Affordable Clean Energy

Supporting Local Energy Access Projects Across East Africa

By Radwan Jakeem

This article is part of reports by the UN SDG Media Compact of which IDN is a member.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly said that it is time to end the fallacy that subsidizing fossil fuels is a way to improve people’s lives, and has called for the private sector to support the climate agenda.

As an example of how business can support the UN’s climate agenda, Portugal-based utility company EDP (Energias de Portugal) has partnered with the UN-backed Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) initiative to fund sustainable and clean energy projects in east Africa, notably in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi.

: Jaya Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Africa; 29 May 2019

Photo (Screenshot): UN Secretary General António Guterres delivered remarks at the opening of Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on April 26. Credit: UN China/Zhao Yun

UN Chief Expects Belt and Road Initiative to Foster 'Inclusive, Sustainable and Durable' Development

By Sean Buchanan

LONDON (IDN) – China’s international trade and economic development plan – known as the Belt and Road Initiative – could contribute to a more equitable and prosperous world, and help reverse the negative impact of climate change, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Addressing Chinese President Xi Jinping and dozens of other state leaders at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on April 26, Guterres urged the international community to “come together” in mobilising resources to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and “stop runaway climate change.”

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 26 April 2019

Photo: Atewa forest. Source: Save Atewa Forest

Bauxite Mining Threatens Ghana’s Crown Jewel of Biodiversity

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ACCRA (IDN) – Environmental groups in Ghana are waging an eleventh-hour battle to stop the government of Ghana from opening the Atewa Forest Reserve – a crown jewel of biodiversity and a source of three rivers – to commercial large-scale bauxite mining.

Their resistance conforms to the Fourth United Nations Environment Assembly's resolution on mining resource governance in Nairobi from March 11-15. The resolution stresses in particular Sustainable Development Goal 7 calling for 'affordable and clean energy' and Goal 12 on 'responsible consumption and production', "reminding the important contribution of mining to their achievement".

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 02 April 2019

Photo: In a desert area located on the west coast of Australia. The lake looks pink because of Dunaliella. Credit: Midori Kurahashi.

The Biomass Shore Project – A Leading Model For Next-Generation Innovation

Viewpoint by Midori Kurahashi

The author is Project Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Japan.

TOKYO (IDN) – Worldwide forest fires and the abnormal heat experienced last summer are still fresh in our memory. Many people throughout the world had a sense that some kind of unsettling change is happening. Even so, response is slow and measures are not being taken. One reason for this is that the world is driven by people who believe that the cost of stopping global warming is too great for the achieved effect.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 02 January 2019

Photo: Saudi National Atomic Energy Project SNAEP. Credit: KACARE

Ensuring Energy Sustainability for Future Generations in Saudi Arabia

By K A CARE

The following is sourced from the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy website.

RIYADH (IDN-INPS) – Saudi Arabia is a dynamic nation facing high rates of demand for energy and desalinated water as the nation’s population grows and the utilization of low-priced electricity and desalinated water accelerates.

According to government estimates, the anticipated demand for electricity in the Kingdom is expected to exceed 120 GW in 2032. Unless alternative energy and energy conservation measures are implemented, the overall demand for fossil fuels for power, industry, transportation and desalination is estimated to grow from 3.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2010 to 8.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2028.

: Africa & ME Editor; SYNDICATION; Research organisations; 30 November 2018

Photo: The new Evolutionary Pressurised Reactor, built by a Franco-German consortium, on Olkiluoto Island in southwestern Finland. It is expected to provide 10 per cent of Finland’s electricity when it becomes operational, probably in late 2018. Credit: S. Slavchev/IAEA

Finland Eyes Nuclear Power to Hit Climate Targets

By Jeffrey Donovan

The author is Press and Public Information Officer of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), based in Vienna. This article first appeared on the IAEA website on November 16, 2018.

VIENNA (IDN-INPS) – Along the pine-lined shores of Finland’s bucolic western coast, a clean energy vision of the Nordic country’s future is quietly taking shape. On the tiny island of Olkiluoto, workers are applying the finishing touches to a new Evolutionary Pressurised Reactor (EPR) set to supply 10% of Finland’s electricity needs. Like all nuclear power reactors, the massive 1600 MW unit will emit virtually no greenhouse gases (GHG) even as it churns out a steady stream of baseload electricity capable of providing power to millions of homes.

: Jaya Ramachandran; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 17 November 2018

Africa's High-Tech Path to Energy Inclusion

Viewpoint by Ben Good*

The author is CEO of Energy 4 Impact, a London-based non-profit organisation working with local businesses to extend access to energy in Africa, particularly East and West Africa.

LONDON (IDN) – Digital technologies are helping sub-Saharan African countries tap new sources of capital as they seek ways to close the energy access gap.

Last year, the Tanzania-based social enterprise Simusolar raised 50,000 dollars to finance its work selling solar powered systems to farmers and fishermen in rural areas traditionally excluded from mainstream energy provision.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 31 October 2018

Photo: Lesedi solar power plant panels. Credit: MyBroadBand

Southern Africa Experiencing Energy Boom

By Jeffrey Moyo

LUSAKA (IDN) – Letina Phiri waits at a bus terminus in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, as loaders carry her baggage of huge solar panels to pack on the bus.

“I will sell some of the panels as soon as I get home. Where I live, not far from Kabwe town, many people in rural communities there have started electrifying their homes with solar and I want to do the same,” 51-year-old Phiri told IDN.

Even in Zimbabwe, solar energy has started to gain ground in remote areas like Seke in the country’s Mashonaland East Province.

: Jeffrey Moyo; THE WORLD; Africa; 17 October 2018

Photo: The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Plant in Þingvellir, Iceland. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

UN University Supports Iceland in Facilitating Developing Countries' Access To Geo-Energy

By Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – 439 million Asians and 588 million sub-Saharan Africans lack access to electricity, according to the International Energy Authority’s Energy Access Outlook. The situation is worse for those living in rural areas: although 98 percent of urban Filipinos have access to electricity, this is only true for 84 percent of rural dwellers.

Aware of what millions have to forego and such wide gaps between the urban and rural populations, the Geothermal Training Programme of the United Nations University (UNU-GTP), the Government of Iceland and the National Energy Authority are assisting developing countries in capacity building for geothermal exploration and development.

: Lowana Veal; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 14 July 2018

Photo: Martin Krause, Director of the Division of Programme Support and Coordination, IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation, attends the UN event on sustainable development in New York. Credit: D. Shropshire/IAEA.

UN Nuclear Watchdog Promotes Global Development Agenda

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – At the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, concluding on July 18 in New York, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has highlighted its contributions to promoting the Sustainable Development Goals.

Capacity building to 'ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all' as envisaged by SDG 7 was the focus of a training course organized by the IAEA, the world's central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field.