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Reasons to Make Clean Energy a Top Priority

Renewable-energy_clean_energy_international_aid_Global_poverty_optAccess to energy is critical to the development of a nation. It allows for increased productivity and standards of living. Although the cheapest sources of energy often come from nonrenewable sources, developing countries should look to clean energy sources to fulfill their energy needs. Here are the 5 reasons why access to clean energy should be a top priority in development.

  1. Clean energy is renewable. Although clean energy may be more expensive to develop initially, in the long run its development is worth the investment. For instance, while many developed nations originally used fossil fuels as their primary source of energy, many are now switching to greener sources because of the rising cost of the decreasingly abundant nonrenewable ones. These developed nations first bore the costs of establishing the infrastructure needed to support nonrenewable sources of energy, and are now using even more resources to create the infrastructure necessary to use green sources of energy. Developing countries can be most efficient in their development by choosing to invest in renewable energy sources in the beginning.
  2. Energy poverty still remains. While an increasing number of people in the world have access to electricity, 1.2 people in the world still do not. Investing in clean energy allows for more people to have access to power without creating greenhouse gas emissions, unlike generating energy from fossil fuels.
  3. Clean energy drives development. Clean energy produces the power needed for increased production of goods, the lighting needed for children to do their homework at night, and the power needed for mass transportation networks. Additionally, clean energy sources can create jobs in impoverished areas. In Africa, a solar-powered light called the Mwezi Light creates new jobs through its simple assembly design. Workers can easily assemble the lights and sell them for a profit. Clean energy helps drive development by allowing people to be more productive.
  4. Nonrenewable sources of energy hurt people. According to National Geographic, approximately 3.5 million people are killed each year due to respiratory complications caused by using wood and biomass cookstoves. Clean energy sources do not create smoke or gases, and would not create such consequences.
  5. Nonrenewable sources of energy hurt the environment. Although they are cheaper to use, the burning of fossil fuels causes the emission of greenhouse gasses into the environment, which have a warming effect in the atmosphere. This warming can create droughts and extreme weather patterns. Both of these negative effects on the environment could actually perpetuate extreme poverty by destroying crops and endangering people’s homes.

While there are many areas of development — including access to safe water and an adequate amount of food — access to clean energy should also be a priority in any nation’s development. Clean energy drives productivity and increases the standard of living in a country without perpetuating the negative consequences of nonrenewable energy sources.

– Jordan Kline

Source: National Geographic, Sustainablog

Google Embraces Renewable Energy in Africa

Solor_photovoltaic_plant

Google announced in late May that it is investing $12 million on a “96 megawatt solar photovoltaic plant in South Africa.” This plant is significant because it utilizes the climate of southern Africa to generate clean and renewable energy.

While South Africa is one of the continent’s more economically advanced countries, the utilization of solar panels in Africa could set an important trend for developing countries in the region. As Africa continues to progress and its standards of living rise, there will be a higher energy demand coming from Africans. Without the use of renewable sources, this higher energy use would result in an increase of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, potentially propelling climate change.

The investment made by Google demonstrates that higher standards of living in Africa can be possible through the use of clean energy. The majority of the continent is well suited to obtain energy from solar panels since most areas in Africa have a high level of Global Horizontal Irradiation, a parameter which evaluates the solar energy potential of a particular region. The investment should also encourage other areas of the world, both developed and developing, to invest in renewable energy. The solar plant is expected to “generate enough power for 30,000 South African homes” without emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. While not all areas of the world have climates that are well-suited for the use of solar plants, other renewable resources, such as wind power, hydropower, and geothermal energy should be considered as ways to maintain a high standard of living without creating pollutants that can degrade the environment.

– Jordan Kline

Source: TechCrunch,SolarGis

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USAID Awards $400 Million to Clean Energy

USAID Awards $400 Million to Clean Energy
USAID has awarded $400 million to four innovative engineering and technology companies to assist developing countries in attaining clean energy. Specifically, the goal of the contract is to implement new technologies and business models that aim to help “critical priority countries” transition to a low carbon trajectory. According to USAID, countries that will be receiving assistance and that qualify as “critical priority countries” include Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Sudan and Yemen.

Six energy sector themes outlined by USAID that will serve as guidelines for the contract are energy poverty, energy sector governance, energy sector reform, energy security, clean energy, and climate change. Over the course of five years, these awarded companies, Dexis Consulting Group, ECODIT LLC, Tetra Tech and Engility Corporation will compete to deliver their products to these countries and meet the five years, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. The $400 million will be shared among the four companies and could reach the IDIQ before five years are up.

