Developing world bucks decline in green energy funding

Siobhan Chan in SciDev.net: Spending on renewable energy is undergoing a geographic shift, with developing countries investing more last year despite an overall 12 per cent drop in global spending since 2011, according to two reports published this week (12 June).  The reports found that developing countries invested a total of US$112 billion in renewable energy in 2012, up 19 per cent from 2011.

Just under four per cent of the US$244 billion invested globally went on research and development, rising — albeit only slightly — for an eighth consecutive year. At US$9.6 billion in 2012, global R&D funding has almost doubled since 2004.

'Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2013', by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance and information service Bloomberg New Energy Finance, was published alongside 'Renewables 2013: Global Status Report' by REN21, a global renewable energy policy network.

Two-thirds of the 138 countries with renewable energy policies and targets were in the developing world, the Global Trends report found.  Of the developing countries, China continued to dominate the sector, increasing its investment by 22 per cent to US$67 billion. Latin American countries such as Chile and Mexico also increased their investment in the sector.

However, countries in the Middle East and Africa had the greatest growth, increasing spending by 228 per cent to US$12 billion....

A wind farm in Mongolia, shot by Steven Buss, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Climate change will reduce renewable energy capacity, warn scientists

Ochieng' Ogodo in SciDev.net:  Climate change is set to reduce Latin America's capacity to produce renewable energy, according to Roberto Schaeffer, a Brazilian energy planning expert. He told the Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development underway in Brazil this week (11–15 June) that many forms of renewable energy are vulnerable to variations in climate, due to their dependence on water – as is the case with hydropower and biofuels – as well as on wind and sun.

Schaeffer— a researcher at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil — said that Brazil's biomass, hydroelectric and wind energy sectors are particularly vulnerable. Two years ago, Schaeffer participated in a Brazilian study entitled 'The Vulnerability of Energy Systems to Climate Change', conducted from 2008 to 2010. The study found that by 2040, Brazil's climate will display significantly greater variability than it does currently, with higher rainfall in some areas and prolonged periods of drought in others. 

This would have an adverse effect on renewable energy production, he said. He gave the example of overall electricity supply in northeast Brazil, which would be impacted by an increase in drought. And soya bean production, one of Brazil's primary sources of renewable energy, would be impeded by higher temperatures, Schaeffer said....

A beaker of biodiesel fuel from soy, shot by Leandro Maranghetti Lourenço, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license