Global campaign for cities & islands to choose 100% clean energy

Environmental campaigners are hoping that 2015 will be the year when the United Kingdom’s cities – and even remote island states – go beyond green to blue. Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Munich, Seattle, Sydney and Lima have all committed to switching to using 100% clean energy by 2050. Meanwhile, one island in the Caribbean – Bonaire – has switched from diesel to renewables, with 12 wind turbines providing 11 MW total power capacity, contributing up to 90% of the island’s electricity at times of peak wind, and 40-45% of its annual electricity on average. Read More

Global campaign aims to inspire British cities to choose 100% clean energy

Jamie Doward for The Guardian (3 January 2015):

Grassroots campaigns calling on civic leaders to endorse the initiative have been launched in 123 towns and cities across the UK

Hope that example set by Munich, Seattle, Lima and others will prompt pledges to commit to zero emissions by 2050.

Environmental campaigners are hoping that 2015 will be the year when the UK’s cities go green. Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Munich, Seattle, Sydney and Lima have all committed to switching to using 100% clean energy by 2050, and now grassroots campaigns calling on civic leaders to endorse the initiative have been launched in 123 towns and cities across the UK. It is hoped that as many as 20 will pledge their commitment before the end of this year.

One city expected to be at the vanguard of the scheme is Oxford, which has launched a “low-carbon hub” that aims to install solar panels on schools, put water turbines in its stretch of the Thames and develop solar farms.

Persuading cities to switch to clean energy is crucial in tackling climate change, according to research by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, the increasingly influential body that comprises former heads of government, former ministers, economists and business leaders.

The commission recently produced analysis suggesting that, by 2030, the world’s 724 largest cities could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 1.4bn tonnes of carbon dioxide – greater than the annual emissions of Japan – purely by developing more efficient transport systems.

It also claimed that adopting low-carbon technologies, such as using energy-efficient building materials and switching to electric buses in 30 of the world’s megacities, would create more than 2m jobs and avoid some 3bn tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years. More than 100 countries backed the clean cities initiative at last year’s climate talks in Lima. There is also considerable global public support for the idea.

The campaigning organisation Avaaz, described as the world’s largest and most powerful online activist network, recently delivered a petition to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, signed by 2.2 million people, calling on local, national and international leaders to shift to 100% clean energy. Avaaz hopes to persuade 100 cities around the world to join its campaign over the next 12 months.

“Last year people took to the streets to demand a shift to clean energy, and this year these same people will be making that goal a reality, one town at a time,” said Bert Wander, senior campaigner at Avaaz. “Cities all over the world have already started announcing 100% clean-energy targets, and where cities lead, entire countries can follow.”

Unlike other high-profile Avaaz campaigns, the green cities initiative is being run by Avaaz members at a local level. In the UK, more than 150,000 people have signed up.

Wander said support for the initiative was growing exponentially: “A renewables revolution is happening right now, and in just a few months it’s gone from pipe dream to mainstream, with countries including Norway and Uruguay flicking the ‘clean’ switch, and cities such as Frankfurt, Seattle and Copenhagen doing the same. We hope that cities and towns across Britain will follow their lead this year.”

Jon Crooks, who is helping organise the Manchester petition for Avaaz, said the time was right for cities to play their part in tackling climate change, in particular helping their countries cut emissions by 80% by 2050, a target set out in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report in 2007.

“Governments aren’t committing to this,” Crooks said. “But if we can get cities to commit, then governments will have to respond. This is the right fit for Manchester right now. The city is to get an elected mayor and things that can be done to make a city 100% clean, like sustainable transport and housing, could become real electoral issues.”

Source: www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jan/03/british-cities-clean-energy-global-campaign

Caribbean island says goodbye diesel and hello 100% renewable electricity

By Kaitlyn Bunker for Rocky Mountain Institute (7 January 2015):

Bonaire (pop. 14,500), a small island off the coast of Venezuela, is famous for its beautiful marine reefs, which are visited by 70,000 tourists every year. What many of the tourists don’t realize is that the majority of the electricity powering their needs comes from renewable energy. Yet for the residents of Bonaire, the switch from fossil-fuelled to renewable energy systems has made a world of difference.

Like many Caribbean islands, Bonaire originally relied on diesel fuel to generate electricity for residents, with a peak demand of 11 MW. This fuel had to be shipped in from other nations, resulting in high electricity prices for Bonaire residents, along with uncertainty about when and how much prices might increase with changing fuel costs.

