
serious intention to move towards it
and thus enhance our collective energy
security.
We in the United Kingdom have already
taken a major step. In February 2003 we
published our Energy White Paper the
United Kingdoms first comprehensive
forward-looking statement of energy
policy in over 20 years, acknowledging the
fundamental interdependence of economic
growth, social progress and environmental
objectives. A long-term strategy, its key
aim is a 60 per cent cut in carbon dioxide
emissions by about 2050.
But a global low-carbon economy will
not be realized just because the UnitedKingdom and some like-minded countries
wish it. Global participation is essential
and governments cannot deliver it alone.
Policy makers, business and civil society
need to work closely together to deliver the
changes we need.
Last year at the Johannesburg World
Summit on Sustainable Development, I
launched the idea of the Renewable Energy
and Energy Efficiency Partnership,
(REEEP), founded by a group of govern-
ments, businesses and non-governmentalorganizations who felt that partnership was
crucial to delivering the sustainable energy
commitments we all agreed at the Summit.
I believe it to be a key vehicle for
turning such commitments into positive
outcomes, harnessing the best ideas from
across the globe to achieve just this.
Overcoming barriers
Efficient energy use will be essential.
Through the REEEP, our experience and
those of many other countries in imp-
lementing energy efficiency policies and
programmes can benefit all. We in the
United Kingdom very much look forward
to learning from the experience of others.
We also need an urgent and substantial
increase in the use of renewable energy
sources. Through the REEEP we can work
together to achieve this.
Barriers to the uptake of renewable and
energy efficiency technologies remain:
inappropriate policies, subsidies and struc-
tural arrangements; problems in accessingfinance; and a lack of human and instit-
utional capacity. Overcoming them re-
quires concerted effort from governments,
businesses, financial institutions and the
rest of civil society. The REEEP can help
channel this activity at a regional and a
global level, ensuring that climate-friendly
policies go hand in hand with economic
growth, poverty reduction and respect for
the varied needs of developing countries.
We need to deliver increased energy
efficiency and use of renewable energy.
More technological development and
international cooperation can help. We
need a global partnership of governments,businesses and other stakeholders working
together to foster market growth in renew-
able and energy efficiency technologies
and striving to remove policy, technical,
market and regulatory barriers to it.
Climate-friendly technologies can help
create a competitive and sustainable econ-
omy, while showing that ambitious and
long-term targets on climate change are
achievable.
Partners in the REEEP will work in
three main areas:
Identifying and removing market
barriers. These will be different depending
on location, so the REEEP has an
important regional dimension. A network
of regulators or a series of networks is
likely to be one of its early achievements.
Helping to match finance with inno-
vative renewable and energy efficiency
projects. By facilitating links between
business and other innovators, REEEPpartners will promote sustainable energy
projects at the national and regional level
such as the development of energy services
markets, tradable renewable energy certifi-
cate schemes and the European Union
carbon emissions trading scheme.
Having an important communications
role, promoting and explaining the benefits
of renewable energy and energy efficiency
to international organizations, govern-
ments, regulators, business and other key
stakeholders.
Opening doors
As a global partnership, the REEEP offers
an opportunity to influence the future
direction of a new and expanding market
and a unique access to key policy makers
and regulators. It opens doors to new tech-
nology and the opportunity for innovations
to be shared globally. It provides the
chance to evaluate options against what has
worked and what has not in different
countries and regions.
It has already demonstrated its worth. A
regional plan was drawn up at a recent
REEEP partners meeting in Beijing to
enable countries to work together to deliver
energy efficiency and increase the use of
renewable energy.
A global low-carbon economy is within
our grasp. But we need to work together to
achieve it, to reduce costs and share know-
ledge, experience and practice. The
REEEP will play a vital role in helping us
to get there
Margaret Beckett is Secretary of State for
the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
United Kingdom.
