Congress
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The overriding challenge of the coming decade will be energy security and climate change. Energy has often been overlooked in development cooperation in the past, although it is vital for the modernization of economies and a critical component in poverty reduction. This does not only mean large scale electrification but also very simple means to improve living conditions for people.
The energy debate is so crucial as most developing countries as net importers of oil and gas face similar challenges. When the price of oil is highly volatile with a trend towards increasing prices, a higher percentage of their foreign revenues are spent on oil.
With the increasing energy shortage and environmental concerns, large scale applications of New and Renewable Energy become increasing critical for a sustainable energy future. Generally speaking, NRE have not fully entered into the mainstream of both primary energy use and power generations. The “G8 plus five legislator’s dialogue on climate change” recently estimated that the rapid process of industrialization in China, India and other Transition Economies with high energy intensities will invest 250 Euro in new energy production per year over the next 30 years. Ensuring that investment goes to clean energy and low carbon projects would require an additional 40 billion Euro which is not available. As European economies were able to modernize their economies with cheap oil and gas for decades without worrying about the environment a considerable contribution from industrialized countries should give support for technological adaptation in developing countries.
Developing countries provide enormous potentials and opportunities to increase efficiency and bring down costs in new energy sources. Intelligent partnerships on country, regional and local level are needed to pursue this agenda. If China for example consequently invests as the 11 year plan claims, into NRE, they can drive the costs of producing solar, wind, bio-fuel and bio-gas energy down considerably, as they have done for other products.
The Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation in cooperation with the EastWest Institute will complement with this Conference in Brussels a series of activities of the German Presidency around this Issue. Experts on NRE’s, discuss together with business leaders, Scientists, NGO’s and European Officials the potentials and benefits of renewable technologies as an important catalyst for innovation and employment in developing and developed countries.