In 2004, everything changed when a fire destroyed the existing diesel power plant. Although tragic, the situation provided an opportunity for Bonaire to consider what kind of new electricity system to build. Temporary diesel generators were rented to provide power for the short term. Meanwhile, the government and local utility began working together to create a plan that would allow Bonaire to reach a goal of generating 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources.

BONAIRE’S ELECTRICITY SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION

The result is a transformed electricity system on Bonaire. The island is now home to 12 wind turbines with a total of 11 MW of wind power capacity, which contribute up to 90 percent of the island’s electricity at times of peak wind, and 40–45 percent of its annual electricity on average. Battery storage (6 MWh) is included in order to take advantage of available power in times of excess wind, and provide that stored electricity in times of low wind. The battery also boosts the reliability of the overall system—it is capable of providing 3 MW for over two minutes, allowing time for additional generation to be started when there is a sudden drop in wind.

The Bonaire system also includes 14 MW of diesel generation, five total generators, which provide the necessary power to meet the load when there is not enough wind power available. The generators are equipped to run on both traditional diesel as well as biodiesel. The next steps in the island’s energy transformation involve using local algae resources, grown in the large salt flats on the island, to create biofuel, which can then be used in the existing generators. This will allow Bonaire to operate a 100 percent renewable electricity system—with on average 40–45 percent from wind and 55–60 percent from biodiesel.

The new electricity system led to more reliable electricity, more employment opportunities, reduced dependence on oil (and its fluctuating prices), and a reduction in electricity bills. Bonaire residents currently pay $0.22/kWh for electricity, much lower than prices on other nearby Caribbean islands, which are often $0.36/kWh or above. When oil prices spiked in 2008, while Bonaire was still using temporary diesel generators before making its transition to renewables, electricity prices on the island reached $0.50/kWh. The new electricity system also created jobs for the construction and ongoing operation of the wind farm, and for research and development of algae production capabilities and conversion to biofuel. Additional employment opportunities will be created for continuing algae production and operation of the biodiesel plant.

The success of the updated electricity system on Bonaire provides an important example to other nearby islands of the opportunity to achieve high levels of renewable energy penetration.

WHY DID BONAIRE MAKE THE SWITCH TO RENEWABLES?

Two aspects unique to Bonaire’s situation may have contributed to the decision to switch to a 100 percent renewable electricity system. One driver may have been Bonaire’s status as a special municipality within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This provides a connection with the Netherlands and Europe in general, where many countries have incorporated large amounts of wind and other renewable sources of electricity. Nearby Aruba, also a Dutch Caribbean island, has a wind farm as well, which provides up to 20 percent of the island’s electricity. There may be a common theme of islands with ties to European countries moving to renewables more quickly than others. In the case of Bonaire, the consortium that is developing the project, Ecopower Bonaire BV, is made up of Dutch and German companies.

Secondly, Bonaire’s government and local electricity provider were presented with an opportunity to build a new renewable electricity system since they needed to replace the plant that was damaged. Many other Caribbean islands still have existing diesel resources that are not at the end of their lifetime. These existing generators may remain a part of the electricity system, especially as renewables are incrementally added to the system, and may even remain as backup power for a transformed system that operates mostly with renewables. However, if some or all of the existing diesel resources on an island are completely shut down before the end of their available lifetime, that island will need to consider the sunk costs involved and incorporate that into their overall energy transformation plan.

BONAIRE AS INSPIRATION FOR THE CARIBBEAN

RMI and Carbon War Room’s ongoing Ten Island Challenge works with Caribbean islands to utilize their local renewable resource potential to transform electricity systems and provide a renewable, reliable, secure, and affordable energy supply for their citizens. One of the participating islands is Aruba, which neighbours Bonaire and forms part of the ABC islands in the Netherlands Antilles, along with Curacao. Although the shift to renewables on Bonaire is not part of the Ten Island Challenge, RMI and CWR’s ongoing work in the area will strive to spread the success that Bonaire has achieved to the rest of the region, so that more Caribbean islands can take advantage of efficient and renewable electricity systems.

Source: www.reneweconomy.com.au/2015/caribbean-island-says-goodbye-diesel-hello-100-renewable-electricity-49930