We just issued a press release regarding the new reegle maps statistics and animation mode … I attached it below – would be great if some of the reegle blog readers pick that up and help us to increase the outreach of our clean energy search engine

Screenshots first … then the Press Release …

=== PRESS RELEASE ===

Users of reegle, the specialist search engine for renewable energy and energy efficiency, can now select energy statistics in European countries and compare them visually using a time lapse animation on a full-screen map.  The underlying data provided by Eurostat is available for more than a decade, back to 1997.  Users can digest trends over time visually, and compare how different European countries have moved forward on clean energy over the selected period.

This new animation function is a new addition to the searchable map at the heart of www.reegle.info. With this map, users can click on a specific country and get the latest events, news, and a sampling of green energy development projects in that area. There is also a catalogue of stakeholders and an energy-oriented profile of the relevant country, and information on local green energy policies and regulations.

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With nearly half of its one billion citizens without a secure electricity supply, India faces many difficult social and environmental challenges as its economy develops in the new century. Currently over 40,000 villages and communities lack access to the national grid, suffering poor health, pollution, and poverty as a result.

Innovative local renewable energy solutions are being developed across the country, and interestingly, many of them are coming not from government, but from innovative local businesses.

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In the last decade hundreds of policies promoting renewable energies have been created worldwide. One of the greatest RE success stories is the worldwide deployment of feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) for electricity from renewable sources. Only ten years ago not more than 13 countries had enacted FiTs (see REN21 Global Status Report 2007) while today at least 57 countries imposed some kind of subsidized pricing for electricity generation from renewables. This already represents almost one third (30 percent) of all countries worldwide. With the support of the FiT, Germany became the largest solar PV installer with a total installed capacity of 5.351 GW by the end of 2008. Spain, Italy and France also claimed major accomplishments in their domestic power generation from renewables. FiT is just one category of the current policy mechanisms, other policy supports focusing on financial assistance, risk sharing, stimulating R&D also exist, with statistics showing more than 80 countries already having some types of policies in place to support its renewable energy industry.

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The International Standard Organization (ISO) is developing a new standard concerning sustainability criteria for the further development of bioenergy.  This is a response to the current lack of harmonized criteria. The new standard is thought to be a helping tool for governments in order for them to meet their national fuel targets. Biofuel is an alternative with great potential in the future energy mix.

The ISO committee will hold its first meeting in April this year, and will tackle social, environmental and commercial issues. It is thought that especially developing countries could benefit from globally harmonized sustainability criteria.

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The global pulp and paper industry has substantially increased its use of woody biomass for energy in recent years, and was able to reduce its demand for fossil energy. The increased use of bioenergy by the pulp and paper industry now accounts for 18% of the total energy consumption by this industry sector.

In fact, many pulp and paper plants have decided to invest in the technology which makes the switch from fossil fuel to bio-fuels possible. The biggest increase in the usage of bio-fuels occurred in Latin America and Asia/Oceania, while mills in Europe and North America are still the largest users of biomass for energy. It is estimated that the global pulp industry has used 75 million tons of biomass, often a by-product previously discharged, for energy generation.

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The Winter Olympic Games have kicked off in Vancouver, Canada, this week. The biggest of all sport events attracts thousands of people and usually there’s an increased demand for energy, which generally equals increased GHG emissions. The organizers of this winter’s games aim to make them the greenest ever.

Winter sports depends ice and snow, and preceding glaciers and unpredictable weather conditions make them particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming. At the same time, major sporting events such as the Olympic Games need huge amounts of energy to cater for all the needs associated with the games. Athletes, teams, fans and goods need transportation and require heated buildings and hot water. Producing snow and freezing ice sheets are also part of the consumer load. Furthermore there are sliding tracks, power equipment and lighting. All this generates GHG emissions, for example  130,000 tonnes of emissions are estimated to result from travel alone (based on ticket sales)!

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GVEP International has just published a Policy Briefing on innovative finance mechanisms and how they could be used to scale up investments in low carbon technologies in Africa. The two case studies examined were presented at a DFID sponsored policy conference at Chatham House in London on 28th January.

Large investments will need to be made to get developing countries energy systems on a different track than the one the industrialised countries have followed if the problem of climate change is to be tackled. The sums required cannot be met by the public sector alone. Private sector investment in renewable energy technologies in developing countries will need to be facilitated and increased. At the same time, discussions on aid effectiveness are influencing the debate on financing development.

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Find below the most interesting news from the last months from South East Asia and the Pacific:

Microfinance to promote renewable – Reducing fossil fuel dependence in the Pacific Islands
The Pacific Renewable Energy and Microfinance (PREM) Project is looking for a small victory – to wean Pacific Islanders off kerosene. Although many poor people are not well placed to invest in new technology, a solution in many of these areas is being provided by microfinance institutions (MFIs) that are keen to take on lending for energy services. Have a look on the REEEP webseite for more details.

Tonga Energy Roadmap website goes live
The Government of Tonga has set up a website for the Tonga Energy Roadmap, to which REEEP is a partner. The website contains information relating to the background of the roadmap, the technical studies that have been produced as part of the roadmap and the detail of the process as Tonga moves to a final approved plan for Tonga’s future energy needs and how they will be met.

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Our partners from Leonardo Energy are just starting a new Training course on “Concentrated Solar Thermal Power”.

Seville University holds a long tradition on Concentrated Solar Thermal Power (CSTP) research. Its students become key players at research centers and solar energy departments of companies. One of the “fathers” of CSTP in Spain, Manuel Silva, will be delivering 5 lessons about technology and assessment of solar resource.

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INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN: The Minister of Energy, Dipou Peters, has published the Integrated Resource Plan for energy. However, WWF-SA believes the plan has failed to take into account the most recent developments at Eskom (i.e. Eskom’s proposed increase tariff application and Eskom’s announcement that construction at Kusile has been postponed). See: http://www.fin24.com

CARBON FOOTPRINT: It is estimated that the 2010 FIFA World Cup will produce approximately 2 753 250 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Econ Pöyry, a Norwegian consultancy and engineering firm, has produced a feasibility study for a carbon-neutral World Cup. The report notes that while proposed greening measures and environmental standards can reduce the footprint, they will only affect the smaller components of it (i.e. intercity transport, intracity transport, stadium construction and materials, energy use in stadiums and in accommodation facilities). See: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za

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