Delivering
CHANGEMARGARET BECKETToutlines a new initiative
to break down barriers toincreasing energy
efficiency and the use ofrenewables
Banson
Our Planet
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OurPlanet
14
MariaSuokko
MariaSuokko
ShihuaZhao/UNEP/Topham
Energy brings people light and promotes the develop-ment of civilization. But it also produces pollution onour planet, facing us with the challenge of how better
to protect the environment.There are great development prospects and vast
commercial opportunities in Chinas energy growth. In 2002,the Chinese consumed the equivalent of 1.15 tonnes of
standard coal and 1,292 kilowatt-hours of power per capita,lower than the worlds average. By 2020, when Chinas percapita GDP reaches $3,000 a year, each of our people will beconsuming almost twice as much energy, the equivalent of2 tonnes of standard coal every 12 months, while thecountrys total consumption will have increased to theequivalent of 2.5 billion tonnes.
China is unswervingly adhering to a sustainable energy
development strategy in the new millennium, minimizing
energy consumptions impact on the environment whilepromoting energy development. It is: Promoting restructuring of the energy mix. The share ofoil and natural gas in primary energy consumption will beincreased, and measures will be taken to raise theproportion of hydro, nuclear and wind power in Chinaselectricity generation capacity from 25.6 per cent in 2000 to36 per cent in 2020.
Benign growthMA KAI describes how China is committedto a sustainable development energystrategy as it doubles consumption in lessthan two decades
Eleven years ago Hechengli, in the
northeast corner of China, began
planning to become an Ecological
Village in Jilin Province. Now it is
pioneering again, as host to a revolution-
ary new energy project which could prove
a model for China and much of the
developing world.
A combined heat and power plant, to
be fuelled by corn stalks and other
agricultural wastes, has been built on a hill
overlooking the village of 224 households
in one of the most fertile parts of thecountry. Financed jointly by the local
Jilin Provincial Government and the
United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), it is designed to produce cooking
gas, heat and electricity simultaneously
and to demonstrate the technical, eco-
nomic and market viability of a modernbiomass gasification system. The UNDP
funds are being provided through a grant
from the UN Foundation.
Jilin Province, home to just 2 per cent
of Chinas population, produces 14 per
cent of its corn. The corn stalks currently
pose a waste problem, but could become a
valuable local resource to reduce poverty
and support sustainable development.
Clean, low-cost heat and power, based on
such biomass, could increase living stand-
ards, promote industry and create jobs
here and in rural areas throughout
developing countries while cutting
dangerous indoor air pollution from
traditional cooking stoves and combating
global warming.
Expanding operations
Biomass has already successfully been
turned into gas in Jilin and other Chinese
provinces to provide a clean cooking fuel
for rural villages, but these projects have
not been economically attractive becausethey generally only operate for about six
hours every day, which is not sufficient to
recover the capital cost. The Hechengli
project will expand the plant incrementally
GreenenergyLIU SHUYING describesa pioneering project toprovide heat and powerfrom waste cornstalks in rural China
to meet the villages needs for electricityand heat in an area where annual
temperatures average just 2.5C and sell
surplus power to the national grid. The
added revenues from the expanded
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Our Planet
People are optimistic about
being at the cutting edge of
energy technology,
expanding industry and
eco-tourism, and reducing
pollution
PatDeLaquil
PatDeLaquil
15
Promoting the clean use of coal and cutting emissions of
various pollutants. China will make efforts to promote andcommercialize clean coal power generation technologieslike coal washing, coal selection and coal concentration.Research will be carried out on carbon collection and the useof hydrogen. Sticking to its effective energy-saving policy, which hasachieved obvious results over many years. In the newmillennium, China will increase peoples awareness of
energy saving, and implement effective measures morewidely. Energy saving is regarded as a fundamental approachfor Chinas sustainable development. Coordinating energy development and environmentalprotection as the common aspiration of human beings: thisrequires joint efforts by the governments and people of thewhole world. The Chinese Government will actively promoteenergy cooperation with the international community. Wehope we can carry out exchange and cooperation, learnadvanced technology and share experience from othercountries. We are ready to establish an active dialogue with
other nations and international energy organizations on suchissues as energy safety and supplying energy to poverty-stricken people. As a member of the global village, Chinawill work together with all the worlds countries for a morecivilized, more affluent and cleaner future
Ma Kai is Minister in Charge of the State Development andReform Commission, China.
