Question 1: The IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources (SRREN) shows that it is not the availability of the resource that represents the major constraint to renewable energy deployment. What are, in your view, the key factors that have the potential to positively influence the deployment of renewable energy in the coming decades?
According to the SRREN (2011), the total global technical potential of Renewable energy (RE) sources is substantially higher than global energy demand, and will not limit continued growth in the use of RE in the near future.
The deployment of RE technologies has increased rapidly in recent years, and there are environmental, social and economic factors that may positively influence their investment pathway in the coming decades. On the environmental side, the large potential to mitigate climate change and their contribution to reduce other negative ecological effects linked to the energy sector (including air pollution) could certainly encourage further deployment. On the social side, their contribution to social development and MDGs, including health improvement, job creation and poverty alleviation, could lead to greater investments in the RE field. On the economic side, the increase of energy demand, a growing trend in market price for energy, changes in the prices of fossil fuels, and the expected declining costs of many RE technologies, among other factors, make RE an attractive option.
The share of RE sources is projected to increase substantially under most ambitious mitigation scenarios till 2050; however, additional policies would be required to attract the necessary investments in technologies and infrastructure in the coming decades.
Question 2: With the current controversy around nuclear energy and the latest published figures on record-high carbon dioxide emissions, combined with a soaring energy demand, renewable energy appears to be promised to a bright future. What are, today, the principal hurdles still standing in the way of a major uptake of renewables in the energy mix?
Renewable energy technologies have a large potential to mitigate climate change, and to provide, if properly implemented, other socioeconomic benefits such as better energy access, a more secure energy supply, reduction of negative impacts from the energy sector on the environment (including air pollution), and health improvement, as noted in the SRREN.
Hurdles still standing in the way of a major uptake of RE in the energy mix are mostly technological and site-specific and relate to factors such as sustainability concerns, public acceptance, system integration and infrastructure constraints, or economic factors (including costs). In addition to cost and market failure considerations (including non-internalized environmental and health costs, where applicable), there are various technology-specific challenges and barriers (institutional, informational, societal, lack of technical and knowledge capacity, among others) that may need to be properly addressed to enhance the development of RE technologies.
The SRREN highlights that various RE resources are already being successfully integrated into energy supply systems and into end-use sectors. This report also reveals how the characteristics of different RE sources can influence the scale of the integration challenge. The rate of integration will also be influenced by factors, such as costs, policies, environmental issues and social aspects.
Question 3: What are the necessary steps to bring down the levelized cost of renewable energy technologies to make them competitive in most contexts in an open market?
Ramón Pichs-Madruga
Economic factors, market considerations and policy responses would positively influence the deployment of renewable energy in the next decades. As noted by the SRREN, the levelized cost of energy for many RE technologies is currently higher than existing energy prices. Some RE technologies are broadly competitive in this context, and many others can provide competitive energy services under certain circumstances, for example, in regions with favourable resource availability or limited infrastructure for using other low-cost energy supplies.
In this context, monetizing the external costs of energy supply would improve the relative competitiveness of RE sources. This confirms the relevance of policy measures to support innovative RE technologies and to ensure their rapid deployment in most regions of the world.
According to the wide range of literature assessed by the SRREN, the cost of most RE technologies has declined and additional expected technical advances would result in further cost reductions. New investments in research and development (R&D), economies of scale, and deployment-oriented learning, among other factors, may contribute to further cost reductions. The reduction of integration costs of RE sources into present and future energy systems may also improve the attractiveness of RE in the near future.
Question 4: In many countries, the growth of renewable energy has been primarily driven by ambitious policies. What are the lessons learnt from that experience, and how can those inform the replication to other countries?
The SRREN acknowledges that an increasing number and variety of RE policies have driven escalated growth of RE technologies in recent years. Several lessons can be learnt from recent RE policy experiences assessed in this IPCC report, for example:
• There is no one-size-fits-all policy.
• Government policies play a crucial role in accelerating the deployment of RE technologies.
• Sectoral, local, sub-national, national and regional policies can be complemented by bilateral, regional and international cooperation.
• Specific policies for research, development, demonstration and deployment help to level the playing field for RE.
• Policy flexibility to adjust as technologies, markets and other factors evolve, and policy flexibility to learn from experience would be critical to achieve cost-effective and high penetrations of RE.
• the details of design and implementation are critical in determining the effectiveness and efficiency of a policy.
• Policy frameworks that are transparent and sustained can reduce investment risks and facilitate deployment of RE.
• 'Enabling' policies support RE development and deployment.
Proper consideration of these lessons may be relevant for policy makers, and attempts to replicate effective and efficient RE policies to other countries or regions might be successful if technological and site-specificities are taken into account.
Question 5: A goal of significantly increasing the share of renewables is being put forth by the international community, alongside ensuring universal access to modern energy services and reducing global energy intensity by 40% by 2030. The goal for renewables seems to be inline with the findings of the SRREN. What do you think of such political goal?
It is worth remembering that the remit of the IPCC is to be policy relevant, but not policy prescriptive. The IPCC does not encourage action in specific areas, but it does set out the options for policy makers so they are able to make informed decisions.
The SRREN shows that many combinations of low-carbon energy supply options as well as energy efficiency improvements can contribute to low GHG concentration levels. It also shows RE becoming the dominant low-carbon energy supply option by 2050 in the majority of scenarios. These scenarios are largely consistent in indicating widespread growth in RE deployment around the globe, despite regional differences.
In most of the 164 scenarios assessed in SRREN, RE's contribution to primary energy supply would exceed 17% in 2030 and 27% in 2050. For the most RE-oriented scenarios, RE share would increase from around 43% in 2030 to 77% in 2050.
Although the contribution of RE technologies varies across the scenarios assessed in the SRREN, modern biomass, wind and direct solar commonly account for the largest contributions of RE technologies to the energy system by 2050. The transition to an energy mix with higher shares of RE would imply increasing investments in technologies and infrastructure.
Recent political goals reflect the growing international efforts to transit to a low-GHG economy, with RE as a key driver. Their adoption and implementation may require an integrative approach with regard to RE deployment, equity and sustainable development priorities for the different regions and countries.
Question 6: The 1.4 billion people suffering from the lack of access to electricity often happen to live in regions where good conditions exist for renewable energy. What are the main actions that should be undertaken to address this paradox?
The SRREN shows how RE can help accelerate access to energy by the poorer. This is particularly relevant for the 1.4 billion people without access to electricity and the additional 1.3 billion using traditional biomass, who live in regions, where paradoxically some of the best conditions exist for RE deployment.
Energy access in the developing countries may substantially increase with the implementation of relevant domestic RE policies, supported or complemented by international assistance (including technology transfer) as appropriate. In this context, a favourable environment for RE can be facilitated by realising the synergies of RE policies with other energy and non-energy policies (particularly those related to agriculture, transportation, water management and urban planning). Increasing education and awareness may also contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of RE policies.
These policy efforts would also support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. RE technologies can help to decouple the historically strong correlation between economic development and the growth of GHG emissions, while contributing to sustainable development. Under favourable conditions, RE deployment may imply cost savings in comparison to non-RE use, particularly in remote and in poor rural areas; reduction in costs associated with energy imports; as well as positive impacts on job creation.
