Issue Number 2, March 2006
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Dear Readers,
Welcome to the current issue of the United Nations Energy
Statistics Newsletter that aims to update you on activities and
developments of the United Nations Energy Statistics Section, part of the
United Nations Environment and Energy Statistics Branch, United Nations
Statistics Division (UNSD). The newsletter covers recent meetings,
publications, technical cooperation activities, as well as short reviews
on topical issues. Furthermore, the Market Brief will give you an overview
and brief insight of trends of specific markets. We hope that you find the
newsletter useful and thank you for your support.
Remember!
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In this Issue:
Features:
-
Energy Statistics in the 2006 United Nations Statistical
Commission
-
First meeting of the Oslo Group on Energy Statistics,
6-8 February 2006, Oslo, Norway
-
The Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI)
-
Collection and compilation of Energy Statistics for the
year 2004
-
International Energy Statistics (InterEnerStat) Meeting
-
Why an Intersecretariat Working Group on Energy
Statistics?
-
14th session of the UN Commission of Sustainable
Development (CSD)
Special Features:
- Internship
- Developments in Renewable Energy: Energy Statistics new focus area
Publications
Market Brief: Renewable Energy Analysis, 1995-2004
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Energy Statistics at the 37th session of the Statistical
Commission (SC) “Report of Statistics Norway on Quality Components of Oil
Statistics”
The energy statistics programme review was presented and
discussed at the 36th session of the SC in 2005 and this year energy was
again on the agenda of this high level forum of statisticians from around
the world. A discussion paper was presented by Statistics Norway on the
quality of the oil statistics, followed by many interventions from
countries outlining the importance of energy statistics and their
development.
The paper presents key characteristics of oil statistics and
point out crucial methodological challenges. The focus is on national oil
statistics, from production of primary resources to imports/exports,
stocks and use. Because of the scale of the oil market, relatively small
errors in data and conversion factors can cause important errors in the
statistics. Some errors are inevitable, but good practices can minimize
the risk. The paper emphasizes the importance of high-quality national
data as the building blocks of an international system for oil
statistics.
The report can be divided into four parts which can be
summarized as follows:
[1] The current
situation and the need for high-quality oil statistics: Because oil
is so influential in both global and national economies, it is crucial
that planners and analysts have reliable information on oil production,
trade and stock to help understand markets and project oil prices. To
achieve this, every country should have internally consistent national oil
statistics, which form the basis for international reporting. The report
recommends that countries apply internationally accepted concepts,
standards, and methods for the production of national oil
statistics.
[2] Description and
discussion of national and international use of oil statistics: National systems for oil statistics require internal consistency
between different divisions of a statistical office, and between the
statistical office and the industrial and organizational bodies that
provide data. Good national statistical systems will ensure a consistent
national energy balance, with small statistical differences, and create
positive synergies for international oil statistics. The main problems
arising at international level are: a) delays in receiving data; b) lack
of accuracy and frequent revisions to national figures; c) differences in
national definitions and measurement units, and d) the application of
different methods for international aggregation.
The report expresses
the need for and/or strengthening of a centralized administration for
national oil statistics based on a population of economic units comprising
oil companies, producing fields, refineries, and consumer
groups.
[3] Detailed discussion of
the production process and quality challenges of oil statistics: The main problems in national oil statistics are definition and technical
problems. The paper looks at some of the problems related to definitions
and methods, standards for classification of energy products, units of
measurement, conversion factors, and other factors that influence the
quality of data.
[4] Discussion
of the future development of national and international oil statistics,
with recommendations for further improvements: The report
recommends that countries improve their national oil statistics, consult
with stakeholders, integrate international definitions into national
statistics, revise their reports when common international standards are
agreed upon, document their national production routines for oil
statistics, increase the qualification level of statistical staff, and
introduce new concepts, such as investment in oil and gas exploration,
into national reporting. At international level, the report calls for an
analysis of statistical differences in reporting, and continued
international cooperation to refine global data systems and improve
quality and timeliness.
