2005 SOLAR WORLD CONGRESS: The Symphony of Renewables - Meeting the Millennium Development Goals and Bringing Water and Energy to the World

摘要

Nearly one third of the world's population has no access to electricity, and by 2025 close to 50% of people will be facing water scarcity. We are also faced with the vexed issue of global warming caused by the build up of CO{sub}2 in the atmosphere resulting from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas. We know that climate change is real. CO{sub}2 concentrations in the atmosphere have been steadily increasing since the start of the industrial revolution. Ice core samples show a 31% increase in CO{sub}2 since 1750. Three quarters of this increase has occurred in the last 20 years. In a keynote address, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary reported that measurement in March 2004 showed carbon dioxide concentrations in the earth's atmosphere had increased to 379 parts per million, an annual growth of 3 ppm, compared to the average over the last ten years of 1.8 ppm (Waller-Hunter, 2004). In many parts of the world global warming is already contributing to declining catchment yields. For example, in Australia, the eastern seaboard has been subject to successive drought over several years, and in Western Australia, Perth has seen a 50% reduction in catchment flows. At the same time as we are facing the threat of global warming, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that world energy use will increase steadily through to 2030 (IEA, 2004). Primary energy demand is projected to increase by about 1.7% per annum. Sixty percent of this increase is likely to come from developing countries such as India and China. We are therefore faced with a dichotomy. On the one hand there is a need to increase the supply of energy, and particularly electricity, to meet the legitimate needs of the two billion poor people around the globe and to satisfy the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people living in poverty. On the other there is an urgent need to cap the growth in greenhouse gases, and there have been calls for cuts of 50 to 60% this century. Against this background, renewable energy in all its forms has a valuable role to play. The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa noted that today's development imperatives are Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture and Biodiversity. Water and energy are the flip side of the same coin as both provide a catalyst for improving people's lives and reducing poverty. This paper will discuss these issues, highlight the growth potential of renewables, and demonstrate the synergies with and between renewable energy sources and other technologies in promoting sustainable development. The paper will also demonstrate how hybrid renewables, and other emerging technologies such as desalination, can bring water and energy to the world.