Affordable Clean Energy

Vienna Energy Forum Has 10 Key Messages for UNIDO

Note: This report is based on a UNIDO media release issued on May 15. An independent analysis follows in the next few days. Meanwhile, we invite you to listen to our video interview with Piyush Goyal, India's Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines. - The Editor.

VIENNA (IDN) – Clean and affordable energy for all will play a vital role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) endorsed in 2015 and translating the 2016 Paris Climate Change Agreement into reality: this was the upshot of expert and high-level sessions of the four-day Vienna Energy Forum that concluded in the Austrian capital on May 12.

The fifth edition of the Forum co-organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Austrian Government, and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) brought together more than 1,650 participants from 128 countries.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 16 May 2017

Photo: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed. Credit: Vienna Energy Forum.

Fighting Poverty and Climate Change are the Same Fight

By Amina J. Mohammed

Note: Amina J Mohammed is the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General. Following are excerpts from her remarks as prepared for delivery at the opening of the Vienna Energy Forum on May 11, 2017. The full text was distributed by the Vienna-based UN Information Service (UNIS). – The Editor.

VIENNA (IDN-INPS) – Together, the two ground-breaking agreements (the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change) are a transformative vision for a better world -- universal, inclusive and integrated, an agenda for shared prosperity, peace and partnership on a healthy planet.

But realizing that vision means we must address climate change as a matter of utmost urgency.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 11 May 2017

Photo: The Boeing Fuel Cell Demonstrator powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

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.”

: Lowana Veal; SUSTAINABILITY; Affordable Clean Energy; 14 April 2017

Sustainable Energy for All by 2030 Needs Greater Effort

By Santo D. Benerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – A new report has expressed dissatisfaction with the current pace of progress on three global energy goals – access to electricity, renewable energy and efficiency, and stressed that more action is needed to meet energy targets by 2030 as envisaged in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to the latest Global Tracking Framework (GTF) report, released on April 3 by the World Bank and the International Energy Agency as part of the Sustainable Energy for All Knowledge Hub, the increase of people getting access to electricity is slowing down.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 10 April 2017

Briefing by Ambassador Dr. Kairat Umarov (centre), Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan at the UN in New York. Credit: Kazakh Permanent Mission to the UN.

Kazakhstan Focuses on Energy for Sustainable Development

By Devendra Kamarajan

NEW YORK (IDN) - Energy drives and enables national development and the global economy. Energy lies at the heart of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which constitute Agenda 2030 endorsed by world leaders at the United Nations Summit in September 2015.

It is widely agreed that increasing renewable energy production and consumption by 2030 will therefore contribute to climate change resilience, economic growth and poverty reduction.

Kazakhstan, as a forward looking and staunch proponent of energy security for over half a decade now, will contribute to global discourse and multilateral action by hosting the international specialized exhibition EXPO-2017 on Future Energy from June 10 to September 10 in the country's capital Astana.

: Devendra Kamarajan; UN INSIDER; 09 April 2017

Photo: Dr Richard Munang, Africa Climate Change and Development Policy expert with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Credit: Ngala Killian Chimtom

‘Innovative Volunteerism’ Key to Africa’s Development Blueprint

By Ngala Killian Chimtom

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – Africa’s present is defined by its vast but unexploited potential but the picture could be changed by leveraging catalytic sectors in which the continent holds comparative advantage, through dedicating available resources.

Dr Richard Munang, Africa Climate Change and Development Policy expert with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) believes that these resources – both physical (technological, institutional, financial and demographical, the dividend to be derived from having most of its population under the age of 25) and non-physical (including intellectual, partnerships, policies and networks) – could be utilised for a comparative advantage with a global competitive edge through what he calls “innovative volunteerism”.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; OPINION; 22 March 2017

Photo: Jamaica’s Energy Minister Andrew Wheatley

Environmentalists Say No to Coal-Fired Power Plant in Jamaica

By Desmond L. Brown

KINGSTON, Jamaica (ACP-IDN) – More than 21,000 people have signed a petition opposing coal-fired power in Jamaica. The #SayNOtoCoalJA initiative, being led by the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), is calling on the Government of Jamaica not to turn to coal as a fuel source for industrial development here.

In July 2016, the Jamaican Government announced the sale of the old Alpart bauxite plant at Nain in St. Elizabeth to Jiuquan Iron & Steel Company Limited (JISCO) of China, as well as a 2 billion dollar investment in an industrial zone, powered by a 1000 megawatt (MW) coal-fired plant, creating 3,000 jobs.

A 1000 MW coal-fired plant exceeds Jamaica’s entire current generating capacity which is about 850MW.

: Desmond L. Brown; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 26 February 2017

Photo: Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Perry Christie. Credit: Desmond L. Brown | IDN-INPS

Caribbean Countries Strive For Energy Security

By Desmond L. Brown

NASSAU, The Bahamas (ACP | IDN) – Caribbean countries have found themselves between a rock and a hard place. Already grappling with a myriad of challenges, including crime and weak economies, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states from Jamaica in the north to Guyana in the south are also now faced with extremely high energy costs.

Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Perry Christie, said his country and its neighbours must move with haste to transition to sustainable energy sources, something he believes would also help shore up their ailing economies and also address the crime scourge.

: Desmond L. Brown; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 27 January 2017

Photo: Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne (right) shakes hand with ADFD Director General Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi while Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment in the United Arab Emirates, looks on. Credit: Desmond L. Brown | IDN-INPS

Caribbean Setting Ambitious Renewable Energy Targets

By Desmond L. Brown

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (ACP-IDN) – As cash-strapped Caribbean nations push towards renewable energy development, the Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Adnan Z. Amin, has pointed to the challenges they face in matching ambition with reality and the need for international support.

Caribbean countries join a growing list of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which have set ambitious targets to switch to renewables.

In October 2016, Barbados set a new target of generating 65 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2030 following IRENA’s support in developing a national energy road map.

: Desmond L. Brown; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 16 January 2017

Photo: Noor 1: Currently the $9 billion Noor facilities generate 160 megawatts (MW). Credit: Fabiola Ortiz

Morocco Hosts the World’s largest Solar Plant

By Fabíola Ortiz

MARRAKECH (IDN) - The ambitious Moroccan plan for harnessing heat coming from the sun in the Sahara desert and turning it into electricity has drawn international attention, also during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP22), held in Marrakesh, between November 7-18.

Two hundred kilometres Northeast drive from the COP22 venue lies the 450 hectares Noor solar complex. When it starts fully operating in 2018, it will power over one million households and curb 760,000 tons per year of greenhouse gas emissions.