The full report can be downloaded from http://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/sc2006.htm
The Statistical Commission decided that the following
actions are to be taken in the area of energy statistics:
The Commission:
(a) Commended on the progress made in
the area of energy statistics;
(b) Recognized the significance of
energy statistics and recommended its development as part of official
statistics, including the need for greater transparency in the
documentation of methods and routines used in the compilation of energy
statistics. It also emphasized the need for capacity building and training
of statisticians;
(c) Supported the establishment and mandate of the
Oslo Group on Energy Statistics and the Intersecretariat Working Group on
Energy Statistics and requested proper coordination mechanisms between
them;
(d) Supported the review of the UN manuals on energy statistics
and requested that this review is based on all relevant methodological
work in energy statistics;
(e) Emphasized the urgent need for
harmonization of energy definitions and compilation methodologies and the
development of international standards in energy statistics;
(f)
Supported the establishment of a broadly based review team to analyse
existing methodologies and propose common concepts and definitions. It
requested that UNSD submit the modalities of this review team for the
consideration of the Bureau of the Statistical Commission.
First meeting of the Oslo Group on Energy Statistics, 6-8
February 2006, Oslo, Norway
18 countries and 5 international organizations participated
at the 1st meeting of the Oslo Group, established following the
recommendation of the Ad-hoc group meeting on energy statistics (May 2005,
New York, hosted by the United Nations Statistics Division). The role of
the group is to discuss methodological issues, to learn from good
practices and to contribute to the methodological development and
harmonization of energy statistics that would lead to an improvement in
energy statistics at international level.
The meeting comprised the following sessions:
1.
Opening and introduction
2. Identification of user needs
3. Scope of
official energy statistics
4. Coordination with the Inter-Secretariat
group
5. National practices: Identification of best practices and
problems with methodology and data collection
6. Selected
methodological and quality problems in energy statistics
7. Important
energy statistics systems, and needs for harmonization
8. Work plan for
the Oslo group
9. How to measure changes in energy efficiency
10.
Methods for improving consistency in statistics on a national level, and
reducing response burden
The discussion in session 10 indicated that there is a need
for updated and more user-friendly energy statistics manuals, and some of
the participants offered to contribute to the revision by writing issue
papers referring to the chapters of the existing manuals. A collection of
best practices on the Oslo group web site was also recommended.
There is a need to coordinate the work of the Oslo group and
the Inter-Secretariat Group on energy statistics, as both groups will deal
with recommendations and harmonization of principles, methods and energy
product definitions.
In order to improve energy statistics it may be necessary to
increase the resources in this field, and some countries will need to
build a legal base for data collection. Key to this is to have a good
communication with policy makers and administrators within the country,
and to increase the status and priority of this important area within the
statistical system.
The 1st meeting
of the Oslo Group concluded with the following recommendation:
The Oslo group will focus on working towards providing
drafts on the following topics before the Second meeting of the Group
(which is foreseen to be in November/December 2006):
-
Review of the definitions and proposals for common
definitions for energy products, with special focus on the new and
renewable energy types
-
Proposals and issue papers for updating the UN manual,
Energy statistics: Definitions, unit of measure and conversion factors
(1986)
-
The collection of country practices and their use for
the elaboration of the definitions/manual
-
The collection of best practices for energy statistics,
and energy balance compilation.
The group will work through electronic discussion forums, in
addition to traditional meetings, where the drafts and all the
correspondence are to be available for the participants of the discussion
forum.
The next meeting in the Oslo group is planned to be hosted
by India.
Further information can be obtained at the following
web-site: http://www.ssb.no/english/conference/ocg/
The
Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI) World Database is available on the
web
On November 19th 2006, in conjunction with the inauguration
of the International Energy Forum Secretariat (IEFS) premises in Riyadh,
the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud
officially launched the JODI World Database.
Significant progress has been achieved by the six
organizations (APEC, Eurostat, IEA/OECD, OLADE, OPEC and UNSD) working
together on the development of this initiative since its inception;
however the database is not perfect. For many countries, especially for
the Top 30 producers and consumers, timeliness, coverage and reliability
are already at reasonable levels. The challenge for the organizations now
is to increase the coverage to other countries, to further improve the
timeliness of data submissions and to continually enhance the quality of
all the data.
The database is available at: http://www.jodidb.org/
Collection and compilation of Energy statistics – 2004
The 2004
UN Energy Statistics Questionnaire for data collection is now
available in Chinese, in addition to our previous English, French and Spanish versions! Soon it will also be available in Arabic. Please visit http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy/quest.htm
The 2004 energy data collection is under way. Although the
deadline for returning the questionnaire is past, some countries have
still to send their completed questionnaires to the UN Statistics
Division. The Energy Statistics questionnaire, covering crude oil,
electricity and the main fuels, was sent in November 2005 to more than 150
countries and territories. We will receive additional data from OLADE,
concerning Latin American countries, and from IEA, regarding OECD and CIS
countries
Despite the improvement in response rates observed in the
last years, increased effort and capacity building is still needed,
particularly in Africa where response rates are low and the availability
of data scarce.
