Partner Spotlight: Steve Sawyer, Secretary-General, Global Wind Energy Council
Creative Commons: Danish Wind Energy Association, 2009
Every two weeks the TckTckTck team proudly recognizes one of the 325+ partner organizations making up our global climate movement.
This time, we are shining the spotlight on a non-GCCA member who is doing important work towards achieving a fossil free energy future. We are pleased to share an interview with Steve Sawyer, Secretary-General of the Global Wind Energy Council. We caught up with Steve immediately after his return from the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. Read his candid thoughts on renewable investment, the pervasiveness of fossil fuel lobbying and the meaningful ways people can help influence energy policy in their cities and countries.
TCK: Over the past few years a growing trend of investment in renewable energy has outstripped investment in fossil fuels. Unfortunately, we do not see that translating through to our energy mix as consumers. What more can citizens do to ensure their Governments and energy suppliers move towards a more renewable and sustainable energy mix?
STEVE SAWYER: There are two answers to that question. On one hand, you do see a dramatic increase in the renewable content of your energy mix if you live in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and a number of other European countries, India and even a little bit in China. Renewable energy’s share of the global electricity supply was 19% in 2010 (including hydro), and wind power is now well over 2% of the global total. Denmark gets about 24% of its electricity from wind, and Spain got well over a third of its electricity from renewables last year.
But on the other hand, that the share would grow even faster if we had real political commitment and more consistent support to renewables in the United States, Canada, Japan and a number of other countries. And it would grow even faster if governments were serious about reducing emissions and mandating the use of the energy efficiency technology policies and practices that are available to us today, usually at zero or negative net cost; or if governments stopped subsidizing fossil fuels to the tune of more than 500 billion per year.
What can citizens do?
Pay attention to where the candidates get their money and to energy legislation pending in your national parliament. Let your views be known to your representatives. Support clean energy legislation, and support organizations which promote renewable energy, such as the newly launched global standard for wind energy, WindMade http://www.windmade.org. Support organisations which campaign to get rid of fossil fuel subsidies, such as Oil Change International http://priceofoil.org/.
Start a campaign to get your municipal government to purchase renewable energy; the same for your employer. Investigate the options for a community owned wind farm in your area; install solar pv and/or hot water heating in your own home (Did you know that China has more than twice as much (70%) solar hot water as the rest of the world combined?). Buy a hybrid…better yet, get rid of your car and use a hybrid or electric car-share when you need to. It’s a very long list…none of it terribly glamorous, but all of it useful and important.
TCK: We hear a lot about the power of fossil fuel companies and how much money they spend on worldwide lobbying. Do you have any real-life stories you could share that give an insight into how pervasive their power really is? And again, what action can citizens take in response to it?
STEVE SAWYER: I often characterize the fossil fuel lobby as the most powerful vested interest in the history of the world. I think it’s right.
During the 90s, there were was an ongoing effort by the fossil fuel industries (well chronicled in Jeremy Leggett’s book The Carbon War) to avert any real action on climate change, and their ongoing efforts to undermine the climate science are well documented at http://www.exxonsecrets.org
Two current relevant examples:
Two years ago, an unknown Spanish author from a university in Madrid produced a study (in English) supposedly demonstrating that Spanish support for renewable energy was costing the economy and that each job created in the renewable sector cost more jobs in the ‘real’ economy. The study was intellectually ridiculous in and of itself, and a little digging showed how it had in fact been funded by fossil fuel interests, which is well documented at http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/credit_for_trying_spanish_stud.html
President Obama came away from the G-20 summit in Toronto all fired up about cutting subsidies to the fossil fuel industry as a result of discussions there (see http://www.oecd.org/document/57/0,3746,en_2649_37465_45233017_1_1_1_37465,00.html). There was a short-lived push to get some legislation going and reduce some of the more ridiculous of the taxpayer subsidies. Then the fossil industry fought back, both publicly and privately. Haven’t heard anything since…
TCK: You recently participated in the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. Given the urgency to tackle climate change and the lack of momentum at the global political talks, do you feel a greater sense of urgency and a sense of ‘getting to work’ from some of the Governments and companies that were at the summit? Do you think we will see many more announcements like this (http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/23413/scotland-and-masdar-sign-clean-and-renewable-energy-deal/) in the coming months?
STEVE SAWYER: There are many governments who are serious about renewable energy…for climate reasons, but also to create price stability, insulate their economies from the volatility of international commodity markets, clean up air pollution, reduce water usage, etc. Many European governments, India, China, Korea, Brazil and now even South Africa and Australia. Who’s missing from this list? The US, Canada, Japan and Russia are the big ones. And of course most of the OPEC countries.
In terms of the Scottish initiative, this is a long term, ongoing effort by the Scottish government, and getting the UAE to invest in some of these projects is good business for both sides. MASDAR is investing in renewable energies in a number of countries besides Scotland, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as is the European Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank and a number of private utilities from Europe, China and India. So yes, there will be many more announcements like this.
TCK: What are the projections for wind energy over the coming years? Who are the countries to look out for in terms of those taking big strides to increase their share of energy from wind?
STEVE SAWYER: Our short term forecast (which will be updated in just a few weeks) has wind energy more than doubling its total capacity in the five year period from 2011-2015. With nearly 200GW of installed capacity in 2010, we expect that to grow to more than 450 GW by 2015, and to reach somewhere between 800 and 1000 GW by the end of 2020, which will be somewhere between 8 and 11% of total global electricity supply, depending upon how demand develops.
China is the global leader in wind power now, followed by the United States, Germany, Spain and India. The big growth markets in the coming years we would expect to continue to be China and India. The US and Canada both have huge potential, but government support is weak to non-existent, and more importantly, inconsistent. European growth is dictated by their overall climate and energy framework, and we expect growth there to be modest and steady.
The new growth markets are led by Brazil and Mexico, and we expect South Africa to follow suit now that they have finally started approving projects. Other potential large growth markets include South Korea, Egypt, Morocco, Viet Nam, Mongolia, Pakistan, Chile, Argentina, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, and smaller yet still significant markets are developing in Uruguay, Peru, Costa Rica, Honduras, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Namibia and a few other sub-Saharan African countries, Thailand and Taiwan
TCK: In his US State of the Union speech on 25 January, Barack Obama called on American’s to “double-down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising.” In 2012, will the clean energy industry live up to its promise?
STEVE SAWYER: I wish that what President Obama or Secretary Chu said made a difference.
What matters for the wind industry is whether or not Congress passes an extension of the Production Tax Credit early in 2012. If they don’t then I’m afraid that more wind industry jobs and installations will move out of the US and into some of the countries that I mentioned above.
Globally, the renewable energy industry is booming, with more than 260 billion in investment last year, and more than 1 trillion overall since 2004. How much of that will happen in the United States is largely up to the Congress. If they don’t act, the investment will go elsewhere.
Category: Tcking point, Voices
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