By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA (IDN) – The world’s 47 least developed countries (LDCs) are “the battleground” on which the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will be won or lost, Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD has warned, adding that it is high time for donors to meet aid commitments. The 2030 Agenda includes an explicit goal […]
Hydrogen, Iceland and the Future of Transport
By Lowana Veal
REYKJAVIK (IDN) – “Renewable hydrogen is set to outperform gasoline on a cost basis, due to substantial cost reductions for hydrogen and renewable technologies,” according to Jakob Kropsgaard of Norwegian firm NEL Hydrogen, which delivers solutions for producing, storing and distributing hydrogen from renewable energy
Speaking at a seminar here on alternative fuels for the future at the end of March, Kropsgaard said that “it is possible to produce hydrogen at a cost of 3-5 euros per kg”. When used for fuel, hydrogen is measured in kilos rather than litres.
Nevertheless, according to Valgeir Baldursson, CEO of Skeljungur oil company, “consumption of hydrogen fuel at the moment is not sufficient to produce a low price. The current cost in Europe is about 10 euros per kg.”
Art Exhibition Highlights Regional Bank’s Commitment to ‘Lighting Africa’
By Ronald Joshua
JOHANNESBURG | ABIDJAN (IDN) – When Akinwumi Adesina took over as the President of the African Development Bank in September 2015, he made no secret that lighting up and powering Africa would be one of his five priorities – one of the ‘High 5s’.
“Without electricity there is no future, no growth, no progress,” he said opening the exhibition, titled Lumières d’Afriques (‘African Lights’) on April 26 at the Donwahi Foundation for Contemporary Art in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, under the auspices of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Artists for Development (AAD) Fund.
The exhibition, which is the world’s first in several respects, will run through June 6 before going to Dakar, London, Washington, among other places. It comprises 54 works created by 54 world-renowned contemporary African artists, one for each of the 54 countries that make up the continent, united around the same source of inspiration: The illuminated Africa.
Doubling Renewables by 2030 Can Save Trillions
BERLIN (IDN | INPS) – Doubling renewables in the global energy mix by 2030 is not only feasible, but cheaper than not doing so. It can save up to USD 4.2 trillion annually by 2030 – 15 times more than the costs, says a new report. Under existing national plans, the global renewables share would only reach 21 per cent by 2030. The report recommends options to boost the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix from just over 18 per cent today, to as much as 36 per cent by 2030.
Achieving this would increase the cost of the global energy system by roughly USD 290 billion per year in 2030, but the savings achieved through this doubling – thanks to avoided expenditures on air pollution and climate change – are up to 15 times higher than this cost, says the report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) REmap: Roadmap for a Renewable Energy Future, released on March 17 at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue.