Malta's forthcoming solar energy strategy will partly substitute use of fossil fuels for electricity generation by renewable energies derived from the sun and sea, and possibly from 'clean' waste incineration, Ninu Zammit, Minister for Infrastructure and Resources told a world solar energy conference here.
"We intend to use solar energy for seawater distillation and desalination," Mr Zammit said in a formal statement, adding that "Malta could serve as a living laboratory for solar technologies including for heating and cooling, as we have for seawater desalination for 20 years."
While warning that the country could not subsidise emerging energy generating methods "just for their sake and especially where wide-open spaces are required", he indicated Government's preparedness to "form partnerships with countries that have the technology". Malta's renewables policy would incorporate parameters such as site-specific resource and land availability conditions, geographical context, cost-effectiveness and social/environmental gains versus benefit/costs to taxpayers in comparison to conventional energy generation systems.
Mr Zammit was in Bonn as head of the Malta delegation to the four-day International Conference for Renewable Energies (June 1-4) hosted by Germany. The event drew over 3,500 participants - delegates from 154 countries, 130 represented by ministers - as well as a broad range of civil society and international organisation representatives.
Formal sessions, including multi-stakeholder dialogues and ministerial roundtables, were paralleled by a technical exhibition and dozens of side-events, seminars and dedicated 'special days' for bankers, business leaders, scientists, local authorities, regional governments, parliamentarians and youth organisations.
The conference was proposed in Johannesburg by German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder when the 2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development there failed to adopt ambitious plans for developing renewable energies, due to fierce opposition from the United States, OPEC countries, a number of other nations and to heavy lobbying by the oil multinationals.
While the total potential of renewable energies (solar, wind, biomass, ocean power, geothermal energy) could supply 20,000 times the world's present energy needs, 1.6 billion people have no electricity at all and are forced to use firewood and crop wastes for cooking and heating.
The share of renewable supplies in world energy supplies has actually declined since the 1980s; meanwhile, two-thirds of primary energy is wasted in the transformation process to electrical energy. Industrial countries use two-thirds of the world's electricity supply, deriving 82% of their primary energy supplies from fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal), 12% from nuclear energy - and only 5.5% from renewables.
Energy production from 'conventional' sources - oil, gas, coal and nuclear fuels - is annually subsidised by governments at over €200 billion, also receiving over 90% of national and international (including EU) research and development funds. The World Bank lends 25 times more to fossil based energy projects and massive dams in developing countries than to renewables.
In addition, financial instruments to overcome the renewables high upfront costs are underdeveloped, while only a few countries so far give adequate incentives to power suppliers and consumers to use these energies.
To ensure a fast-growing role to renewables in the world's future energy supplies, the Bonn conference adopted an International Declaration, took note of a list of Policy Recommendations, and endorsed an International Action Programme of nearly 150 initiatives (mostly on-going) announced by governments and international organisations. Implementation of the conference outcome will be monitored both by a high-level global policy network and at the UN Commission for Sustainable Development's 2006/7 sessions.
However, the German government's insistence on consensus texts resulted in rather weak language on some key points in the final declaration, in particular as regards targets for introducing renewable energies, as well as their share in the future world energy mix - which with known technologies could be 100% by 2050 some scientists claim.
Many civil society groups and developing countries criticised insufficient focus in the conference outcome and technical exhibition on simple and low-cost energy solutions for the third world's rural poor (over a billion people). Declarations from the various parallel conferences had also urged governments to make strong commitments clear long-term targets, coherent regulatory frameworks and financial incentives for renewables development.
However, despite these disappointments and in contrast to the final action plan of the 1981 UN new energies conference which faded away into nothing, post-Bonn developments are expected to result in accelerating use of renewables. Governments are now driven by several pressing concerns, such as rising oil prices, the threat of terrorist attacks on vital oil supply lines and uncertain political developments in the Middle East - where over half the world's oil resources and reserves are concentrated.
Another driver is the need to drastically reduce fossil-based carbon dioxide emissions, in particular from energy production and transport systems, so as to slow the rate of climate change. In addition, meeting the world's growing energy needs by replacing the ageing fossil-based energy infrastructure with similar technologies will cost at least 20% more than a pro-active combination of energy efficiency plus renewables development, according to the inter-governmental International Energy Agency.
Moreover, several presentations by scientists in Bonn countered official optimism fed by oil company forecasts that fossil fuels could last comfortably through the 21st century, warning that economically usable supplies and exploitable reserves would 'peak' by 2010, depleting rapidly thereafter.
In his keynote speech, Chancellor Schröder urged rapid action on renewables. The recent oil price hike had meant an extra $60 billion cost for oil-importing developing countries - equivalent to rich countries' annual development aid. Overcoming strong resistance, Germany had strongly developed its renewables sector, dramatically reduced carbon dioxide emissions, and created 120,000 jobs, while greatly expanding German technical assistance to the developing world.
During the conference, Germany launched a Global Market Initiative to install large-scale solar power stations in several countries, starting with Morocco, Algeria, Jordan and Egypt.
The executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Klaus Toepfer, warned that with a business-as-usual energy investment of $8 trillion in developing countries up to 2030, 1.4 billion people would still be without power, while over 2.6 billion would continue using firewood and crop wastes.
EU countries would not reach their goal of deriving 10% of primary energy supplies and 21% of electricity from renewable sources by 2010 on present trends, according to the European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström.
The Commission would submit proposals for further action, as well proposing post-2010 targets by 2007 and meanwhile launch two new initiatives additional to the EU Energy and Poverty Initiative of 2002. These were a 'Patient Capital Fund' to support innovative public-private partnerships to develop renewables in developing countries, and an Internet data base serving the 88-nation Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition launched by EU in 2002 (of which Malta was one of the 20 founding members). The coalition which supports the rapid development of renewables held a ministerial meeting in Bonn to map out future actions.
Frequently criticised for low renewables lending as opposed to conventional power sources, both the European Investment Bank and the World Bank group pledged more loans in the future. However major World Bank shareholders such as Germany indicated that they opposed proposals of a recent review panel that the Bank should phase out all loans to conventional power by 2008, and concentrate on renewables.
As dozens of Greenpeace youth expressed their disappointment at the conference outcome at a rain-drenched demonstration outside the conference centre, Germany's environment minister Jürgen Trittin told the press, "we have broken the unholy alliance and overcome organised interests opposing renewables. The future is solar".
As a countermove, the EU launched the "JREC" Johannesburg Renewable Energies Coalition at the WSSD (Malta was one of its 20 founder members). Dedicated to the wide-ranging and rapid expansion of renewable energies, JREC, now 88 countries strong, held a ministerial meeting here and launched a number of initiatives.