renewables

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

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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/

Employment Effects of Renewable Energy Development Assistance, the first SD Strategies brief for EUEIPDF has been published

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Nov 202017

http://www.euei-pdf.org/sites/default/files/field_publication_file/euei_policy_brief_-_1_-_employment_potential_of_energy_oda_0.pdf

KEY FINDINGS
 Renewable energy investments generate significant direct employment opportunities, and these
are far greater than those of conventional energy sources. This proven benefit is in addition to
climate, environment and health benefits.
 Indirect and induced employment effects of renewable energy investments often only become
visible over time. Their measurement is more complicated and contentious than that of direct
employment effects, and there are important limitations to their assessment.
 If the employment effects of renewable energy ODA are to be measured, their monitoring should
be integrated early on into project and programme design. A common methodology is urgently
required. And employment effects should be only one of multiple funding decisions.
 Cooperation with educational institutions and skills development are essential for harnessing the
full local employment potential of renewable energy investments. Other labour market institutions
also need to be developed to ensure the growth of local capacities, skills and knowledge are
matched to the demands and opportunities of jobs in renewable energy.
 Electrification is only the first step towards generating jobs, and additional measures to encourage
productive use are required.

euei_policy_brief_-_1_-_employment_potential_of_energy_oda_0

Launch of the Energy Toolkit 2.0

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Dec 082016

Proud to be a Lead Editor of this toolkit which has become such a popular reference guide. We had more people trying to sign in today than was the maximum capacity of the online platform. Apologies to those who were unable to sign in!

Here are…

The description:
“The second iteration of the Energy Toolkit, a collection of leading instruments and methodologies for climate-compatible energy planning, offers energy practitioners, policymakers, and experts a quick reference guide to some of the best-established instruments available at no or low cost. The result is a compilation of 26 tools from agencies around the world.The toolkit was produced as a team effort with the many members of the Low-Emissions Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP), in particular its Energy Working Group (LEDS EWG).”

The toolkit: http://www.worldwatch.org/system/files/LEDS%20Energy%20Toolkit%202.0_0.pdf

The presentation slides: EWG-ALP 2016 Webinar Series Session 3 Master

The webinar recording:

INTERVIEW: CARICOM ENERGY CHIEF DEVON GARDNER ON THE CARIBBEAN ENERGY FUTURE

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Nov 242016

Worldwatch’s Alexander Ochs met with Dr. Devon Gardner during the Renewable Energy and Efficiency Week 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Devon is Programme Manager for Energy and Head of the Energy Unit at the Secretariat of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). He is also a member of the preparatory team of the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE). In this interview, Devon gives us an update on where the Caribbean region stands one year after the release of Worldwatch’s pivotal Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS) Baseline Report and Assessment.

Thank you for taking the time during busy days here in Berlin. You have an important job. What gets you out of bed each morning?

What gets me out of bed is that I want to see a better quality of life for Caribbean people. Every day, I work to bring us incrementally closer to improving the energy situation in the region so that it can build the basis for improved economic resilience and better opportunities for social advancement. Continue reading »

Caribbean Sustainable Energy Profiles

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Nov 022016

Energy Situation of CARICOM Member Countries from Worldwatch Institute

How Portugal went 107 hours on only renewable energy

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May 182016

Proving its leadership in renewable energy, Portugal powered all of its electricity with only renewable energy for four days.

By Story Hinckley, CSM

From the morning of May 7 to the afternoon of May 11, Portugal’s electricity consumption was fully covered by renewable sources. For 107 hours, Portugal powered all of its electricity from biofuels, hydropower plants, wind turbines, solar panels, and geothermal heat. But this is not the first time that Portugal has boasted an impressive energy statistic. (…)

“How did Portugal assume such impressive leadership in the clean energy transition?” asks WorldWatch Institute. “The key, as usual, lies in ambitious supportive policies.”

Feed-in tariffs, which provide renewable electricity producers with a guaranteed price for each megawatt-hour of energy fed into the country’s power grid, were first introduced in 1988 and have continued to develop, according to WorldWatch. Also, host municipalities of renewable energy receive payments of 2.5 percent of revenue. And the government bought transmission lines from private power companies at the turn of the century, refitting the grid infrastructure to better connect with small electricity generators such as domestic solar panels. (…)

Find the full article [here].

Innovative Tools for Advancing Low-Emission and Climate-Resilient Energy Planning in Asia

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Apr 182016

*Join us for our Second Webinar in our Webinar Series*

Hosted by the Asia LEDS Partnership and Energy Working Group of the LEDS Global Partnership

Session 2: Assessing Renewable Energy Potential Using the Geospatial Toolkit (GsT): Applications in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa Province

Date: April 21, 2016
Time: 10:00 AM Indochina Time (ICT)

Speakers
Jon Duckworth, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Donna Heimiller, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Khanh Nguyen, USAID Low Emission Asian Development (LEAD) Program Country Coordinator

Moderators
Sandra Khananusit, Asia LEDS Partnership Secretariat
Alexander Ochs, LEDS GP Energy Working Group

Register here.