UNSD thanks all responding countries for their cooperation
in completing the questionnaire and returning it by the deadline.
Meanwhile we would like to invite those countries which have not yet sent
back the 2004 questionnaire to complete and return it as soon as possible.
It is important for us to have the most reliable energy data from the
country itself. Please check your mailbox!
The energy team is now working on the validation and
compilation of energy data and might contact your office to clarify the
data submitted.
The 2004 Energy Statistics Questionnaire for data collection
is available online at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy/quest.htm , but National statistical offices, ministries of energy or other national
authorities responsible for energy statistics can request a pre-filled
questionnaire containing data for their countries covering the last 5
years by e-mail by contacting energy_stat@un.org
The 2004 validated data will soon be available to other
national and international organizations on request from energy_stat@un.org, in order to allow for
optimal use of the collected data.
International Energy Statistics (InterEnerStat) Meeting, Paris,
22-23 November 2005
Twenty-four major regional and international organisations,
either collecting or using energy statistics participated at the
InterEnerStat meeting that was hosted by the International Energy
Agency.
The organisations shared their experiences and challenges
encountered in the development and maintenance of strong and reliable
energy statistics and underlined low awareness and commitment to the
statistical function at the political level, insufficient resources and
expertise as well as the need for more harmonisation and co-operation. The
requirement for more detailed energy statistics is coupled with a push for
increased timeliness and reliability of these energy statistics. As a
response to a call from the 2005 United Nations Statistical Commission,
two new working groups – the Oslo Group and the Inter-secretariat Working
Group on Energy Statistics – will explore ways and means of further
improving energy statistics, respectively at country and international
levels.
Further information can be found at the following web-site: http://www.iea.org/Textbase/work/workshopdetail.asp?WS_ID=230
Further information can be obtained at the following
web-site: http://www.ssb.no/english/conference/ocg/
Why
an Intersecretariat Working Group on Energy Statistics?
The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) has been
active for more than 50 years in developing energy statistics, methodology
and guidelines, and providing regional training to developing countries.
It has also been responsible for collecting and disseminating energy data
for all countries, territories and regions of the world. The current
publication, the 2003 Energy Statistics Yearbook is the forty-fifth in a
series of annual compilations, and the UNSD database currently contains
detailed energy statistics for more than 200 countries since 1950.
In the early 1950’s, coal was the major energy carrier
worldwide; other energy sources, particularly oil, gradually gained in
significance from the late sixties onwards. In Europe, the European Coal
and Steel Community, launched in 1952 and the forerunner of today’s
European Union, recognized from the outset the need for energy statistics,
and this is one of the oldest activities of Eurostat. Starting from the
original six member states, it now covers its 25 member states and a
number of other European countries.
In the 1970’s several oil crises wakened the developed world
to its increasing dependence on oil. At that time, several agencies that
engaged in collecting and disseminating energy information on a regional
level were created, including the Latin American Energy Organization
(OLADE) [1973] and the International Energy Agency (IEA) [1974]. Energy
returned to the headlines in the 1990s, this time linked to development,
environment and supply concerns, and a number of other related agencies
were created, including the Asia Pacific Research Center (APERC) [1996],
the African Energy Commission (AFREC) [2001].
Also, energy technologies are changing constantly, requiring
the development of new methodologies and approaches, particularly for
production of renewable forms of energy. Meanwhile data collection is
becoming more complex, as markets are liberalized, more and diversified
energy suppliers appear on the market, and more regional cooperation and
intensified trade of energy products can be observed.
The appearance of regional and international organizations
and new challenges resulted in accelerated development of methodology, and
production of more energy data. Private companies also started to produce
energy data at regional and international level. With thirty years of
hindsight, one can see that this has lead to duplication, separate
development of concepts and methods, and consequently, a lack of
harmonization in some areas.
The organizations need to tackle these issues if they are to
meet the increasing needs of their users, at a time when, worldwide,
resources devoted to statistics are either stagnant or decreasing,
What are these increasing
needs? Today, quality requirements for energy statistics have
become exceptionally high, because of the unique economic, environmental,
social and political significance of energy.
