REN21 network publishes global status report 2006
Investments in renewable energy sources have gone up by one third within one year from 30 billion US dollars in 2004 to 38 billion US dollars in 2005. This figure was revealed by the new Global Status Report for 2006. Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel noted: "Once again the advantage of safe investments based on feed-in systems has become apparent. Feed-in systems are meanwhile in place in the majority of the 49 countries with special support systems. This is a development which creates safe jobs in the range of 170,000 jobs in Germany alone and which is coupled with a constant growth in exports". Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul added: "Energy is not only a prerequisite to satisfy the most important basic needs of people in the developing countries, it is also a decisive production factor without which economic development and the development of a social infrastructure is not conceivable".
Two years after the renewables 2004 conference in Bonn the global policy network REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st century) has now published an update of its report. According to the report Germany remains world champion in the use of renewable energies. Germany alone invested 7 billion US dollars – as did China - followed by the United States (3.5 billion US dollars), Spain and Japan (2 billion US dollars each).
More than 500 million US dollars per year are directed towards developing countries as development aid in the form of support for renewable energies. The three most important fund donors are the German KfW development bank, the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development the KfW development bank will make available low interest rate loans totalling 500 million euros between 2005 and 2009 as part of the special facility for renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. Financial commitments totalling 170 million euros were made in the first year alone.
According to a study the global capacity for power generation from renewable energy sources rose from 160 gigawatt (GW) in 2004 to 182 GW (without hydropower). The six nations taking the lead here were China (42 GW), Germany (23 GW), the USA (23 GW), Spain (12 GW), India (7GW) and Japan (6 GW) with India overtaking Japan for the first time in this category.
The share of bio-fuels (ethanol, bio-diesel) in the global fuel consumption rose from 33 billion litres to a total of 37 billion litres. As regards the production of ethanol fuel, the United States matched the production rate of Brazil for the first time. In the field of bio-diesel Germany still takes the lead. Half of the 2005 global bio-diesel production came from German sources and the increase of bio-diesel consumption in the EU was 75 %.
The Global Status Report 2006 was commissioned by the global Renewable Energy Policy Network REN21 and financed by the Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The purpose of the policy network is to advance a rapid and more wide-spread use of renewable energy sources in developing and industrialised countries by lending support to political developments and decision making processes at regional, national and international level.
The Global Status Report 2006 on renewable energy sources can be downloaded from the internet at www.ren21.net and at www.bmub.bund.de/37751.