power

Can clean energy trump chaotic politics?

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Jan 132015

Lisa Friedman, E&E reporter, Published: Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Five years after a catastrophic magnitude-7 earthquake rocked Haiti, killing 220,000 people and leaving the capital city of Port au Prince in ruins, clean energy experts say they are cautiously optimistic about progress despite the country’s political turmoil. A recent road map published by the Worldwatch Institute described the Caribbean island nation as being at an energy crossroads. Just a quarter of the country’s 10 million population has access to electricity, the lowest rate in the region, and the vast majority of those who do live in urban areas. Meanwhile, about 85 percent of the country’s electricity generation depends on imported oil. But, it finds, powering the country with 90 percent renewable energy is “a realistic option.” Doing so, the authors argue, can improve Haitians’ access to energy and create a low-carbon model of growth for other small island nations. But the effort won’t be without serious challenges. (…)

Alexander Ochs, director of climate and energy for the Worldwatch Institute, said “bottom-up” energy access work is where the most promise is in Haiti at the moment. “I think people are taking power, the electricity power, into their own hands now,” Ochs said. On a national level, he noted, “policies have not changed much” in Haiti, and said it’s up to the government to change the country’s course.

From a technical standpoint, according to the Worldwatch study, promise for developing an electricity sector based on renewable energy in Haiti abounds. In outlining several scenarios for expanding clean power, researchers conclude that achieving a 90 percent share of renewable energy would call for investing in 120 megawatts of natural gas capacity by 2030 while adding about 1,900 MW of renewables to its existing hydropower capacity. Yet wariness from investors because of political instability and policy confusion remains a major problem. (…)

Renewables 2014 Global Status Report Highlights Another Year of Impressive Renewable Energy Growth

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Jun 032014

PRESS RELEASE Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Worldwatch Institute researchers contribute to leading global study on renewable energy development.

Washington, D.C.—-Renewable energy technologies set new installation records as their contribution to the global energy mix continued to climb in 2013. Renewable power capacity jumped more than 8 percent in 2013, accounting for over 56 percent of net additions and now has the potential to account for over a fifth of world electricity generation. These are some of the findings of the latest edition of the annual Renewables Global Status Report, released by the Paris-based Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). The report is the product of a collaborative effort of an international network of more than 500 contributors, researchers, and authors. (…)

“Renewables are one of the most important tools in this century for social, economic, and environmental progress,” says Alexander Ochs, director of climate and energy at Worldwatch. “The paradigm that being dirty is good for the green in your pocket is eroding. This report demonstrates that we can overcome the political barriers and vested interests still in the way of a smarter, safer, and healthier world.”

[You can find the full press release and key findings from the report here.]

Cambodia’s Hydro Plans Carry Steep Costs

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Aug 202012

By Lawrence Del Gigante, IPS News

A fisherman on the Si Phan Don riverine archipelago of the Mekong River. Credit: Courtesy of Suthep Kritsanavarin/Oxfam

NEW YORK, Aug 18 2012 (IPS) – The Cambodian government has committed to the construction of five dams along the Mekong River in order to meet a huge demand for electricity, but environmental groups warn that severe repercussions loom for this strategy. (…)

Hydroelectricity, even if a successful venture, will not solve the country’s electrification problems, other analysts say. “Right now it is relatively catastrophic, the power situation in the country,” Alexander Ochs, the director of climate and energy at the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute, told IPS. Cambodia has one of the lowest electrification rates in Southeast Asia, estimated at only 24 percent, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The government aims to raise the national electrification rate to 70 percent by 2020, according to the ADB, by expanding the grid and sourcing more than half of the needed electricity from the Mekong River. A large complication is transmitting the electricity, with only the major cities and surrounding areas having access to power lines, meaning people in rural areas will not benefit from the hydro.

“The number of people that are really connected to a grid as we know it, a modern power service or energy line, in rural areas is as little as seven percent of the population. Overall, nationwide, it’s about 15 percent,” said Ochs. Biomass is very popular for heating and cooking, predominantly burning wood for fires and stoves. “Everything else comes from off-grid or micro-grid diesel generators and this is very inefficient and very costly, a very expensive, very dirty way to produce electricity,” said Ochs.

Currently, 91 percent of Cambodia’s power plants are fuelled by imported light diesel and heavy fuel oil, not including the diesel it takes to fuel stand-alone generators. “All of this happens in a country where you have incredible renewable energy potential. It has amazing potential for wind, very, very good potential for solar,” said Ochs. Importantly, the solar potential in Cambodia is very high where it’s needed, including in the populated areas, meaning solar technologies can be installed domestically, such as solar panels on the roofs of houses, according to Ochs.