In order to formulate energy policies that maintain economic
and social stability, prevent environmental degradation and promote
sustainable development, policy makers in all countries, developing as
well as developed, need to have a clear overview of their energy
situation. This requires timely, detailed and reliable data on the
different parts of the production and consumption chain as well as proper
reporting mechanisms, sound checking procedures and adequate resources; in
other words, mature and sustained energy statistics.
There is an increasing demand for data on many aspects of
energy, produced according to common, accepted definitions and
methodologies: a wide base of robust and consistent time series from which
useful indicators can be drawn. Furthermore, the intricate link between
energy, society, economy and environment means there is an increasing need
to improve the integration of energy statistics with economic, social and
environment statistics. Economic statistics of the energy sector;
statistics on energy services; measuring the contribution of the energy
sector to the national economy, the environmental implications of the
production, transformation, transport and use of energy; energy and
poverty; access to electricity; energy efficiency – these are only a few
examples of the emerging questions that a comprehensive, integrated energy
statistics system has to answer.
The indicators themselves can change depending on the
message to be drawn, but statisticians must ensure the timeliness,
accuracy, comparability, completeness/coverage and availability of the
underlying data.
Developing countries suffered badly in the recession that followed the oil crises, and were
ill-prepared for the kind of energy analysis that is commonplace in
developed countries today. They were left behind, and not just in energy
statistics. Routine data collection and dissemination activities remain
under-funded. To give an example of what we are up against, in Africa, ten
years after the adoption of the 1993 SNA[1], less then one fifth of the
African countries have been able to provide six or more of the minimum
required tables. Because of the strong interdependence between access to
affordable energy and prosperity, urgent work is required to develop
energy statistics in developing countries and to harmonize them with
international recommendations.
However, countries need to learn to walk before they can
run. And we need to remove the hurdles that get in their way. It is
essential to remove duplicate data requests, improve manuals and
handbooks, and simplify and standardize our requests to a minimum set of
data required to meet the most basic energy policy needs. And we need to
help countries build the statistical competences required to carry out
this work. This must be done in such a way that, as countries develop, the
initial work they (and we) have done, forms a corner stone on which to
build the wide and solid base of consistent data that forms the backbone
of energy analysis.
Conclusions:
- It is essential to increase awareness of the importance
of energy analysis, and its base: energy data collection and energy
balance compilation at country level.
- Countries need guidance
from the international organizations working in energy statistics for
compiling their national energy balances. However countries need
adequate resources to compile energy balances and should cooperate with
other stakeholders responsible for energy.
- It is essential that
capacity building activities are well-coordinated between the different
organizations, to maximize the benefits from the limited resources
international organizations can put into this work.
- Responding
to these requirements is the new challenge to official energy
statisticians, to national statistical offices, and to international
organizations active in collecting and using energy
statistics.
It is to meet these requirements that the Bureau of the
Statistical Commission has created the Intersecretariat Working Group on
Energy Statistics.
-------------------------------
[1] Report of the IWG on National Accounts to the
Statistical Commission, March 2005.
14th
session of the UN Commission of Sustainable Development (CSD), 1-12 May
2006
The fourteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD-14) will take place in New York from 1 to 12 May 2006.
The work programme for the CSD follows a two-year cycle. For the period
2006-2007 the focus of work is on Energy
for Sustainable Development, Industrial Development, Air
pollution/Atmosphere, and Climate Change, and these issues will be
dealt with in CSD-14. Since these issues are closely interrelated, they
are addressed in an integrated manner to enhance synergies and minimize
trade-offs. CSD-14 will review progress and best practices in these areas,
aims to identify barriers to implementation and to facilitate their
removal, particularly by promoting better funding and more adequate
transfer of technology.
Regarding Energy for
Sustainable Development, CSD-14 draws a link between energy and
poverty, emphasizing that the provision of modern energy services has
profound positive impacts on poverty eradication and standards of living.
CSD’s challenge is to improve access to reliable and economically viable
energy services in the face of energy resource constraints and
energy-related environmental impacts. To do this, the development,
implementation, and transfer of cleaner technologies and alternative
energy sources are necessary. However, high costs of these technologies
remain a main barrier.
