28 Feb. 2006
Moving away from gas & oil reliance -- the environment's best hope for survival

The importance of alternative energy resources to oil and gas was highlighted at the beginning of this year, when Russia briefly cut off gas supplies to Ukraine over a price dispute.
The dispute came to the fore after the pro-Western politician, Victor Yushchenko, became president following Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution. But Moscow’s decision to cut gas supplies to Ukraine affected more than those two countries. This was the same pipeline through which Russia supplies its eastern and central European customers. The dispute was resolved -- temporarily, at least -- within a few days. But it made the world realize this was not an isolated incident.
Many believe the price hike was a politically motivated decision, a claim Russia denied. It said the move was purely financial and that it only wanted Ukraine to pay the same price as other European customers.
Regardless of what motivated Russia's decision, the dispute highlighted a problem many environmentalists in developed nations have drawn attention to for many years.
Many scientists believe that this is the time to take effective decisions toward developing renewable energy sources, not only because of the high prices of oil and gas, but because such a move is crucial to preserve our environment and guard against climate change.
Ukraine is one of the world's largest importers of gas, and it’s not yet clear to what extent the row with Moscow will push Ukraine toward being more self-sufficient in energy. But this is a real question for many countries in World specially US and EU as well as China and India.
According to the Renewable 2005: Global Status Report, renewable technologies such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and small hydro provide only 160 gigawatts of electricity generating capacity -- just 4% of the world's total.
But the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases -- China -- seems more ambitious in developing its alternative energy sources. In a conference held in Beijing last year, Chinese President Hu Jintao announced that China will double its reliance on renewable energy by 2020, which means China will be one of the leading players in the wind, solar and hydropower industries.
Chinese officials say they aim to provide 15% of the country's energy needs from non-fossil fuels within15 years -- double what it is today.
From this point of view, China might seem like a model country. But on the other hand the world's fastest-growing economy [China] continues to poison the environment through burning coal. Not only that, last year China bought one of the biggest oil company operating in Kazakhstan [Petro Kazakhstan]. Before that, China signed many major agreements with Kazakhstan, such as the 1,800-mile, $3 billion Atasu-Alasankou pipeline, which already started pumping 10 million tones of oil annually.
This year, China expects to sign a major gas agreement with Turkmenistan. According to preliminary plans the $8-billion gas pipeline will carry 30 billion cubic meters gas to China annually.
These controversial decisions make it very hard to understand China's energy policy. But the drive to have the biggest possible reserves of "black gold," it seems, will continue to hamper investment in renewable energy.
Compared to previews years, some progress has been made in developing the renewable energy sector, such as the grid-connected solar photovoltaic ’PV’ and wind power.
According to Renewable 2005: Global Status Report,’ the capacity of grid-connected solar ‘PV’ grew by 60 percent per year from 2000-2004. Wind power capacity grew by 28 percent in 2004, led by Germany with almost 17 giga-watts installed as of 2004.
But scientists say the overall picture of renewable energy development is far from satisfactory. There is a lack of commitment and investment, especially by developed nations, who are, at the same time, the biggest greenhouse gas emitters.
Investment and commitment also means a grass-roots level awareness campaign to show the public how they can generate their own energy through microgeneration systems or facilities.
Education, coupled with investment on research to generate new sources of energy, can boost this struggle.
To do so may require only one third of the amount developed nations spend on nuclear arms, on weapons and defense, spending that currently ignores the biggest threat looming in our future -- that of climate change and environmental disaster.


Published in: - Energy Review Digest