China is adhering to a sustainable energydevelopment strategy in the newmillennium, minimizing energy
consumptions impact on the environment
factories in summer and by heating
greenhouses for growing vegetables in
winter. Use of the gas instead of traditional
cooking fuels (wood and coal) will greatly
reduce the high levels of indoor air
pollution that cause acute respiratory
infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, lung cancer, tuberculosis, asthma
and blindness across the developing world.
Environmentally sensitive
Jilin Province is an ideal place for the
project because it has not just abundant
biomass and a need for rural development,
but an emerging industrial base and a
government with the commitment needed
to ensure the sustained growth of such a
new industry. Hechengli, as an EcologicalVillage, already has an environmentally
sensitive development plan, and is well
placed to use extra energy to promote non-
polluting industry and expand the
greenhouse production which already pro-
vides income for over half its households.
The village has a dynamic, entre-preneurial and community-minded leader-
ship and the people are optimistic about
being at the cutting edge of energy
technology, expecting more energy for
less labour, expanding industry and eco-
tourism, and reducing pollution.
Cornerstone of progress
There is a vast potential market for the
modern biomass technology. The province
generates some 40 million tonnes of agri-
cultural residues a year. If just half of this
were to be converted to clean gas and
electricity in this way it could meet the
needs of more than 1.7 million households
half Jilins population while adding
1,400 megawatts of new generating
capacity to the grid, an increase of nearly
30 per cent. And the example could be
replicated around the world, making
sustainable development through modern
biomass technology a cornerstone of rural
progress
Liu Shuying is the Vice Chairperson of
Jilin Provincial Peoples Congress and
National Project Director for Modernized
Biomass Energy, China.
operation of the plant will make iteconomically attractive.
Furthermore, the people of the village
believe it will also help them expand their
industry by providing process heat for
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16
OurPlanet
At a glance: Energy
E
very year millions of people many of them children under five
die because they cannot usemodern sources of energy. Two inevery five of the people on the planethave to burn wood, charcoal, dungand other forms of traditionalbiomass, usually on open stoves andfires. The smoke contains a cocktailof poisonous chemicals, which swirlsaround their homes, causing acuterespiratory infections, asthma, can-cer and other diseases. It is one ofthe worlds greatest, and least
publicized, environmental crises,and it is getting worse as the spreadof commercial energy fails to keep upwith population growth and more andmore people are forced to resort totraditional fuels.
Meanwhile, the energy use of therich is mainly to blame for anotherescalating emergency globalwarming. Carbon dioxide (C02)emissions from the burning of fossilfuels have more than doubled since1965: global temperatures andatmospheric concentrations of the
The poorer a country, the more its peoplegenerally have to depend on traditionalbiomass, and the more likely they are tosicken and die as a result. Tanzanianchildren who die of acute respiratoryinfection before their fifth birthday arethree times more likely than healthy onesto have had to sleep in a room with an
open cooking stove.
Trends in use of biomass as cooking fuel relative to GNP per capita
(end of 20th century)
% of population usingbiomass as cooking fuel
> 75%
50 - 75%
25 - 50%
10 - 25%
< 10%
insufficient data
Source:WorldEnergyA
ssessment2000
Source: ESRI, 1996; IEA, 2001
Share of biomass in national energy consumption, 2001
Biomass energy, by type, 2001
Renewable energy, by type, 2001
Global burden of disease, selected
major risk factors
(end of 20th century)
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4, 000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10,000 11, 000 12, 000GNP per capita (1998 US$)
100
80
60
40
20
0
Source:IEA,
2003
Some two and a half billion people have no access to any form of modern energy and have to burntraditional biomass such as wood, charcoal and dung for heating and cooking. In somecountries it provides over 90 per cent of national energy supplies. It dominates the global use ofrenewable energies but in many ways this is a misnomer, for cutting trees and removing wastesfrom the land faster than they are replaced reduces its fertility and leads to soil erosion.
