|
At the Okinawa Summit in July 2000, G8 leaders announced the formation of a Renewable Energy Task Force (RETF). The Task Force's primary mission is to identify the main barriers preventing significantly increased use of renewable energy for sustainable development world-wide, and to recommend key actions, which G8 governments can take to remove these barriers.
The work of the RETF is complementary to that of IEA PVPS Task 9, whose primary objective is to increase the overall rate of successful deployment of PV systems in developing countries. Following the 3rd Experts' Meeting of Task 9 in Marrakech in September 2000, a formal submission presenting PVPS recommendations for G8 action was delivered to the RETF. The document was also submitted to the IEA's Renewable Energy Unit whose personnel are drafting the RETF's report that will be presented to the G8 ministers when they next meet in Genoa in June.
Although Task 9 is mandated to focus on photovoltaic technologies, the submission recognizes that other renewable energy technologies can also satisfy energy needs of rural communities in developing countries. Many of the recommendations proposed by Task 9, are also applicable to these other technologies.
The six key recommendations proposed are summarized in the box on the right.
|
|
Recommendations to the G8 Renewable Energy Task Force |
| 1 | G8/OECD development aid organizations should set a target of electrifying 1 billion people within the next 10 years. In order to achieve this, aid budget allocation to renewable energy should be immediately doubled then increased progressively. A renewable energy component should be included in conventional energy projects. Investments should be targeted at the development of sustainable infrastructures rather than purely at product subsidies. |
| 2 | Renewable energy expertise should be incorporated into all G8 development aid organizations and capacity built in the country offices and sector teams. |
| 3 | Energy supply options should be chosen on the basis of a least cost analysis in multilateral and bilateral development projects. The least cost analysis should be based on a life cycle cost analysis and, where possible, include externalities. |
| 4 | The OECD should allocate funds to South-South exchanges in order to accelerate the adoption of renewables. |
| 5 | The G8 should ensure that the electrification of those without access to electricity services is addressed explicitly in G8/OECD funded bilateral or multilateral programmes for restructuring or privatising power sector utilities in developing countries, which implies that resources must be specifically earmarked to this effect. |
| 6 | The G8 should encourage high level planning for rural development and rural electrification through the development, and implementation of appropriate Rural Electrification/ Energy Plans.
|
|
