Powering the green revolution

27
JUL
2010

Author: Jonathan Webb - Categories: CSR & Green

Not only has the recession slowed economic growth but it has also stalled environmental development projects. The value of new renewable investments fell to US$162 billion in 2009 from US$173 billion in the previous year. Most countries are setting ambitious targets for increased renewable energy uptake, but the question is how will we power the future?

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently reported that China surpassed the US last year as the world's largest energy user. China alone added an additional 37GW of renewable energy to its grid in 2009, whereas the US added only 10GW. Global new renewable energy additions totalled 80GW last year. China's possession of an estimated 90% of the world's supply of rare-earth metals – vital to the construction of wind turbines – may secure an increasingly dominant position as a leading producer of green energy. With Beijing suggesting future restrictions on these vital elements, other economies are beginning to diversify their green energy sources.

For example, the Sahara Solar Project - which was originally proposed by Desertec, a group of German power experts, to create an energy super-grid - plans to connect European consumers to vast fields of wind farms in North Africa. Desertec has since grown into a multi-national collaboration, with the governments of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia members of the network. A further initiative of the project saw 12 businesses added to the scheme, including Deutsche Bank and Siemens.

Egypt has recently announced plans to construct a new 100MW solar plant south of Cairo, but even this sun-soaked state is struggling to meet its own 1GW of solar energy generation by 2020. Morocco has unveiled a US$9 billion plan to build a network of solar plants, which will provide 38% of the Kingdom's energy needs by 2020. Its neighbour, Tunisia, has also announced a US$2 billion renewable power scheme.

The success of this project requires the integration of national electricity networks and, currently, cross-continental connections are relatively limited, although the UK draws upon French supplies at peak usage points: usually after millions of Britons rise from their sofas following the latest episode of TV soap opera EastEnders, and the ensuing collective activation of the nation's kettles causes a massive surge in energy usage.

However, greater grid integration may allow for greater specialisation of power generation policies. Currently, countries generate power through a mix of coal, gas, oil and nuclear sources, a balance principally struck by strategic and political concerns. But the global demand for green power will require global solutions. Countries may accept the need to import these supplies, from possibly politically unpalatable nations, if they are to meet their targets. A radical change of outlook on energy sourcing is needed, and perhaps China's lead on this issue will prompt its competitors into action?