The official global rollout of the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All took place at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi on 16 January 2012. This inaugural event was followed by the various regional rollouts of the initiative, in Asia, Europe and Africa through out the month of February. Taskforce One and Taskforce Two of the initiative have held further meetings to produce action oriented frameworks on universal modern energy access. These meetings have led to a clear solutions based trajectory which encompasses a wide array of factors, from government to industry to civil society. The efforts have been successful in identifying the country level needs, impact and performance indicators needed to tackle the challenge of achieving universal energy access by 2030. A high level Sherpas and technical group meeting is also on the agenda for the end of March in New York, to advance the high-impact opportunities and country level actions of the initiative.
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Greening the economy is a challenge that needs to be achieved together with sustainable development and increased energy access for the poorest. One of the most critical challenges related to energy for sustainable development is how to support the rapidly increasing and ongoing access to affordable modern energy services, while also ensuring that these energy services are provided in an efficient manner and do not cause adverse environmental and socio-economic impacts. Opportunities for greening electricity generation with Biomass exist around the world and a number of technological options are available. Biomass deployment can be used to support the goal of universal energy access by 2030, providing that it is produced and is utilized sustainably and efficiently.
Specially grown energy crops can provide not only an environmentally sound source of electricity, but also an important opportunity for starting new, green agro-industries, diversifying agricultural incomes, and as a source of green jobs, particularly in rural areas.
The economics of sustainable biomass for electricity production depends to a great extent on the location, the technology of the power plant, and the availability of low-cost sustainably produced biomass. The development of sustainable supply chains is paramount when embarking on large-scale power generation development plans. The appropriate certification schemes, including those that track certified material through the production process, are also necessary. Developing countries, where appropriate conditions for sustainable biomass growth and harvest exist, are placed in an ideal position to benefit from increased bioelectricity installations and the related investments. If performed sustainably, these investments would lead to the further development of a green industry, its associated infrastructure development and new green jobs, facilitating the transition towards a green economy.
Acknowledging the important role of biomass technologies in decarbonizing the global energy system and the readily available and cost effective potential for emission reductions that could be achieved through the large-scale deployment of sustainable biomass for electricity production, UN-Energy in cooperation with the Global Bioenergy Partnership, and other partners is organizing a Conference on Sustainable Biomass for Electricity to be held in Güssing, Austria from 2 May to 4 May 2012.
The conference will provide an opportunity for governments, international organizations and private sector to share knowledge, lessons, best practices and experiences and to join efforts towards achieving a greater objective of decarbonizing electricity generation. Delegates and participants will be offered an Executive Seminar on bioenergy sustainability assessment and a field trip, presenting one of the most interesting Austrian experiences in terms of rapid development of a green economy, i.e. the experience of the Güssing region.
Within 10 years the region managed to become energy–independent, today deriving 100 percent of its electricity needs from renewable energy (mainly biomass). Formerly one of Austria's poorest regions with 27,000 inhabitants (70 percent of whom had to commute to other regions for work), Güssing has created 50 new companies since 1990, and more than 1,000 new jobs. In addition, the excess energy yields an annual turnover of over $20 Million for the region.
One of the major challenges of this century is to meet the needs of a growing population while conserving the environment. Uncertain climatic conditions only add to the urgency of using the planet's limited resources as efficiently as possible.
Experts often cite the need to grow more food in the coming decades, and for good reason: a 70 percent increase over current yields will be required to meet the nutritional needs of a projected world population of 9.1 Billion by 2050 . But less is said about the need for cheaper energy to keep agriculture viable in the face of declining fossil fuel production – or about the importance of ensuring both agricultural and non-agricultural employment opportunities for the rural poor.
IFAD's efforts in the energy sector are driven by all of these considerations. In particular, our agenda on renewable energy resources, including the development of biofuels, holds that such interventions must be pro-poor, pro-women, pro-environment and pro-livelihoods. Moreover, they should not compromise food security.
Economic and environmental benefits
Even today, with a global population of 7 Billion, conditions in the agricultural sector are arduous. Some 1.1 Billion people are directly employed in agriculture – approximately one producer for every six consumers. Yet agriculture accounts for only 3 percent of GDP worldwide. It's not surprising, then, that so much of global poverty is in this sector. Despite a large population of consumers, the market is just too small to provide meaningful income for most of the agricultural labour force.
Biofuels, developed sustainably, can help the poor smallholders by linking agriculture to the much larger energy market. In fact, they not only offer new income-earning opportunities to the poor but could also help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The recent increase in oil prices has made this possible. Today, many non-food or multiple-use crops which have higher sugar, oil or starch content than the conventional food crops used for biofuel production can, with some research, be grown cost-effectively in areas where food production is uneconomical. And the reduction in GHG could be considerable. According to the International Energy Agency's BLUE Map Scenario, which sets out cost effective strategies for halving GHG emissions by 2050, biofuels could contribute significantly to reducing emissions by increasing from 2 percent of total transport energy today to 27 percent by 2050. One way to meet this target is to develop biofuels in areas that are unsuitable for food production, avoiding the food vs. fuel debate.