Tony Smeraglinolo, Engility President and CEO, said the company will compete to support energy reform efforts within the recipient countries. “Around the globe, there is a growing demand for responsible energy development and we are proud to have the opportunity to continue supporting USAID and its important mission,” said Smeraglinolo.

– Kira Maixner
Source: GovConWire , FedBizOpps
Photo: International Institution for Education and Development

U.S. Solar Company Expands International Development to Latin America

U.S. Solar Company Expands International Development to Latin America
SolarReserve, a U.S.-based solar company, has announced its expansion into Latin America for international development purposes. The company opened up an additional office in Santiago, Chile, as part of an effort to “provide cost-effective, clean energy solutions worldwide.”

SolarReserve plans to focus primarily on solar energy opportunities in the growing mining sector throughout the region, and will also be developing large-scale concentrating solar power (CSP) projects, as well as photovoltaic projects.

Company CEO, Kevin Smith, stated that the move to Latin America was a logical next step considering the benefits of clean energy development in the region, including the abundant solar insulation, inclusionary energy policies, and the expanding mining sector. He also said that although hydropower and wind power are already established sources of clean energy in Latin America, solar is only more recently gaining a foothold.

Smith also stated that SolarReserve hopes the installation of solar energy will help provide a more consistent and reliable energy source to the region, along with a cleaner source of power from an environmental standpoint.

– Christina Kindlon

Source: Power Engineering

Abu Dhabi at the Forefront of Solar Energy Development

Abu Dhabi at the Forefront of Solar Energy DevelopmentAbu Dhabi has used its oil profits to open the largest solar power plant in the world. The United Arab Emirates is among many Middle Eastern nations, including Saudi Arabia, to focus on solar energy development. The plant cost about $750 million and will provide 20,000 residences with electricity.

The energy produced by the plant, called Shams 1, will increase Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy source consumption to 7% of its total energy consumption. The plant is part of what the head of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co., Ahmed al Jaber, called a “strategic plan to diversify energy sources in Abu Dhabi.” It is the first of several plants scheduled for development in the coming years.

Shams 1 has a similar design to California’s Solar Energy Generating System (SEGS). Even though Shams 1 is the largest single plant, the nine SEGS plants combined generate three times as much energy.

The irony of Abu Dhabi’s use of its oil money cannot be overlooked: by investing in solar energy development for its own electricity needs, Abu Dhabi will be able to export even more of its bountiful oil resources. Shams 1 will eliminate 175,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year, the equivalent carbon dioxide production of 15,000 cars.

But how many more cars across the globe will the city’s oil reserves enable to run, even as Abu Dhabi cleans up its own energy usage?

– Kat Henrichs
Source: NPR
Photo:Giz Mag

Green Energy Can Fight Poverty and Pollution

Green Energy Can Fight Poverty and PollutionAccording to a new study, green energy is the only sustainable solution in eradicating poverty for a large number of the world’s poor and preventing “a climate disaster.”

The study, released by the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, warns that the widespread use of clean energy, as opposed to fossil fuels, is the only way to prevent further damage to the environment and to eradicate poverty throughout the world. The World Bank, International Energy Agency, and other major institutions have also given similar warnings.

The UN has implemented a program called the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4All) that aims to “double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency” by 2013, double the amount of renewable energy used, and bring electricity to more of the world’s poor. Joeri Rogelj, who worked on the study, says that meeting these goals and also preventing widespread deforestation is the only way to prevent a climate crisis.

Rogelj’s study confirmed that the SE4All initiative’s funding would actually cost less than the current subsidies the fossil fuel industry is given, which are estimated to be about $523 billion in 2011 alone. Comparatively, the funding for SE4All is slated to be around $30 to $40 billion per year. The study also asserts that the conversion to clean energy would also aid in making the Millennium Development Goals of downsizing poverty and promoting international development.

Thus far, several countries are on track to switch much of their energy sources to renewables – Iceland uses 81% clean energy and Scotland has a mandated 100% clean energy by 2020. Denmark is also following suit to become 100% dependent on renewable energy in the near future.

The study concludes that “achieving the three SE4ALL objectives could put the world on a path toward global climate protection,” and that getting rid of fossil fuels would eliminate the health hazards associated with pollution in many developing countries and low-income communities, as 1.5 billion people worldwide still live without electricity.

– Christina Kindlon

Source: Business Mirror