CSD promotes Industrial
Development, highlighting industry’s key role for sustainable
development as a supplier of goods, services, and jobs. A goal of CSD-14
is to make sure that all countries, in particular least developed
countries (LDC) and small island developing states (SIDS) benefit from
industrial development. Specifically, CSD promotes industrial energy
efficiency as a means to lower both production costs and emissions. Main
barriers to energy efficiency are inadequate infrastructure and human
capacities, a lack of investments and insufficient technology
transfer.
Regarding Air
Pollution/Atmosphere, CSD-14 emphasizes the necessity for
integrated pollution mitigation efforts in the context of social and
economic development. Main issues are the improvement of scientific
knowledge, stratospheric ozone depletion, trans-boundary atmospheric
pollution, and emissions related to energy, transport and industry.
Likewise, regarding Climate
Change, CSD-14 calls for integrated strategies that take into
account social and economic development needs. CSD highlights potentially
adverse effects of climate change on sustainable development as well as
the particular vulnerability of LDC and SIDS. The main means to mitigate
climate change are new energy technologies and the adoption of more
sustainable patterns of consumption and production, as promoted by the
10-year framework of the Marrakech Process.
CSD was established in 1992 to ensure an effective follow-up
of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development. CSD has been
meeting annually from 1993 on. As the UN high level forum for sustainable
development, CSD is responsible for reviewing progress in the
implementation of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration, and the Johannesburg
Plan of Implementation. CSD also has a mandate to promote sustainable
development-related dialogue and partnerships. Currently, CSD goes through
a multi-year working program with clusters of specific thematic and
cross-sector issues.
Further information can be
found at:
CSD website: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/review.htm
CSD-14
documents: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/docs_csd14.htm
Internship
The UN Energy Statistics
Section receives interns on a two-month assignment basis, three
times a year, within the framework of the UN Internship Programme. The
objective of this programme is threefold:
The UN Energy Statistics Section offers interns two months'
work experience on energy topics and issues that are currently considered
relevant in the area of energy statistics. In assigning tasks to interns,
their personal interest and background is taken into account.
The Energy Statistics Section is looking forward to receive
interns who are interested at working on energy statistics issues in an
international environment.
To check your eligibility, how to apply, and other
information about the UN internship programme, visit: http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/examin/internsh/intern.htm.
Developments in Renewable Energy –Energy Statistics new focus
area
Energy is the basic element for all of modern human
civilization and a prerequisite for securing economic and social
development. Along with national economic growth and social evolution,
global energy consumption will continue to grow. Energy resource and
environment issues are becoming the key issues faced by the international
community. Providing affordable, reliable and secure energy is essential
to ending extreme poverty and building a better and cleaner world.
However, a reliable and affordable energy supply faces many challenges and
is far from the norm in the developing world, where more than two billion
people do not have access to modern energy services and 2.4 billion people
rely on traditional biomass for their basic energy needs.
The recent significant increase in oil prices on the world
energy market has shown the increased economic risk of relying primarily
on imported energy by many countries. By developing local sources of new
and renewable sources of energy such as hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and
modern biomass including liquid biofuels, countries can create diversified
energy portfolios that are less vulnerable to large price
fluctuations.
Meanwhile, large scale consumption of fossil fuels has
caused a series of pollution problems, some of which have become
prominent global environmental problems, threatening the development
of human society. Deployment of renewable sources of energy can provide an
environmental friendly solution by reducing net greenhouse gas emissions
and waste, as well as minimizing the pollution of air, water and soils
that results from the production, transport and processing of fossil
fuels. Moreover, as many renewable sources of energy are local and linked
to rural areas, exploiting such sources can provide jobs in otherwise poor
areas.
In terms of policy development, investment, and market
growth, renewable energy shows increasing momentum and significance.
Recognizing the role and importance of new and renewable energy, one of
energy statistics’ main tasks in the short run shall be to concentrate on
the development of definitions and data collection practices on new and
renewable energy. At the first meeting of the Oslo Group on energy
statistics on 6-8 February 2006, UNSD underlined the importance and the
current challenges in renewable energy statistics.
UNSD Energy
Statistics prepared a draft document ‘Comparisons of Renewable Energy Definitions in
the Questionnaires of Different Organisations’ which presents an
overview of the definitions of renewable energy sources and products, and
attempts to define the products in international classifications. The
definitions used by international organizations for new and renewable
products do not seem to go far enough to cover all the major products and
especially the new products with strong potential, in line with the
progress of technology, policy support and market investment. Many
renewable products are not specified in the classifications, or are
classified with different breakdowns, which increases the inconsistency in
data collected for international comparison.
