(October 16, 1998) After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Dr. Michael Sladek and other citizens in the little village of Schönau (population: 2500) in the Black Forest, decided to embark on a new, more sustainable energy policy when they set up the "Parents for a Nuclear Free Future" (PNFF). What is different in Schönau is that they mobilized so many people, the community resolved to take over its own electricity supply. A focus on energy conservation would save up to 50 percent of energy used, but still left the problem of how to meet remaining energy needs. But beyond this the community also resolved to gain a greater degree of control over how their electricity is produced.
In 1990, when the previous contract with KWR (the regional electricity supplier) came up for renewal, Schönau's town council demanded fair prices for local citizens with their own small co-generation plant who wanted to sell electricity back to the grid. KWR refused to allow this, and to dampen opposition, it also offered a lot more money to the town if the council renewed its contract anyway. PNFF then persuaded 280 people to help set up an electricity supply company to prepare an alternative supply strategy to the council but in 1991 the council still voted--with only a single vote margin--to renew the KWR contract for another 20 years.
PNFF then used extensive democratic rights that exist only in the southern German states to challenge that decision in a referendum and won a clear majority (56%, from a 75% turnout) to dump KWR. In January 1994, the new Schönau Electricity Company (SEC) was formed and in November 1995, the council ratified a new contract with SEC for the town's own electricity supply. Furthermore, in a further referendum in March 1996, once again more than 52% (in a record 85% turnout) voted to support PNFF's sustainable energy future and SEC then subsequently began supplying the town.
Since then, several towns in the region have taken advantage of energy market liberalization to do something similar to Sch”nau and in many others the "rubber stamp contract renewals" have been replaced by intensely competitive negotiations between municipalities and their long-time fossil and nuclear electricity suppliers. Fighting back, the former monopolies are trying everything they can to discourage municipalities from taking their energy future into their own hands. But faced with defeat, they have also resorted to a form of blackmail. SEC, for example, was forced to pay a ludicrous DM8.7 million (US$4.2 million) to purchase the electricity grid using money donated in an unprecedented wave of solidarity from all over Germany by companies and thousands of individual private citizens. SEC has also gone to court to challenge these tactics since any realistic assessment values the grid at far less. This case will now take at least five years but the outcome will be important for at least six other municipalities because the town stands a good chance of getting most of the money back.
Decentralization of the electricity industry is also now widely seen as a necessary step towards a sustainable energy future. When thousands of citizens supply electricity from small-scale wind, solar, biomass and co-generation, then many big power plants--and many of today's big electricity companies--will become superfluous.
Source: Jürgen Maier, German NGO Forum for Environment & Development in Hotspot, July 1998
Contact: Schönauer Energie-Initiativen, Postfach 61, D-79675 Schönau, Germany
Tel: +49-7673-931 578; Fax: +49-7673-931 580
U.S.: Osage saving a fortune.
Osage, a small town in America's mid-West, is saving a fortune while it's busy saving energy. Back in 1974, Osage's local energy company, Osage Municipal Utilities (OMU) began a program of demand-side management in response both to rising oil prices in 1973 and the growing demand for energy. The program, which uses giveaways, rebates and energy audits to promote energy-efficiency among its customers, includes everything from putting insulating blankets around hot water heaters to installing load management devices on air conditioners. Just about all the town's 3,800 residents are now involved. To date, a phenomenal 96 percent of customers have had load management devices installed on their central airconditioners and every single customer has received insulating jackets for their water heaters.
To keep rates down and avoid building new power plants--which would have meant a costly, polluting, coal-burning power plant --OMU decided to see if Osage could become more efficient with the energy already available. It would be a win-win situation: customers would enjoy lower rates, OMU would avoid costly new infrastructure, pollution would be reduced, and money saved by homeowners and businesses could be kept in the local economy. Well, instead of having to add generating capacity as projected in 1984, Osage has been able to delay it until at least 2000.
One of the first things the utility did was to take aerial infrared photos of the buildings in the town, circling the dark spots to show heat loss. It then showed them to the owners of those sites. It wasn't hard to convince them that improvements such as insulation and weather stripping were in order.
"One of the most effective things we did was to take an infrared scanner into many local buildings," says Wes BirdsaII, OMU's buildings general manager at the time. "When we showed people on the scanner how much energy they were losing, they usually were on the phone to a contractor before we could get out the door."
Infrared scans reveal that 85-90 percent of all homes are now well insulated. Since then the program has expanded and includes airconditioner and furnace tune-up rebates, free appliance testing, free low-flow tap and shower heads and free energy audits. As well, all street lighting has been changed to high-pressure sodium fixtures, which have paid for themselves in under five years. And hundreds of deciduous trees have been planted as part of a long-term project to cut future airconditioning costs.
The program has cost OMU about US$250,000 but has saved it--and the city--millions. In fact, residents save more than US$1.5 million a year in energy costs - averaging about US$250 for homeowners; even more for the average business.
Source: Third Opinion, Winter (Southern Hemisphere) 1997
India: Big plans for wind
For the past five years, India's wind power capacity has been growing by about 150 to 200 MW annually. At the end of 1996, the installed capacity was 820 MW producing 1.5 billion kWh per year, mainly privately financed. The Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources of India envisages 2,000 MW by the end of the century. And there are big plans for as much as 20,000 MW, which would make wind a substantial contributor to the national grid.
Nearly all turbines are located in wind farms and the largest concentration is in Tamil Nadu, where roughly 1,000 turbines are owned by more than 100 different customers.
The manufacturing technology has also been developing rapidly. Initially, wind mills were in the 55- to 100-kW range; now they're typically 200 to 250 kW. Even 400- to 750-kW machines are available for commercial use.
To accelerate local manufacturing, the Indian government has introduced a number of incentives, including abolishing customs duty on major components. It has also exempted wind machines from excise duty and sales tax. As well, the historically centrally controlled electricity network has been opened up to private investors in each state. More than 25 Indian companies have established joint local factory production with various European and US manufacturers.
Source: Sustainable Energy News, September 1997
Contact: Development Alternatives, B-32, TARA Crescent, Quatab, Institutional Area, New Mehrauli Road, New Dehli 110016, India.
Tel: +91-11-6851158; Fax: +91-11-6866031
Email: sdn@doe.ernet.in
Sri Lanka, credit scheme for solar home systems.
The Government of Sri Lanka has set up a credit scheme of more than US$50 million for solar home systems, mini- and micro-hydro and wind power. The credit scheme is set up with the help of a World Bank loan of US$24 million and a grant from the Global Environment Facility of US$5.9 million. It is expected to add 26 MW of electric capacity, including off-grid solar home systems and village hydro- power. The wind power part will be a 3-MW pilot wind farm. The scheme will provide about 32,000 rural customers (families and business) with electricity.
Source: Sustainable Energy News, November 1997
Contact: Development Finance Corporation of Ceylon. P.O.Box 1397, 7315 Galle Road, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka.
Tel: +94-1-440366; Fax: +94-1-440376
Russia: Huge Wind Potential on Kola
The largest potential for wind turbines in Europe is probably on the northern coast of the Kola Peninsula. This is the
conclusion of a study made by the Kola Ecological Center and the Norwegian Society for Nature Conservation. Based on the high average wind-speed of eight-nine meters per second (10 m above ground), and other favorable conditions, the study estimates that wind electricity can be produced at prices of about 115 Rubles/kWh (in 1997 2 dollar cent/kWh), and that a wind park could be an economically viable replacement of the Kola nuclear power plant.
Source: Sustainable Energy News, September 1997
Contact: Kola Ecological Center, Box 68, Apatity, 184200 Murmansk Region, Russia.
Email: dmitriev@ksc-ien.murmansk.su
U.S.: One utility that has embraced the solar vision
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District or SMUD which is the fifth largest public utility in the US is into a continuing effort to commercialize solar photovoltaic (PV). So far, it has installed about 5.7 MW of solar PVs, including over 400 rooftop systems as well as car parks and substation systems. SMUD has approved contracts for 10 MW of solar PVs for 1998-2002, which will bring the fully installed cost of PVs competitive with other energy sources. Between 1972 and early 1992, the price of solar PVs fell 100-fold and has continued to fall since, making them even more cost-competitive.
SMUD is keen to make wider use of residential and commercial roofs, car parks and transmission corridors, which are just sitting there in the sun unused. In Sacramento alone, appropriately oriented roofs, car parks and transmission
corridors could generate more than 400 MW.
The utility has also been busy putting more than 400 solar PV power plants all over Sacramento with little trouble or expense. Indeed, hundreds of customers are paying extra on their power bills to have a solar PV power plant on their roofs.
SMUD has established a partnership with its customers through a "green pricing" program as well as other business and government partnerships.
Source: Third Opinion, Autumn (Southern Hemisphere) 1998
Contact: Natural Resource Defense Council NDRC, 1350 New York Ave N.W., Suite 300, Washington DC 20005, USA.
Tel: +1-202 783-7800; Fax: +1-202-783-5917
Email: nrdcdc@igc.apc.org
How to save without spending more
How a city council funds use energy efficiency drive by using the savings from the first year 10 pay for improvements in the second, and so on.
In its second year of a cooperative project with the Saskatchewan Environmental Society (SES), the city of North Battleford in Saskatchewan saved US$44,000 in utility bills in 11 municipal buildings, more than double the US$18,000 saved in the first year. These savings represent a 15-percent reduction in electrical use and a 17 percent reduction in natural gas use. What's different about this project is the financing. The only upfront costs were the costs of the energy audit and report, as well as educational workshops and materials for the city's staff. Retrofits are paid for by a system of "internal reinvestment of savings". For instance, in the first year, "low or no-cost" energy efficiency measures were identified--things like management and operational changes and technical adjustments to existing systems. The savings from these measures were then used to help pay for more costly measures in the second year. Similarly, year two measures will help to pay for retrofits in the third year of the program. And so on.
Source: SES Newsletter, January/February 1998
Contact: Saskatchewan Environmental Society, PO Box 1372, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7K 3N9
Tel: +1-669-1915; Fax: +1-669-2128
Email: saskenv@link.ca
Zambia: US$600,000 for rural power.
A photovoltaic (PV) project is to be constructed in Zambia for a period of three years from 1998 to 2002. The project is expected to test and demonstrate a framework for providing electricity to rural communities outside the reach of the grid. Over half of the population lives in rural areas and only 2% of these have access to electricity. The project will initially cover four communities in the eastern province. The aim is that the results would help to improve the living standard of the people in the rural areas. The project will also promote business, especially micro- and small- scale agro-related enterprises, which in turn will contribute to the improvement in the levels of income and of the Zambian economy as a whole.
The US$600,000 is being given by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) through the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). The project is in line with Zambia's energy policy of promoting optimum supply and utilization of energy in indigenous forms.
Source: Sustainable Energy News, September 1998
Contact: Stockholm Environmental Institute, Box 2142, 10314 Stockholm, Sweden.
Tel: +46-8-412 1400; Fax: +46-8-723 0348
Email: postmaster@sei.se
or: Centre for Energy Environment and Engineering (CEEE), Private Bag E721, Plot 5184, Chishango Road, Lusaka.
Tel: +260-1-224170; Fax: +260-1-231120
Ministers agree on energy conservation and nuclear.
At the Pan-European Environmental Ministers' meeting in June in rhus, Denmark, all the European countries welcomed a common guideline for energy conservation. They also endorsed a common statement on energy efficiency which calls for the following to be done before 2005
- phase out (or modify) environmentally harmful energy price subsidies;
- include environmental costs (if practical and necessary) in energy prices;
- develop minimum efficiency standards for buildings, household appliances, and standardized equipment;
- develop a strategy for promotion of co-generation of heat and electricity combined with renewable energy.
