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Potential of renewable energy to outstrip global need – UN report

“Scenarios are largely consistent in indicating widespread growth in renewable energy deployment around the globe,” 

UN Renewables ‘Bible’ Says Clean Energy Can Outstrip Demand, Bloomberg, By Alex Morales – May 4, 2011  Wind and solar power are among six renewable energy options that have the potential to outstrip total world energy needs and may grow as much as 20-fold over the next four decades, a draft United Nations report said.

Geothermal, biomass, solar, wind, hydropower and electricity from the ocean’s waves and tides could more than meet the global energy needs for power, heating and transport based on 2008 demand, according to the study by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC.

….. Moving from fossil fuels to renewables requires new policies to attract “significant increases” in investment, with up to $5.1 trillion required from 2011 through 2020, and as much as $7.1 trillion needed the following decade, the panel said. That compares with the $20 trillion the Paris-based International Energy Agency has estimated needs to be spent on all energy infrastructure by 2030.

The researchers said a range of policies was open to governments to encourage clean energy, including low-interest loans, subsidies and placing a price on carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels.

“Scenarios are largely consistent in indicating widespread growth in renewable energy deployment around the globe,” the draft said. “If decision-makers intend to increase the share of renewable energy and, at the same time, to meet ambitious climate mitigation targets, then long-standing commitments and flexibility to learn from experience will be critical.”…….http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-04/un-renewables-bible-says-in-report-that-clean-energy-can-outstrip-demand.html

May 5, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, renewable