It is difficult to collect and monitor data on renewable
energy statistics, especially for the traditional renewable energy sources
such as wood and other biomass, which are mostly utilized in less
developed remote areas, where statistical data are very limited and less
reliable. These energy products are mainly not commercialized and only
collected and consumed locally, so they are not generally adequately
covered in national or regional energy statistics.
Recommendations to improve renewable energy statistics
are:
-
Harmonize and standardize definitions and classification
in close cooperation between the different international organizations
and national statistical offices;
-
Analyze the resource potential/ development status/ main
products/ policy/ scenario of renewable energy in countries;
-
Periodically review and update the information and
questionnaires used by international organizations, because of the fast
development of renewable energy technologies and diversified energy
sources/ products;
-
Develop and refine estimation methodology for
traditional forms of renewable energy.
Publications
The 2003
Energy Statistics Yearbook is now available in pdf format on our
website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy
-
The Energy Statistics
Yearbook provides internationally comparable series of commercial
energy statistics summarizing world level and regional energy trends.
Annual data for 215 countries and areas for the period 2000 to 2003 are
presented on production, trade and consumption of energy: solids,
liquids, gaseous, traditional fuels and electricity in a series of 38
comprehensive tables. In addition, per capita consumption series are
also provided for all energy products. This year we have introduced
bookmarks in the electronic version to facilitate navigation through
such a huge publication.
To find out more about the publication, please visit our
website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy/yearbook/EYB_pdf.htm
› The following
methodological publications from the UN Statistics Division on energy
statistics are available in electronic format at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/pubs/gesgrid.asp?mysearch=energy&sort=title
Energy
Statistics: Definitions, Units of Measure and Conversion
Factors
Series: F,
No.44
Sales number: 86.XVII.21
Available in English, French, Spanish and Russian
Concepts
and Methods in Energy Statistics, with Special Reference to Energy
Accounts and Balances--A Technical Report
Series: F, No.29
Sales number: 82.XVII.13
Available in
English, French and Russian
Energy
Statistics--A Manual for Developing Countries
Series: F, No.56
Sales number: 91.XVII.10
Available in
English and French
› For monthly
energy data on selected commodities such as production data of coal,
lignite, natural gas, crude petroleum and electricity, please refer to
the United Nations Statistics Division 'Monthly Bulletin of Statistics Online’ that can be found at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mbs/.
› The Energy Indicators for Sustainable
Development: Guidelines and Methodologies is also available from
the following web-site:
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/publications.asp
Market Brief:
Renewable Energy Analysis, 1995-2004
Overviewi
Increasing
demand for energy has been a main feature of recent decades. In 2004,
global primary energy consumption increased by 4.3%, while in Asia-Pacific
it grew by almost 9%ii. The doubling of oil prices in the last
two years caused major disturbances in the energy market. Moreover, there
are environmental consequences of the increasing energy consumption as
burning fossil fuels is the main source of greenhouse gases (GHG)
emissions, identified as a cause of global climate change. In order to
protect their economies from swings in oil prices, to diversify their
energy supply, to promote development that can be sustained in the long
term, and to comply with international commitments to reduce of GHG
emissions, both developed and developing countries have placed renewable
energy at the top of their agenda, as an important component of energy
strategies.
Renewable energy is strongly promoted in many countries
through policies and also through investment into the sector. By 2004, at
least 45 countries had set up renewable energy policy targets with the aim
of producing between 5% and 30% of electricity from renewable sources by
2010-2012. The world annual investment in renewable energy has grown from
US$6 billion in 1995 to US$30 billion in 2004, excluding large hydropower
plants. Investment in large hydropower plants represented an additional
$20–25 billion in 2004, mostly in developing countries.
Review
of the development of the renewable energy by type
The share
of renewable energy in the world’s total primary energy supply today is
17% (including traditional biomass, large hydropower and “new” renewables
such as small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and
biofuels). The fastest growing energy technology in the world is the
grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV), led by Japan and Germany.
Biomass
Traditional
use of biomass, primarily for cooking and heating, is growing slowly or
even declining in some regions as biomass is used more efficiently or
replaced by other energy forms.
Bioelectricity The
global total existing bioelectricity generation capacity was 39 GW in
2004, of which 22 GW was in developing countries, 8 GW in EU, and 7.2 GW
in the USAiii. However, urban residues, landfill gas (LFG), and
digester gas from municipal waste water treatment and concentrated animal
feeding operations (CAFOs) are very important as they provide
environmental services as well as generating energy.
