Dr S. P. Bindra, director of research and development at the International Energy Foundation, is no stranger to the concept of risk. Capacity building for confronting the risks of oil fires has been just one of his many advisory roles. Besides working with the IEF, an NGO offering consultancy services to developed and emerging nations, he is also involved in several United Nations programmes. Under the UN Development Programme with the Libyan Environment Ministry, he teaches courses on environmental impact assessment in environmental science and planning. Here are Dr Bindra's views on climate change:
"The risk of abrupt climate change remains uncertain, possibly even small. Climate science continues to evolve and the exact impact of humans on global warming is not fully known. Taking action now is what counts. It is time to recognise climate change as a national security concern.
"Currently Europe is planning that by 2030 they will meet the Kyoto protocol. This will require a reduction of greenhouse gases by 40 per cent of 1990 levels. At the moment they are committed to between eight and 12 per cent by 2010. They are falling behind but still they have a target. Malta is not yet fully committed. The Malta target is only six-eight per cent of 1998 levels reduction in greenhouse gases - they need to go further than that.
"We have heard recently that dust from the Maltese construction industry is enough to fill a two-litre bottle in a year. But how many are aware of how much carbon dioxide they release into the atmosphere when they switch on lights, drive a car or adjust the temperature of their home environment all year round?
"The carbon dioxide emission per capita in Germany is 12.5 tonnes whereas the European average is 7.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person per year. For someone living in Africa it would be much less at about half a tonne in one year. At this rate we need ten planets not one. The world can only remain sustainable if we can bring it down to 2.5 tonnes for every person on the planet, despite western reluctance to compromise lifestyles. The Americans have ten times this amount - that is why they do not want to sign the Kyoto protocol.
"Americans need to bring down their consumption of energy to reach an equitable level but the United States does not want to make the necessary changes. Social equity would be met if only the Americans would provide clean technology as barter. Sustainable development is equal development. Allowing everyone to use more renewable energies would bring justice. The poverty gap can only be bridged if everyone takes up only their fair share of carbon space.
"The way forward is that the developing world has to go for energy efficiency, renewable energy and no carbon-low carbon technologies. If they do not want to give them money, at least give them the technology to help them keep the world safe. It's a win-win situation. The world becomes safe and they develop. At the moment they are complaining that they are way behind and they have a right to have equitable development. Equity and justice will only come about with a fair sharing of environmental space.
"Developed countries must not be complacent. For instance, the standby power of electrical appliances ranges from half to ten watts. The International Energy Agency believes this could be standardised at one watt. This would mean a saving of five to ten per cent of total electricity used in developed countries' homes. Every year half a dozen new silicon wafer factories around the world are being built to support the rising demand in solar panels. Newly developed wind turbines taller than 80 meters are able to catch higher and more stable winds.
"Two things which are advanced in Europe especially are wind energy and biofuels. Europe is a pioneer in wind energy with 75 per cent of all wind turbines manufactured in Europe. There is a big future for wind power especially if you look at the cost. The cost of generating electricity from wind is somewhere around 5c a kilowatt hour with solar and wind power costing some 18c to 20c. These figures are considerably lower than a decade ago. In the last ten years the cost has gone down by 80 per cent.
"There is software to overcome any problems of predictability and variability. New satellite and computer modelling under the UNEP Solar and Wind Energy Resources Assessment shows that the world has much greater potential than previously believed.
"The European Wind Energy Association estimates that wind power has the potential to meet 12 per cent of the world's electricity requirements. Malta can adopt best practices and need not make the same mistakes others have made but can learn from them. Information networking, wind atlases, capacity building, GDPS data processing are all available. One can get all the information about a site and whether it can give you consistent energy. UNEP has an assessment system so anyone can get help assessing a site.
"Noise was a problem in earlier days but with new technology design decibel levels of a wind farm have been reduced by less than half. Ninety-nine per cent of birds are killed because of man's activities not because of wind farms. Wind is a very low-carbon and no-carbon technology. Waste from energy is not low-carbon. Carbon capture and storage technologies are reaching a stage where they can be implemented. Libya is thinking of adopting this technology."
Intelligent Energy Europe has a €55 million fund for co-financing projects on energy efficiency, renewables and intelligent use of energy in transport. The programme tackles market barriers and raises awareness among energy providers, policymakers and users. An information day is to be held by the Ministry for Resources and Infrastructure on June 15 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre. Rather than funding hardware such as installations and infrastructure, technical research or development projects, IEE focuses on the creation of favourable market conditions, international transfer of experience, promotion of best practices, institutional capacity building, information dissemination, education and training of market players.
The Climate Alliance of European Cities has pledged this month to cut 1990 levels of per capita greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. To attain this climate stabilisation goal, city dwellers in Barcelona, Berlin, Luxembourg, Munich, The Hague, Venice, Vienna and Zurich would have to cut their emissions to the level of 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per person per year.
MEPA plans for publishing data on air pollutants in 44 local councils to be on a monthly basis are at an advanced stage according to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. Further discussions and preparations are still needed in order to present the data for the public "in the most informative way." Maps will be created for each pollutant showing locality averages according to colour-coded concentration ranges. The maps will also indicate the location of the diffusion tubes used for testing.
The Renewable Energy Directive sets a target of 21 per cent for the share of electricity from renewable energy sources in total European electricity consumption by 2010. The current share stands at 14 per cent. Member states are required to set national targets and to put in place the appropriate measures to achieve the European target.
Cyprus action plan
In an effort to fully align its renewable energy policy with that of the EU, the Cyprus Ministry of Commerce Industry and Tourism put together an Action Plan for Renewable Energy Resources. The Action Plan covers the period 2002-2010 and envisages doubling renewables contribution, from the present 4.5 per cent to nine per cent by 2010.
Cyprus activated a law in 2003 creating a fund, which will be used to promote renewable energy through a levy on electricity consumption of all consumers (currently set at €0.221) from donations and governmental grants.
Greek wind power target
The Centre for Renewable Energy Sources under the Greek Development Ministry estimates that 15 per cent of the country's electricity needs can be produced by wind farms with installed wind-power capacity possibly expanding from 330 MW to 2,000 MW by 2010. Wind farms are already located on the Greek islands of Crete, Evia, Andros, and Samos.
Although the use of solar technology in Greece has tripled an EU report, Photovoltaics 2010, has indicated that Greece could use solar power to meet one-third of its energy requirements. A 50MW solar power plant, the first grid-connected solar system of a considerable size, is planned for Crete and a 100-kilowatt photovoltaic park is planned for the island of Gavdos.
Greece maintains the second-largest number of solar-collectors in Europe (after Germany). Twenty per cent of households use solar water heaters. In August 2004, ECO/SUN installed the largest rooftop solar-energy unit in Athens. Located atop a German school in the Greek capital, the 33-kw unit is predicted to prevent the city from emitting over 24 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.
Italian renewables legislation
ITALY has set a target for 2010 of obtaining 25 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources. Italian energy producers and importers are obliged by decree to deliver a fixed amount of renewable energy into the national grid. New legislation binds electricity firms to buy two per cent of their electricity from renewable sources.
Italy is the fourth-largest wind energy producer in Europe. However, Italy's wind industry growth appears to be slowing down, with less new capacity coming onstream in recent years. Rather than a shortage of sites for wind farms, Paolo Tabarelli, CEO of Italian Wind Technology (IWT), a wind turbine manufacturer, has blamed the slowdown on "unfinished incentive legislation and the slowness of Italian regions to authorise the setting up of wind farms."