Biomass79.9%
Solidbiomass/charcoal
96%
Liquidbiomass 1%
Renewable municipalsolid waste 2%
Gas from biomass1%
Geothermal3.2%
Hydro 16.4%
Solar/tide0.3%
Wind 0.2%
Illicit drug use
Outdoor air pollution
Physical inactivity
Hypertension
Occupational hazard
Unsafe sex*
Tobacco use
Indoor air pollution
Alcohol use
Poor water/sanitation
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8% of total disease burden *including
unwanted pregnancy
RonanFaria/UNEP/Topham
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CO2 emissions, all sources
Billion tonnes carbon per year
Scenarios
17
Our Planet
greenhouse gas have duly risen too.Signs of climate change are alreadyappearing: retreating glaciers, thin-ning sea ice, rising sea levels, andmore frequent, more intense stormsand droughts. Disaster threatensunless the rate of change is broughtunder control.
Developed countries emit mostof the C02. Per capita emissions areten times higher in North Americathan in developing nations as awhole. Rich countries urgently needto reduce their energy consumption,
through conservation manyexperts call for a fourfold increase inefficiency by 2012 just as poorones need to increase their ownenergy consumption efficiently inorder to develop.
Modern renewable sources ofenergy using the sun, the wind andsmall-scale hydroelectric power, forexample can help tackle bothcrises. Distributed free by nature,they can bring clean energy andelectricity to the scattered villageswhere about half the worlds people
live. And their vast potential couldallow developed countries to moveonto sustainable energy paths thatcombat global warming and otherpollution. But they have receivedfar too little attention: solar andwind power, though growing fast,still provide only about 0.02 percent apiece of the worlds energysupplies. A new energy revolution islong overdue.
Geoffrey Lean
Priorities for energy R&D in major
industrialized countries
(end of 20th century)
Regional share of total primary
energy supply, 2001
World primary energy supply, 2001
Billion tonnes oil equivalent
Atmospheric CO2 concentrations
Parts per million by volume
Rate of global temperature changeoC per ten years
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Renewables
Fossil fuels
Nuclear
Africa 5%
Latin America 4%
Middle East 4% Non OECDin Europe 1%
OECD 54%
China 12%
Asia 11%
FormerUSSR 9%
Otherrenewables 1%
Nuclear 7%
Hydro 2%
Combustible renewablesand waste 11%
Coal 23%
Oil 35%
Naturalgas 21%
Source: UNDP Human Development Report/IEA 2000
Source:IEA,
2003
Source: RIVM/UNEP/GEO3
Fossil fuels still provide almost 80 per cent ofthe worlds energy, though this has declinedfrom about 86 per cent in 1971. They aremainly burned by the less than a fifth ofhumanity that lives in the OECD countries.Modern renewable energy still provides a tinyproportion, and most of this comes fromhydroelectric power from big dams which canthemselves damage the environment andsocieties.
Nuclear power has dominated researchfunding in developed countries for decades,but has failed to meet its promise. Thebuilding of new reactors declined sharplyfrom the mid-1970s to mid-1980s, and fewhave been started over the last 15 years.Much more research is needed on renewables
if they are to meet their potential and helpboth developed and developing countriestowards sustainable development.
Global temperatures and CO2 concentrations will continue to rise, but the rate of increasecan be cut. In four UNEP scenarios MarketsFirst, Policy First, Security First andSustainability First only the last putsconcentrations on a trajectory to stabilize bymid-century and reduces the rate oftemperature increase over 50 years. But eventhis ends up with an increase of well over 0.1oCa decade, the level above which damage toecosystems is likely to occur.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60% of R&D funding
Renewables
Non-renewables
World OECD China Asia Former Africa Latin Middle Non-OECDUSSR America East in Europe
16
12
8
4
01970 2000 2030 2050
600
500
400
3001970 2000 2030 2050
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.02000 2030 2050
Markets
FirstSecurity
First
PolicyFirst
SustainabilityFirst
Fuel share in total primary energy
supply, 2001
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18
TanaKaleya
Louis-PaulHeussaff
OlivierLaude
Onscreen, Chin-Chin Gutierrez, one of the Philippinesmost
celebrated film stars, has recently played a sophisticated
villain in a popular national soap opera. In real life, she
spends a third of her time campaigning for sustainable
development from warning against climate change to digging holes and composting rubbish
and has been hailed by TIMEmagazine as a hero for it.