Check the time of the webinar according to your location here. Continue reading »

Living Planet: Where are we at with renewables? [Radio Interview]

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Mar 112016

The Fukushima disaster convinced the German government under Angela Merkel that nuclear power was not the way to go. The country decided to start phasing out nuclear energy and give financial support to the development of renewable energy technologies. This helped to boost alternative energy production around the globe. So how far have we got in the last five years?

Permalink: http://dw.com/p/1IAQD

Living Planet: Fukushima – 5 years on [Radio Interview]

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Mar 102016

Five years ago, the world was shocked by the news that a massive earthquake had triggered a devastating tsunami along the coast of Japan. Entire villages were destroyed and the nuclear plant at Fukushima went into meltdown. What does the region look like today and where are we at with the push for renewable energy?

Permalink: http://dw.com/p/1IAXb

Presentation next week: Energizing successful economies: How renewables are outperforming fossil fuels

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Feb 122016

Feb 16: Join @OchsNews in Bonn, Germany for a @Germanwatch event #FastForward16 https://t.co/nO6MM2Y9Yf pic.twitter.com/kutUnqonte

— Re|Volt (@WorldwatchEn) February 10, 2016

Advancing Low Carbon Development in the West African Region

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Dec 092015

COP 21 Panel, 8 December 2015, African Pavilion. Presented by: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE). This panel discussed advancing low carbon development in West Africa and was moderated by Youba Sokona, Special Advisor on Sustainable Development, South Centre.

Alexander Ochs, Director of Climate and Energy, Worldwatch Institute, said there will be no sustainable economic growth or social development if Africa’s main energy source is fossil fuels. He said centralized fossil fuel based energy systems are not going to solve the problem of climate change or increase access to energy because they are too expensive, and he therefore recommended decentralized systems and renewable energy. He said Africa is not starting from scratch and that there have already been some “enormous advances” in technology and policy development.

Mahama Kappiah, Executive Director, ECREEE, outlined that of the 334 million people in the ECOWAS region only 42% have access to energy and that the energy used mostly comes from fossil fuels and biomass. He said the ECOWAS Energy Strategy for 2030 aims to provide 100% of the region’s population with access to clean cooking energy by 2030 and increase the share of renewable energy in the overall electricity mix to 35% by 2020. He noted another aim to improve the electrification rate from 34% to 88%, an increase equivalent to 60 million households gaining access to electricity between 2015 and 2030. Continue reading »

CARICOM Celebrates Energy Week, Energy Centre Inauguration

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Nov 142015

IISD Reporting Service, 14 November

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) hosted the fifth CARICOM Energy Week (CEW) under the theme ‘EmPOWERING Our Sustainable Development.’ The annual awareness-raising event highlights the importance of energy for economic development in the region. To mark CEW, the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) was inaugurated, and a baseline report for the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS) was released.

CEW was held 8-14 November 2015, with CARICOM member States hosting events, such as panel discussions, site visits to renewable energy projects, the Electric Mobility Show and Conference, and activities with local schools. The Week also featured contests, such as a radio pop quiz with prizes, kilo-walk, energy app competition, video competition, and photo and art competition.

In conjunction with the Centre’s inauguration, the Worldwatch Institute launched the C-SERMS Baseline Report and Assessment, which analyzes the region’s current energy policy framework, evaluates renewable energy and energy efficiency potential, and suggests regional short-, medium- and long-term targets for the energy sector. Among the recommended targets are achieving 48% of electricity generation from renewable energy by 2027 and a 33% reduction in the region’s energy intensity.

[Full article here]

WEBINAR RECORDING: Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya

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Jan 232015

Recording of the webinar from 22 January 2015:

 Introduction & Moderation

Alexander Ochs, Worldwatch Institute/EWG Chair

 Regional Overview: Low Emission Energy Development in Africa
John Yeboah, ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency/EWG co-Chair

 Learning from Cape Verde’s Renewable Energy Plan
Anildo Costa, Consultant to the Government of Cape Verde

 Learning from Kenya’s Renewable Energy Plan
Esther Wang’ombe, Government of Kenya

Q&A

Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya

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Jan 162015

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am excited to announce the next webinar in our series on regional leaders in climate-compatible development and their innovative energy approaches from around the world.

Please join us on January 22 at 2 PM GMTfor an online sessionon Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya. Please register for free at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5131648729578459906.

