As Canadian politicians, including Environment Minister John Baird and Liberal Stephane Dion, make their to key climate change meetings in Bali, Indonesia next week, a new report (PDF, 765 kb) from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) tracks renewable energy use:
Renewable energy is increasingly being used as a mainstream alternative to the fossil fuels which are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says in a new report.
The REN21 Renewables Global Status Report 2007 says that out of a total global power capacity of 4,300 Gigawatts (GW), renewable energy (without large hydro) now provides about 240 GW of clean power, avoiding some 5 gigatonnes per year (Gt/year) of carbon emissions.
“What's needed now are binding targets in an international agreement to establish polices that can rapidly accelerate the large-scale deployment of renewable energy to replace fossil fuels”, said Mohamed El Ashry, head of the global policy network REN21 that produced the report with the Worldwatch Institute.
… More than 50 countries worldwide have adopted targets for future shares or amounts of renewable energy, including 13 developing countries, all EU countries, and many states or provinces in the United States and Canada.
I’m not sure which provinces have set such targets — B.C. I’m guessing? Anyone help? — but there are not national Canadian targets for renewable energy though there are some federal government programs to encourage ethanol use, wind power, and solar power. The United States Congress, just this week, passed a comprehensive energy package which, among other things, would require that electrical utilities generate 15 per cent of their power from renewables by 2020. That bill, though, has some things in it which President Bush doesn’t like — it would raise taxes on oil companies!! — and so he was threatened to veto it if it makes it out of the Senate.