The winner of both best actress and best supporting actress in the Asian Television awards,among other prizes and with an extraordinary versatility of roles, including heroines and
dramatic leads she doubles as a leading activist of the Mother Earth Foundation, a Filipino
non-governmental organization which has successfully campaigned for a national Clean Air Act
and waste legislation. Earlier this year she appeared on the cover of the international news magazine as a hero of Asia, for using her
fame to spread a message often ignored that there are natural resources aside from beauty and talent.
I am an actress and I traffic in dreams, says the 29-year-old Gutierrez, who broke new ground by playing her first anti-hero in the
soap,Habang Kapiling Ka. A dream can be a vision of tomorrows reality. I think it is the duty of every citizen of the Earth to dream of
a sustainable future for their country.
She was, in a sense, born into environmental concern. Her father was a botanist. Her paternal grandfather, a pharmacologist, used to
walk in the fields in his bare feet, so as not to disturb wildlife. And one of the f irst modern environmental books Our Plundered Planet
by Fairfield Osborn, published in 1948 was dedicated by the author to her maternal grandfather, Solomon Arnaldo, an early director
of UNESCOs office in New York.But it was a typhoon that first sparked her activism. Six years ago she went to a sacred mountain, Mount Banahaw, south of Manila,
to research a role before playing the head of a religious sect that lived there. The typhoon delayed the arrival of the television crew and
the week she spent there changed her life.
She returned to the mountain again and again eventually spending every weekend there to work with the local people, planting
trees and cleaning up the rubbish left by tourists, reminding people of the sacredness of the mountain by protecting and restoring its
ecological balance. It became a focus for the Mother Earth Foundation, where
she serves as chairperson for projects.
Earlier this year she took part in a UNEP workshop on sustainable
development in Bangkok. It really helped me a lot, she says. It clarified and
strengthened my ideas and beliefs on sustainable development. And she draws
extensively on UNEPs GEO3 report for educational work, visiting local
communities to explain the concept of ecological footprints.
Global warming
For example she uses facts on the shrinking of the worlds glaciers to introduce
climate change. The indicators of climate change tell us that we human beings
have no choice but to grow up. The Earth can live another one and a half billion
years, but maybe the human species will not survive global warming. We have
enough information, but do we have enough will to do what is needed?
I dream of the curse of poverty being lifted from the majority of Filipinos.
Poverty is the biggest obstacle to sustainable development. The tragedy of
environmental deterioration in the Philippines is compounded by the realization
that it is the majority of the population that lives below the poverty line that
depends on biodiversity for food and shelter. Thus to adapt a thought by PaulHawken, one of the writers who has most influenced me the environmental
movement in the Philippines must transform itself from a struggle to save the
Earth to a struggle to defend human rights: the right to food, the right to
livelihood, the rights to culture, community and self-sufficiency GL
STAR PROFILE
SUSTAINABLEDREAMSCHIN-CHIN GUTIERREZ
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Energy is the lifeblood of theglobal economy, and an essentialprerequisite for development. In
the industrialized world, high levels of
its use have become synonymous withconsumerism and modernity, while indeveloping nations, greater use isassociated with meeting basic humanneeds. By providing sufficient light toextend the day, by supplying energy forcooking, and by powering a pump toeliminate lengthy, exhausting walks tofetch water, a small amount of com-mercial energy is the key to liberatingmillions from the burden of poverty.The gross disparity in per capita energy
use is a sad reminder of the magnitudeof inequities in access to basic ser-vices; in the least developed countries,electricity use per capita is only 1 percent of what it is in the industrializednations.
