Renewable energy', ‘clean energy', ‘green energy'. Whatever term one chooses to refer to the world of energy derived from clean and infinite natural sources, one thing is for certain: making the most of these resources is of paramount importance if we are to create a more sustainable future for life on earth.
The past decade has witnessed the historical growth in renewable energy around the world both on an industrial and localised scale. Major strides have been made by governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), private companies and passionate individuals in creating sustainable and economic ecosystems for this industry to thrive, ultimately for our planet's benefit.
In the last year alone, investment in the renewable energy sector worldwide grew to $211 billion (Dh776 billion), an incredible 32 per cent increase over the $160 billion total in 2009, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2011 report.
This is nothing but heartening news for the world's renewable energy and sustainability community.
One of the common themes spanning not just the renewable but also the conventional energy industry especially in recent years has been the increasing focus on efficiency and emissions reduction. This is only natural, given that there is always a strong socio-economic incentive to streamline an energy generation operation.
This has clearly been reflected in the submissions received for the 2012 Zayed Future Energy Prize, with almost all of the 425 entrants featuring some kind of energy efficiency component. The annual award — which recognises and honours innovative leading individuals, small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), NGOs and large corporations in the renewable energy industry — has this year expanded its prize fund from $2.2 million to a generous $4 million — a direct reflection of the UAE leadership's commitment to the prize and its mission.
Focus
Now in its fourth year, the judging criteria for the 2012 Zayed Future Energy Prize award will centre around the entrant's long-term vision, innovation, leadership and impact to specifically address the real world implications of their submissions.
Despite the challenging global financial landscape, for the most part governments around the world have been steadfast in their support to bolster their green credentials. Countries in both the developed and developing world are experiencing positive levels of support in the form of subsidies and feed-in tariffs, and at least 118 countries have policies in place to support renewable energy generation.
Buildings are believed to use 32 per cent of the world's resources during construction and account for 40 per cent of the world's energy use (whilst also creating 30 per cent of our earth's greenhouse gas emissions). So it is logical that green building technology is another area of growing importance under the energy efficiency umbrella. This has also been reflected in this year's submissions for the 2012 Zayed Future Energy Prize.
It is clear that the potential to reduce our energy usage and carbon footprint is as strong and achievable as ever and from areas as familiar as our own homes and workplaces. Initiatives in integrating solar photovoltaic technology at the design phase of building construction or during a retrofit for example are helping to boost the green building industry. With countries as diverse as the US, Brazil, China, Sweden, Denmark and India taking steps to build greener and more sustainable communities, this sector is most definitely set to grow.
Another strong renewable energy sector, which is well represented among the entrants to this year's prize is solar, with entries spanning the three main award categories of Lifetime Achievement for an Individual, SME & NGO and Large Corporation. The solar energy market is experiencing somewhat of a renaissance with a combination of lowering solar module costs, government incentives and strong growth in the small-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) segment in both developed and developing countries.
Germany alone — Europe's largest renewable energy market and the world's largest solar market — experienced a 132 per cent rise or $32 billion from 2009 in small-scale distributed solar projects particularly in rooftop installations while developing nations such as those in South Asia, with their large rural off-grid communities, are also one of the major beneficiaries of the low-cost of solar modules. China, a major powerhouse of the renewable energy industry, continues to lead the way in solar production with its massive manufacturing capacity and favourable renewable energy investment environment.
Finally — and for the first time in history — the renewable energy world has witnessed a major shift in investment from the economic North to the South, with the developing world making $72 billion worth of fresh new investments in renewable energy compared to the developed world's $70 billion in 2010 according to the UNEP estimate. Much of this shift is due to China's $48.9 billion investment in its renewable energy market in 2010 alone and its 43 per cent share of the global wind market, which is currently calculated to be 215 gigawatts, according to the World Wind Energy Association. Apart from the massive boost from China, other key driving factors for the trend are the urgent need to increase access to energy in developing nations (due to population explosions) as well as the falling cost of solar modules which has made solar power much more accessible to these societies. Indeed, of the 118 countries that have a renewable energy policy or target in place, more than half of them are from the developing world.
This month sees the opening of the International Renewable Energy Agency's (Irena) Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC) in Bonn. The landmark addition of IITC to the international body (which is permanently headquartered in Abu Dhabi) aims to actively develop roadmaps and strategies in renewable energy and sustainability in close partnership with the global academic and scientific community: a mandate that is wholly congruent with the core ideals of the Zayed Future Energy Prize and builds upon the commitment made by the UAE Government to its world-leading investment in renewable energy.
These can only be encouraging indicators for the future of renewable energy and the overall sustainability of our planet. We live in challenging times and so cannot afford to fall into the trap of assuming that it is ‘the scientists' who will find the answers: each and every one of us has a role to play, whether it is the more mindful usage of the energy resources we have available to us now, educating those around us to be more mindful too and making use of the available technologies already in place, such as low-energy light bulbs. However we can also play a role in generating ideas too, and that is why the Zayed Future Energy Prize celebrates innovators from the lone individual to large corporations.
Dr. Sultan Al Jaber is Director General, Zayed Future Energy Prize.
