The year energy became sexy - and clean energy, sexier
by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, Dec 27 2008
THE year 2008 will be remembered as the year when oil prices reached historic highs – the highest at US$147 a barrel in July.
It will also be thought of as the year when humanity took major steps to wean itself off polluting fossil fuels and invest more in renewable energy.
Soaring oil prices strengthened the case to invest in clean energy, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and hydropower. They also added pressure on the United Nations’ 192 members to forge a new pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol – a global deal by developed nations to curb emissions – when it expires in 2012.
Suddenly, energy became sexy – and clean energy, sexier.
Oil companies, venture capitalists and investment funds, which previously baulked at the high costs of investing in renewable energy, came to view the sector in a different light. Governments, especially those of energy-importing countries from Japan to Britain, ramped up green energy investments, spurred by energy security concerns.
Norway intends to double its national research fund for renewable energy to US$3.4 billion (S$4.9 billion). Britain, meanwhile, has pledged US$100 billion to build 4,000 onshore and 3,000 offshore wind turbines by 2020, creating some 160,000 jobs. Closer to home, clean technology investments in China are estimated to have reached US$580 million last year and are likely to total more than $720 million this year.
This year, some 50 countries, including a dozen developing nations, have set renewable energy targets. They include Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, China, India, the Philippines, Iran, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.
Oil prices, however, sunk as quickly as they rose, plunging to a new low of US$33 this month.
While investments in renewable energy are likely to take a hit in this economic climate, there is a reason to believe the trend will not reverse itself.
At recent climate change talks in Poland, European Union leaders agreed on a “20-20-20” deal to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2020. They also pledged that a fifth of Europe’s energy mix should come from renewable sources within 12 years.
As United Nations chief Ban Ki Moon said recently, the world needs a “Green New Deal” – solving the economic crisis by investing in a low-carbon economy.
He describes this as an “investment that fights climate change, creates millions of green jobs and spurs green growth”.
This year, the seeds of the Green New Deal were planted.