Access and impact
The challenge of energy for develop-ment is largely defined by two distinctbut related issues: access andenvironmental impact. Expanding itssupply to those who currently lackaccess to modern energy sources iscritical. Some 2 billion people do nothave access to electricity and can taponly limited sources of kerosene,charcoal or other low-quality fuels.Developing countries must generatemore energy to reduce poverty andmeet growing demand.
But increased use of commercialenergy has significant environmentalimplications. Local air pollution causes
perhaps 4 million premature deathsper year, mostly of young childrenexposed to dirty cooking fuels. Theeconomic costs of air pollution amountto over $350 billion per year, or 6 per
cent of the gross national product ofdeveloping countries. There is also theadded global risk from climate changeassociated with the build-up of green-house gases from the combustion ofcoal, oil and natural gas. Despite theirrelatively low per capita consumption,developing countries have the fastesteconomic and population growth:within a few decades, their con-tributions to greenhouse gas emiss-ions are likely to exceed those ofindustrialized nations. The Global En-vironment Facility (GEF) believes thataccelerating the transition to efficientand renewable energy will bring enor-mous economic, social and environ-
mental benefits. As the chief funder ofrenewable energy in developing count-ries, it is playing a leading role inpartnership with UNEP, the UnitedNations Development Programme andthe World Bank in expanding theintroduction of clean energy tech-nologies. In 12 years, its clean energyportfolio has grown to more than $1.6billion in grants for projects with a totalvalue of more than $10.6 billion.
Expanding renewable energy
Renewable energy is taking India, forexample, by storm. The Governmentsfavourable investment tax policies,commercial financing and supportiveregulations have all contributed to this.By 2000, almost 1,200 megawatts ofwind capacity had been installed in thecountry, virtually all by the privatesector. Dozens of domestic manu-facturers have emerged and arealready exporting high-tech turbineswith variable speed operation. The GEFhas helped finance 41 megawattsof wind turbine installations and45 megawatts of mini-hydro capacity inthe country through the RenewableEnergy Development project, whilethe India Renewable DevelopmentAgency, strengthened through projectassistance, has financed another360 megawatts of wind farms and130 megawatts of mini-hydro stations.
Similarly, the GEF has had a
significant impact in expanding solarenergy for electricity and hot water incountries as distinct as China, Peru andGhana. Sri Lankas Energy ServicesDelivery Project is one of the worlds
Brightening
the futureLEONARD GOOD describesincreasingly successfulworldwide efforts to promoteclean energy and powersustainable development
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generation, heating, cooling, lightingand other productive activities. Withsome 15 per cent of the worlds energyconsumption already coming fromrenewables, the future looks reallybright. More than 1 million homes inthe developing world are now poweredby solar energy, while wind capacity
has increased from zero to over 1,700megawatts enough to power morethan 5 million typical homes. Indiaalone now has 40,000 solar street-lights. India and China are poised toadd more than 10 million solarsystems in coming years, while some60,000 systems are anticipated inArgentina and 300,000 more in theRepublic of South Africa.
most successful solar undertakings:our contribution helped provide elec-tricity for villages not served by thegrid. By the end of 2002, almost 20,000Sri Lankan homes had solar electricitythrough an innovative micro-financingapproach that made it easier for ruralpeople to obtain bank loans for thepurchase of solar home systems.Meanwhile, a GEF project in Morocco issuccessfully expanding the use of solarhot water heaters that cost less thanconventional water heating, and saveenergy. Government agencies andprivate firms were trained to promote,evaluate and install solar hot watersystems in homes and businesses: so
far 80,000 square metres of solar hotwater collectors have been installed.
Transforming markets
Forward-looking energy companiesseeking investment opportunities indeveloping countries are increasinglyfocusing on ensuring economic andenvironmental benefits. GEF is work-ing on three continents to partner withthem and share the risks of expanding
markets for renewable energy andenergy-efficient products, acceleratinga worldwide transition to clean energy.One new project, to transform themarket for energy-efficient refrig-erators in China, is already altering thefundamental structure of the market-place through new refrigerator stand-ards. Another project, in Poland, hashad a significant impact on the marketfor compact fluorescent lamps. Lowerprices through a manufacturersubsidy combined with a mass mediacampaign, resulted in sales of over 1.2million of the lamps in three years, andincreased the proportion of Polishhouseholds using them from one in tento one in three. The project clearlydemonstrated the financial and com-mercial benefits of energy-efficientlighting, saved large amounts ofpower, and reduced emissions fromcoal-fired generating plants.