Biofuels World total
ethanol production was 31 billion litres in 2004 (48% from Brazil, 42%
from United States, 6% from China). Brazil has been the world leader in
promoting biofuels for the past 25 years. Germany leads in biodiesel,
producing 1.1 billion litres in 2004 - 50% of the total world production.
Other European countries have also decided to increase biodiesel
production because of rising oil prices and the CO2 emission trading
mechanism.
The projected overall growth rate for biomass is
relatively low, mainly because of its comparatively high starting point.
But in absolute terms, biomass will be the most important source of
renewable energy, due to its flexibility: it can be used directly in
heating, or to produce electricity and biofuels.
Hydro
Large hydropower accounted for 16% of world’s total power generation in 2004 (a total
capacity of 760 GW), with a global average growth rate of 2%. Since the
resource potential of large hydro is quite limited in many regions, the
projected growth rate is relatively low and expected to fall in the
future. The top five hydropower producers in 2004 were Canada (12%), China
(11.7%), Brazil (11.4%), the United States (9.4%) and Russia (6.3%).
China has the largest installed capacity (74 GW). Large
hydropower production is very dependent on rainfall levels, and is
adversely affected by drought, during which water, already at reduced
levels because of lower rainfall, will be released from dams to meet the
basic demand for water for the population.
Small
hydropoweriv is increasing rapidly at 7% annual rate
from 2000 to 2004. China possesses more than half of the world’s small
hydropower capacity and increased the existing capacity by nearly 4 GW in
2004. Australia, Canada, India, Nepal, and New Zealand also increased
their capacities significantly in recent years. It is projected that
exploitation of new potential will reach a peak during the next decade, up
to 10% annually.
Solar
Grid-connected solar
photovoltaic generation is the fastest growing renewable energy
technology with around 60 % per year between 2000–2004, mainly in Japan,
Germany, and the United States. However it started from a very small base,
and is still not a significant player.
Solar
hot water/heating technologies are more widespread. China accounts
for 60% of total installed capacity worldwide, the European Union accounts
for 11%, followed by Turkey with 9% and Japan, 7%. The Chinese market, in
particular, is booming, with a 26% capacity increase in 2004. The world
total installed collector area adds up to 110 million square metres, or
110 square kilometres (77 GW of heat production capacity), and almost 40
million households worldwide now use solar power to heat their water,
representing around 2.5% of all the households in the world.
Wind
Wind power
capacity grew by an average of 28 % per year from 2000 to 2004, led by
Germany. Markets are concentrated in Germany, Spain, India, the United
States, and Italy. Russia, China, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico are now
taking their first steps to develop large-scale commercial markets.
Offshore wind power is just emerging in Europe with over 40 GW planned in
Germany, the Netherlands and UK.
The first large-scale offshore wind farm (170 MW) was
completed in 2003 in Denmark.
Geothermal
Geothermal power increased by more than 1 GW between 2000
and 2004 in the world, with most significant developments in France,
Iceland, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines and Russia. Most of the
geothermal power capacity exists in developed countries. Because of its
unique geology, Iceland leads the world in geothermal direct heating,
which supplies 85 % of its total space-heating needs. Small-scale
applications (heat pumps) are of broad potential, whereas technical
exploitable potential is expected to increase during the next years due to
technical innovation.
----------------------------------
i Renewable Energy data used in analysis are from
Renewables 2005 Global Status Report, Dr. Eric Martinot.
iiBP
Statistical Review of World Energy June 2005
iii Municipal Solid Wastes
is not included, because the comparable information from developing
countries is not available.
ivThere is no consensus in definition of
small hydropower. It is generally according to a definition of 10 MW, but
higher in some countries such as China, which officially defines small
hydro as less than 50 MW.
Editorial Notes
The Energy Statistics newsletter is a bi-annual publication
available on-line, prepared by the Environment and Energy Statistics
Branch of the United Nations Statistics Division, Department of Economic
and Social Affairs. This Newsletter is not an official document of the
United Nations, nor does it express the official position of the United
Nations.
A special thanks to Ms. Rosemary Montgomery for her support
to this issue of the newsletter.
For further information please contact United Nations
Statistics Division, Energy Statistics Section, New York, NY10017, USA;
email address: energy_stat@un.org or visit our website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy/default.htm
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