Coordinated research on biofuels
IFAD's first foray into the biofuels sector came in 2007. That's when our Executive Board approved a $1.5 Million grant to support research in selected alternative non-food or multiple-use biofuel crops. IFAD has also organized international consultations on such crops, including sweet sorghum (in 2007 with FAO and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics), jatropha (in 2008 with the UN Foundation and FAO) and cassava (in 2010 with the Italian and Finnish Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the UN Foundation, FAO and Novozymes).
The consultations provided an overview of these crops' potential for biofuel production. Participants identified opportunities and challenges in terms of agronomy, breeding, economics, post-harvest technologies and public-private partnerships. But while research is under way in each of these areas, the consultations made it clear that there has been little coordinated research along the entire value chain.
To increase coordination, IFAD is now sponsoring a four-year, $12 Million initiative supporting research and development along the chain. The research would focus on improving plant productivity through practices that are environmentally sound and sustainable – and that contribute to positive GHG balances. The alternative non-food or multiple-use biofuel crops being considered for research include: cassava, jatropha, macaúba palm, pongamia, salicornia, simarouba, sweet sorghum, and tropical sugar beet. This list comprises crops that: (i) can provide food, feed and fuel; (ii) are water-efficient; (iii) can be grown in saline conditions; or (iv) can be adapted to marginal lands where food crops cannot be grown economically.
This strategic initiative – the Programme for the Development of Alternative Biofuel Crops – involves multiple partners, with contributions from UN agencies (IFAD and UNIDO), the private sector (Praj Industries Ltd.) and civil society (the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture). IFAD has contributed $2.5 Million to the programme, and our partners have provided an additional $2.1 Million, leaving a shortfall of $7.4 Million.
We encourage other partners, both public and private, to join us in this critical effort to reduce poverty and improve the environment, while ensuring food security for all.
The Industrial Development Report (IDR) is The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) flagship publication. It was launched on
17 January 2012 at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. This year the IDR entitled "Industrial energy efficiency for sustainable wealth creation: capturing environmental, economic and social dividends", stresses that sustainable energy production and energy efficiency is essential to overcome the major challenges facing the world today. Below is a video interview with Augusto Alcorta who is the Director of Development Policy, Statistics and Research at UNIDO responsible for the report.
The IDR is available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic here
"No country can begin to pull itself out of poverty without decent energy services. It is completely unacceptable that in today's world 900 Million people are forecasted to still be without electricity by 2030. This report has underlined that the world must take urgent action. Through our support of Practical Action we will help reduce energy poverty to boost economic growth in the poorest countries."
Stephen O'Brien, the UK's Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development was speaking at the launch of the Poor people's energy outlook 2012 report, at the London headquarters of the UK's Department for International Development on Monday, 23 January 2012.
Practical Action, backed by GIZ and UNDP, with additional support from UNIDO, have launched the Poor people's energy outlook 2012 as a catalyst for a movement for change on energy access, and a source of information to support it. This movement for change has as its focus the United Nation's goal of universal energy access by 2030.
This year, the Poor people's energy outlook shines a spotlight on energy access and its impact on the ability of the world's poorest people to earn a decent living and work their way out of poverty.
Grace Mukasa, East Africa Regional Director, Practical Action, gave the example of Esther Nkonge from Kibera, Kenya, who runs a hairdressing salon that depends upon electricity for hairdryers, lighting, electric fans and other amenities. She said: "Esther is forced, by lack of official supply and land tenure, to get her electricity from an illegal connection to the grid. She pays a monthly fee to gangs who tap power from nearby transmission lines. The illegal connection limits how much power the salon can use, and she suffers a loss of business during the frequent disconnections and black outs."
Simon Trace, CEO, Practical Action, began with the question: "What do we mean by energy access?" before going into further detail about the Total Energy Access indicators proposed and defined in the report, which set out minimum standards for key energy services, "which all people need, want, and have a right to", as a way of measuring energy access.
Present at the launch were representatives from European government and multilateral aid agencies, international NGOs and the private sector committed to expanding energy access in developing countries.
The report can be downloaded from the Practical Action website, where there are also five practitioner's perspectives from experienced energy professionals, as well as two interactive infographics on the topics of energy and earning a living and the energy access ecosystem.
To trial the Total Energy Access indicators proposed in the report, a Total Energy Wiki has also been set up as an online data collection system enabling people and organisations to participate in and contribute to collecting data on energy access in a new way.
Practical Action is an international development charity that uses technology to challenge poverty.
UN-Energy's work is organised in three clusters with two agencies taking the lead per cluster. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is one of the agencies leading the energy efficiency cluster. Energy efficiency is at the core of a durable energy policy. By boosting energy efficiency developing economies have a huge opportunity to strengthen their long term economic prospects while reducing pollution and saving resources.
Recently UNIDO has launched the Industrial Energy Efficiency Policy (IEEP), a web based platform that provides access to detailed information on policy measures that have been implemented or planned to improve energy efficiency at national, regional or global level. The IEEP specifically focuses on developing countries, in the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Multiple and diverse sources of information were harnessed by the IEEP for its data repository, including: international organizations, governments and the private sector. At last count, the IEEP database included more than 250 policy measures from 40 countries. This enables policymakers, energy analysts, entrepreneurs, investors and others to probe implementation data, challenges and the outcomes of industrial energy efficiency policy measures on a granular scale. The IEEP is a dynamic project and is progressively improving with the addition of new data and enhanced visualization methods.