Bright future
Worldwide efforts are using energy-efficient lights, solar, wind, geo-thermal, biomass and small hydro-power technologies for electricity
GEF strategies to promote cleanenergy increasingly emphasize theneed for sustainable business models,country partnerships and financialleverage. The renewable energy ind-ustry is now worth over $10 billion peryear and growing in double digits.Thirty major firms, including BP andShell International, have announcedplans to invest from $10 to $15 billionin renewable energy worldwide in thenext five years. Development agencieshave expanded their efforts to fostermarket growth by working to removemarket barriers. And some marketsfor renewable energy in developingcountries, such as in Kenya, have
emerged without any explicit develop-ment assistance, primarily throughprivate sector initiative. We willcontinue to stimulate such innovativeinvestments and to play a leading rolein promoting clean energy
Leonard Good is CEO and Chairman ofthe Global Environment Facility.
Some 15 per cent of the worldsenergy consumption alreadycomes from renewables
The Global EnvironmentFacility unites 175 membergovernments in partnership
with the private sector, non-governmental organizations andinternational institutions toaddress complex global environ-mental issues while supportingnational sustainable developmentinitiatives. It has allocated $4.5billion in grants and leveraged$14.5 billion in additional finan-cing for more than 1,200 projectsin over 140 developing countries.In August 2002, donor nationspledged an additional $3 billion,
the largest replenishment ever, toexpand and accelerate its work.
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We now understand that both business and society
stand to benefit from working together, said KofiAnnan, the United Nations Secretary-General, at the
2002 World Summit in Johannesburg. And more and more we are
realizing that it is only by mobilizing the corporate sector that we
can make significant progress. It was a most welcome recognition
of the role business can play in meeting the challenges of
sustainable development.
Shell is playing its part both individually and as part of the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which I
have had the privilege of chairing over the past two years. This is
part of a clear commitment to contribute to sustainable develop-
ment, which is at the heart of the way we operate. That means we
take account of environmental and social considerations as well as
economic ones in making our business decisions.
We know that oil and gas exploration and production can have
an impact on the environment and are determined to minimize it
and ensure the long-term legacy of these operations is a good one.
Protecting the worlds biodiversity is a particularly important
aspect of our work, and we are working in partnership with a
number of conservation organizations. These include a project with
the Smithsonian Institution in Gabon that is researching and
cataloguing the immensely rich natural environment around the
oilfields in the Gamba complex. It is extremely encouraging that
the research so far has suggested that, despite almost 40 years of oil
operations, the environment in the area is as rich as ever.
Integrating biodiversity
We have been working with other companies and conservation
organizations in the Energy Biodiversity Initiative in recognition of
the particular responsibilities of energy companies in this area. As
part of this, the Shell Group has developed tools and guidelineson best practice in integrating biodiversity into oil and gas
development. We hope these will form the basis for a common
approach by the industry.
This builds on the approach we have taken to integrate
biodiversity into our project planning and operations. The en-
vironmental impact of any project is assessed right from the start
and safeguards are put in place to mitigate any negative effects.
There is an early dialogue with stakeholders to ensure that their
concerns are addressed. Biodiversity is important wherever we
work and we try to ensure that all our operations take place in a
responsible way which respects the local environment.
World Heritage
We also recognize that there are some areas of the world which are
too sensitive for any oil and gas operations to take place. Earlier
this year, I announced that Shell would not explore for oil and gas
in any Natural World Heritage sites. This is a very significant step
and represented a real commitment to place respect for the
environment at the heart of the way we do business. But protecting
biodiversity is just one part of the work across the Shell Group to
minimize the environmental effect of our operations.
