NEW INITIATIVE, OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS: Empowering Women as Managers of the Renewable Energy Sector

 announcement  Comments Off on NEW INITIATIVE, OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS: Empowering Women as Managers of the Renewable Energy Sector
May 222018
 

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) launches the initiative “Empowering Women as Managers in the Renewable Energy Sector,” a project developed by the United States  and implemented by the Renewables Academy AG (RENAC), Nedworc Foundation (NWF) and SD Strategies.  Through an ambitious, comprehensive and targeted capacity-building and mentoring program, this project aims to support the accelerated career advancement of women in APEC economies who work in the field of renewable energy. It intends to develop their full personal potential and increase their confidence and skills to become effective employees, decision makers, entrepreneurs and leaders in the public or private sector. Specifically, Empowering Women as Managers in the Renewable Energy Sector seeks to support women’s career development by:

  • Increasing their knowledge of renewable energy technologies, markets and policy;
  • Enabling them to develop sound, comprehensive and convincing business plans; and
  • Facilitating professional exchanges and peer-to-peer mentoring.

More here: https://www.renac.de/projects/current-projects/empowering-women/

Energy Low Emission Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Latin America and the Caribbean and Experiences from Nicaragua

 presentation  Comments Off on Energy Low Emission Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Latin America and the Caribbean and Experiences from Nicaragua
Dec 012014
 

Overall, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has traditionally been a world leader in the use of renewable energy sources for power generation (mainly hydro power), with important sub-regional differences, but the use of fossil fuels grew rapidly in the late 1900s. There have been many initiatives on renewables and energy efficiency on the part of governments and local organizations, supported by multilateral development banks, UN organizations, international NGOs. 


The recent development of non-traditional renewable energies (wind, solar, geothermal, modern biomass) is helping meet important development goals (growth, access, affordability) with a lower impact on greenhouse gas emissions. There are still important challenges related to investment climate, business model financing, but there are many lessons to share, both on what works and what doesn´t work.

Study on the Development of the Renewable Energy Market in Latin America and the Caribbean (free report)

 academic article/report  Comments Off on Study on the Development of the Renewable Energy Market in Latin America and the Caribbean (free report)
Nov 222014
 
Project Director: Ochs, AlexanderIDB study
Date: November 2014

The region of Latin America and the Caribbean is already a global low-carbon leader in terms of power generation from hydrological and biomass resources, and it recently has made great strides in developing its other renewable energy sources. Declining costs, maturing technologies, and vast untapped potentials for renewables offer an unprecedented opportunity for further development of the renewable energy market in the region. Continuing to invest in renewables will provide Latin America and the Caribbean with the opportunity to address key economic, social, and environmental challenges in the energy sector.

[Please find the study here.]

Webinar Announcement: Energy Low Emission Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Latin America and the Caribbean and Experiences from Nicaragua

 webinar  Comments Off on Webinar Announcement: Energy Low Emission Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Latin America and the Caribbean and Experiences from Nicaragua
Nov 192014
 

EWG Logo_Green text with no background color (3)LEDS_GP_logo

26 November 2014 9:00 AM EST

Check your local time.
Reserve your seat now.

 

The Regional Platform for Latin America and the Caribbean (LEDS LAC) and the Energy Working Group (EWG) of the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS-GP) are co-hosting a webinar on sustainable energy progress in Latin America and the Caribbean. The webinar offers both an overview of recent developments in clean energy policies, programs, and targets across the region and an in-depth case study on Nicaragua’s experience in facilitating private and public investments in climate-compatible energy development. The presentation details the mechanisms that Nicaragua’s investment promotion agency (ProNicaragua) has employed to attract private investment in order to meet the government’s national energy targets and policy objectives. The webinar will be in English and will feature the following presentations:

  • Introduction and moderation
    Ana Maria Majano, INCAE Business School/EWG Co-chair for LAC
  • Regional Overview: Renewable Energy in Latin America and the Caribbean
    Alexander Ochs, Worldwatch Institute/EWG Chair
  • Nicaragua: Promoting Private Investments towards National Sustainable Energy Goals
    Javier Chamorro, ProNicaragua
  • Q&A.