In the ministerial declaration from the meeting, the ministers agreed to phase out dangerous nuclear power plants, and 10 countries asked for a complete phaseout of nuclear energy.
Even though the text has diplomatic loopholes, the energy issues were some of the most debated items on the ministerial agenda. The US and Canada took part in the meeting as member of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, but they could support neither the guideline nor the statement. The proposals seemed to be too radical for them.
Source and Contact: INFORSE Europe, PO Box 2059, DK-1013 Copenhagen, Denmark
Tel: +45-33-121307; Fax: +45-33-121308
Email: onforse@inforse.dk
http://www.inforse.dk/
Wind Energy in China
China has a huge potential to become a dynamic nation in wind energy development, if institutional barriers are reduced. To realize this expectation, vigorous policy measures at the national and regional levels need to be established and readjusted.
Until the late 1980s, China's wind turbine development's main objective was to establish capacity via domestically manufactured small-scale wind turbines. The main aim was to build a decentralized, environment-friendly energy system and to increase the quality of life for the poor in isolated rural communities.
As a result, in 1996, there were 150,000 Chinese-made small wind turbines in use. China's small wind turbines have become a mature technology with increasing export. At present, products are being exported to 22 countries.
The shift of policy emphasis toward large wind turbines started in the early 1990s. Prototypes for wind turbines of 100-200 kW were tested and demonstrated from 1985 to 1995, but efforts to market them largely failed. This failure can be attributed to high-tech contents of large wind turbines, small investment and high cost. In 1990, the wind farms installed capacity was 13 MW, by 1996 this number had increased to 60 MW and, by 1997 to 160 MW. Another 71 units of 500-600 kW generators are to be installed in this year. Most of the production units are imported from foreign suppliers.
Exploitable wind resources are estimated at 250 GW. China has set up a plant to develop 1,000 MW of wind energy capacity by the year 2000. This objective will require about 10 billion Yuan (US$1.2 billion) of investment. Large-scale wind farms in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Guangdong provinces are under rapid development. In Guangdong the first domestically manufactured wind turbines (200 kW and 300 kW) have been installed and demonstrated.
Source: Sustainable Energy News, September 1998
Contact: Committee for Integrated Survey of Natural Resources (CISNAR), Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 9717, Beijing 10010111, Nanzhanguan Nanli, 10026 Beijing, China (att. Prof. Shen Chang-Jiang)
Fax: +86-1-6914230
Zimbabwe: Largest Solar Village
One of the largest "solar villages" in Africa is situated at the River Estate near Shamva in Zimbabwe, 70 km from Harare. The village of 52 families was build as a training village, where farmers and their families learn commercial farming in a five-year practical training program. They also learn to use the 26 solar home systems. Each system is shared between two families each of which has two lamps and a connection for the radio or a small television. The systems have worked satisfactorily in the first years of operation.
Source: Sustainable Energy News, November 1996
Contact: Development Aid for People to People (DAPP), PO Box 4657, Harare, Zimbabwe
Solar electricity to South Africa
In South Africa only half of the population is connected to the electricity grid. With the aim of supplying most of South Africa with electricity, the Directorate called "Energy for Development" envisions a combination of grid-extension and solar PV electrification. The areas for solar electrification covers about 20% of the population, or 2.5 million households. A new business plan proposes a massive installation of solar electric systems in these areas:
- 1,800 health clinics supplied with PV electricity by the year 2000
- 15,000 schools supplied with PV electricity by 2000, and
- 1.1 million homes supplied with solar home systems by 2015.
After these targets are reached, the development should continue to cover the rest of the clinics, schools, and homes not connected to the grid.
Contact: University of Pretoria, Physics Department, Lynnwood Road, Uni. Road, 0002 Pretoria, South Africa (att. B. Scheffler)
Tel: +27-12-4202652; Fax: +27-12-3424143
Email: scheffler@scientia.up.ac.za