Our regional leaders series is part of our work within the Low Emission Development Strategies – Global Partnership (LEDS-GP), an international initiative aiming to enhance information exchange and cooperation among countries, international programs and practitioners working to advance climate-compatible growth. Worldwatch, as host of the secretariat of the LEDS Energy Working Group (EWG), facilitates these webinars in cooperation with the LEDS Regional Platforms. Recordings of our previous sessions on Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, as well as other LEDS-EWG webinars, can be found here.

[Here] you can find a flyer. Please help us spread the news about this exciting series. Thank you!

Best,

Alexander Ochs
Director, Climate and Energy Program
Worldwatch Institute

Interview on RFM 104.9: Haiti Sustainable Energy Roadmap (in English and French)

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Dec 012014

Publication d’une étude réalisée par le World Watch Institute avec le financement de l’Allemagne sur les grandes potentialités d’Haiti en matière d’énergies renouvelables. Dans une interview exclusive accordee a RFM Mr Ochs qui a contribué à la réalisation de cette etude souhaite que les autorités Haitiennes optent pour les énergies solaire et éolienne en abandonnant l’utilisation du diesel et du mazout trop onéreux

Mr Ochs qui participait à l’Emission Enjeux affirme haut et fort que le pays pourrait économiser des centaines de millions de dollars américains tous les ans grâce aux énergies renouvelables. Le Directeur a l’énergie du World Watch Institute precise que des Investisseurs étrangers sont prêts a participé à la mise en œuvre de ces projets toutefois note Alexander Ochs ils réclament que les conditions legales soient réunies .

Les explications de Alexander Ochs au micro de Rotchild Francois Jr.

JUST PUBLISHED: Haiti Sustainable Energy Roadmap (free report)

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Dec 012014

Matthew Lucky, Katie Auth, Alexander Ochs (Project Director), Xing Fu-Bertaux, Michael Weber, Mark Konold, Jiemei Lu | November 2014

Haiti’s electricity sector stands at a crossroads. Haiti depends on imported petroleum for 85% of its electricity generation, diverting 7 percent of its annual gross domestic product to importing fuel. Still, only 25% of the Haitian population has regular access to electricity, bringing barriers to advances in economic opportunity, health, education, and social equality. Yet, according to the Worldwatch Institute’s new Haiti Sustainable Energy Roadmapreport, tremendous opportunities and actionable solutions exist to build an electricity system that is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable.

The Roadmap is the culmination of years of intensive investigation and analysis into the potential for energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment in Haiti. For example, only 6 square kilometers of solar photovoltaic panels would be able to generate as much electricity as Haiti produced in 2011. The study compares the full economic and societal costs of Haiti’s current electricity sector and its business as usual development to that of alternative pathways and concludes that Haiti will benefit immensely if it relies more heavily on renewable energy sources and less on fossil fuels. Continue reading »

Renewable Energy: “Development as Freedom” in Haiti and Beyond

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Dec 012014

Andrew Burger, 1 December 2014

Rapid transition from centralized energy systems based on fossil fuels to those based on a mix of distributed, locally appropriate renewable energy resources is viewed by many as the most effective means of mitigating and adapting to climate change. That’s just the “thin edge of the wedge” with regard to the advantages and benefits societies can realize by spurring development and adoption of distributed energy resources and technologies, however. (…)

An energy-and-development policy paper from the Worldwatch Institute invokes Sen’s conceptualization of “Development as Freedom” as applied to Haiti, the most poverty-stricken nation in a region whose history is characterized largely by general poverty linked to political and economic repression and unsustainable extraction and exploitation of natural resources and ecosystems. In its “Haiti Sustainable Energy Roadmap,” Worldwatch highlights that “tremendous opportunities and actionable solutions exist to build an electricity system that is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable using the tremendous renewable energy and energy efficiency potentials of the country.” (…)

“There is hardly a place on Earth where the advantages of a distributed electricity system powered by domestic renewable sources are as evident as in Haiti,” Worldwatch Institute Climate and Energy Director Alexander Ochs writes of the study.

See full article [here].

Energy Low Emission Development Strategies in Asia: A Regional Overview and Experiences from Thailand

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Oct 312014

Energy Low Emission Development Strategies in Asia: A Regional Overview and Experiences from Thailand from Worldwatch Institute

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

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Sep 232014

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

Ochs_IDB_LAC.RE.StudyPresentation_140923

OVERVIEW

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

Rethinking the energy system: The potential of distributed energy – The case of Germany

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Sep 232014

Here is my presentation on the Economic, Social & Environmental Successes of the German Energy Transition which I gave at the Private Sector Prep Meeting for COP 20 in Lima last week. RethinkingTheEnergySystem_Ochs_Lima_140915_final overview

the trends| Germany’s energy transition
the enablers | Vision, policies, governance
the impacts | Busted myths, changed paradigms
the lessons | Key take-aways

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