Continue reading »

The Development of the Renewable Energy Market in Latin America and the Caribbean

 presentation  Comments Off on The Development of the Renewable Energy Market in Latin America and the Caribbean
Sep 232014
 

Here are the slides from my presentation at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) tomorrow.

Ochs_IDB_LAC.RE.StudyPresentation_140923

OVERVIEW

  1. Renewable Energy for Power Generation: Global Trends
  2. Renewable Energy in LAC
  3. Barriers to the Advancement of Renewable Energy in LAC and Opportunities to Overcome Them
  4. Vulnerability to Climate Change and Adaptation Strategies in the Power Sector in LAC
  5. How the IDB Can Support Renewable Energy Development in LAC

 

Latin America Enjoys Abundant Renewable Energy but Lacks Policies for Use

 newspaper interview  Comments Off on Latin America Enjoys Abundant Renewable Energy but Lacks Policies for Use
Jun 182013
 

South and Central America could generate 100 percent of their electricity with renewable resources, a new study finds

By Lisa Friedman, Climatewire, picked up by Scientific American [here] and others

Latin America and the Caribbean could meet 100 percent of their electricity needs with renewable energy, a new Inter-American Development Bank study finds. From Mexico to Chile, countries already are producing higher levels of clean power, but the study notes the region still has a long way to go. Last year just 5.4 percent of the $244 trillion global renewable energy investment went to Latin America. But with Latin America’s economy expected to grow 3 percent annually, the study argues that the region will need to nearly double its installed power capacity to about 600 gigawatts by 2030 at a likely price tag of $430 billion.

The report, “Rethinking Our Energy Future,” will be released today at a Global Green Growth Forum meeting in Bogota, Colombia. It comes amid growing concern among energy experts that the region is not living up to its clean energy potential. (…)

Last week the Worldwatch Institute think tank in Washington, D.C., unveiled a Central America report also showing the region has the resources and the technical capacity to meet all its electricity needs with renewables. But, it argues, governments are undermining their own investments in geothermal, biomass, wind and solar with plans to increase imports of oil, coal and natural gas.

“Central America is at a crossroads,” Alexander Ochs, director of climate and energy at the Worldwatch Institute, said in the study. According to the study, Latin America currently generates about 7 percent of the world’s total electricity production, but demand is skyrocketing as population levels rise and the region’s economy improves. By midcentury, Latin America’s power demand is expected to triple while carbon emissions from the power sector will double. Continue reading »

Key Findings from our Developing Country Project presented at Latin American Regional Workshop

 presentation, Uncategorized  Comments Off on Key Findings from our Developing Country Project presented at Latin American Regional Workshop
Mar 292009
 

On March 25, at a workshop in Santiago, Chile, I presented our research teams’ results on Mexico and Brazil as part of CCAP’s Developing Country Project. We held the workshop at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (also a co-host of the event). Officials from seven South American nations attended the workshop, gathering to discuss the status of the international climate change negotiations and to hear about the climate-related research CCAP teams in Mexico and Brazil had conducted. The topics of discussion included:

• Nationally appropriate mitigation actions, a key feature of the Bali Roadmap;
• Analysis of GHG mitigation options in Brazil’s forestry sector;
• The GHG and other implications of expanding the production of biofuels, both ethanol and biodiesel, in Brazil; and
• Lessons learned from a first attempt to propose sectoral goals for GHG emissions in Mexico’s cement and oil refining industries.
The participants expressed a strong interest in seeing this work continue and for the project to expand into other countries, such as Chile and Argentina. The CCAP Developing Country Project is funded by the UK Department for Foreign Investment and Development (UK DFID), the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Tinker Foundation.

Please find my introduction here: ochs-chiledfidworkshopintro_090325.pdf
and my presentation on NAMAs and the Global Deal on Climate Change here: ochs-chilenamatheglobaldealoncc_090525.pdf