Every year we report publicly in the Shell Report on our
performance on a range of environmental and social indicators
including emissions, spills and energy efficiency. The data areindependently verified where possible, and we work hard to
ensure that the report is an open and honest account of our record
and can form the basis of an ongoing dialogue with our
stakeholders. Publishing these data provides a powerful incentive
Shell
Greening oilPHILIP WATTS describes what his company is doing to reduce its impact on
the environment and develop cleaner energy
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to improve our performance. The latest
report shows we have made progress on a
number of indicators, although we have
more to do to ensure consistency across
the whole Shell Group.
Our performance against our target for
greenhouse gas emissions is one of the key
measurements set out in the report. Shell
shares widespread concern that the emis-
sion of these gases from human activities is leading to changes in
the global climate. We believe action is required now to lay the
foundation for eventually stabilizing their concentrations.
We set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our
own operations by 10 per cent from 1990 levels by 2002. Had we
taken no action, the development of our business over that period
would have resulted in an increase of more than 20 per cent. We
met that target last year and have now renewed our commitment
with a new one to ensure that, in 2010, emissions are still at least
5 per cent below the 1990 level.
Sound business
Shell is also working to help our customers reduce their emissions
from energy use. This raises one of the greatest challenges facing
us all: how to meet growing global demand for energy in a way
which does not harm the environment. Successfully meeting this
challenge will require both more efficient
use of existing hydrocarbon resources
and work to develop the potential of
alternatives such as renewable energy and
hydrogen.
Natural gas in particular can offer a
bridge to increased use of renewable fuels
in the longer term. Gas produces signif-
icantly lower carbon emissions than oil or
coal and Shell is developing new gas projects around the world and
seeking new markets for that gas. At the same time Shell is
building a renewables business and supporting research and
development of hydrogen. While it is clear that renewables cannot
be a quick fix, Shell is helping them to increase their role in the
energy mix and is becoming a leading player in the provision of
wind and solar energy in a number of projects around the world.
Shell takes its responsibilities to the environment very seriously.
There are sound business reasons why we need to do so. Our
customers, those who work with us and the communities in which
we operate expect us to meet the highest standards. By meeting
those expectations and respecting the communities and
environments in which we work we can develop our business andensure its continued success
Sir Philip Watts is Chairman of the Committee of Managing
Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies.
Responding to the energy
challenge will require both
more efficient use of existing
hydrocarbon resources and
work to develop the potential
of alternatives
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Honda has obtained the
first US Government
certification for a fuel cell
car, the FCX
OurPlanet
G
lobal environmental problems
such as the greenhouse effect, the
depletion of natural resources and
the accumulation of wastes have beenrecognized as common international issues
affecting humanity since the 1990s. Sus-
tainable development on a global scale is
now sought, for instance, with the est-
ablishment of the targets for greenhouse
gas reduction in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol,
and with the adoption of the Declaration on
Sustainable Development at the 2002
Johannesburg Summit.
Honda launched the slogan Blue Sky
for Children in the 1960s when environ-
mental pollution became a highly visibleissue. During that decade we started an
aggressive approach aimed at substantial
environmental improvement, and unveiled
the Compound Vortex Controlled Com-
bustion (CVCC) engine which used
unique low-emission technology in the
United States and Japan. Since then, we
have developed the Variable Valve Timing
and Lift Electric Control System (VTEC)
and the i-VTEC series with innovative
engine technology, permitting global
production of vehicles that combine high
performance with state-of-the-art low-
emission technologies. And we continued
to work to preserve the global environment
by releasing a hybrid vehicle, the Insight,
which achieved the most efficient fuel
consumption in the world at the time of its
introduction in 1998.
Sharing advances
This kind of effort is not limited to our
cars. We have expanded it to all our
products. We have converted two-strokeengines to four-strokes in motorcycle
production for mass sale, and applied fuel
injection systems to small motorcycles.
We have, moreover, continuously adopted
four-stroke engines in multipurpose
engine products throughout our product
line substantially ahead of the schedule
required by the