information for our energy future
information for our energy future
The following energy reports, research and discussion papers can be downloaded from the publisher's website, usually in pdf format. If you require alternative formats please contact the publisher directly.
August 2008
Australian Geothermal Energy Association
The Australian Geothermal Energy Association commissioned McLennan Magasanik Associates to address the question of how much capacity the Australian geothermal industry is expected to deploy by 2020. The main findings are that the emerging Australian geothermal energy industry can be expected to provide at least 1,000 MW and potentially up to 2,200 MW of base-load capacity by 2020 into the National Electricity Market, providing up to 40% of the Federal Government’s 2020 Renewable Energy target of 45,000 GWh. The 2,200 MW of capacity will need an estimated $12b investment and could provide electricity at around $120 /MWh at small scale (10 MW to 50 MW) and decreasing to around $80/MWh at large scale (300 MW or greater) by 2020. That price is expected to be the lowest cost of any form of renewable energy with most of the capacity expected to come from developments in South Australia.
Download from: Installed capacity and generation from geothermal sources by 2020 (pdf 753 kb)
July 2008
United Nations Environment Programme and New Energy Finance Ltd
The UNEP report reveals that new investment in sustainable energy reached record levels of $148.4 billion in 2007, 60% higher than in 2006. Wind continued to attract the most investment, mainly for new capacity, but solar investment took off in 2007 – $28.6 billion of new investment flowed into solar, which has grown at an average annual rate of 254% since 2004. Sustainable energy accounted for 31 gigawatts (23%) of new power generation capacity added worldwide in 2007, and 5.4% of installed generation capacity. Wind power continues to dominate renewable energy capacity. In 2007, wind attracted more investment than nuclear or hydro, and accounted for more new generation capacity in Europe than any other power source. Interest in clean energy investment surged forward, with assets under management in clean energy funds rising to $35 billion in 2007. Early-stage venture capital investment surged 112% to $2 billion in 2007, boosted by interest in emerging renewable technologies. Research & Development spending on clean energy and energy efficiency was $16.9 billion in 2007, including corporate R&D of $9.8 billion, and government R&D of $7.1 billion. Solar is the single most incubated technology, with a bias towards service companies, disruptive technologies and large-scale generation such as solar thermal electricity generation. Clean energy companies more than doubled the amount of money they raised on the world’s public markets in 2007, raising $27 billion.
Download from: Global Trends In Sustainable Energy Investment 2008 (pdf 2.3 MB)
July 2008
Australian Department of Climate Change
The Renewable Energy Sub Group of the COAG Working Group on Climate Change and Water has identified key design issues that need to be addressed in determining the most appropriate RET design approach. They have identified 2 approaches for consideration. Approach 1 is based closely on the existing MRET scheme. Its primary focus is on achieving the 2020 RECs target at least cost. It creates a strong investment incentive early in the scheme and encourages the early creation of RECs that can be used in future years to help minimise RECs prices over the duration of the scheme. Approach 2 seeks to balance the least-cost considerations outlined under Approach 1 with managing the risk that in addition to all RECs targets being met, 45 000 GWhs of renewable electricity is not generated in 2020. This approach seeks to encourage a smoother investment profile to help bring forward new technologies in the latter part of the scheme.
Download from: Design Options for the Expanded National Renewable Energy Target Scheme (pdf 202 kb)
June 2008
UK Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
This consultation looks at ways the UK can meet its proposed share of the EU 2020 target for renewable energy in the most cost-effective way. This target is to achieve 15% of the UK's energy from renewables by 2020, which is equivalent to almost a ten-fold increase in renewable energy consumption from current levels. The measures aim to stimulate the market to deliver the necessary investment in the most cost effective way by providing a clear long term framework and removing the obstacles to increasing renewable generation. It contains a very useful summary of the technologies, including distributed energy and transport, as well as policy options for their uptake.
Download from: UK Renewable Energy Strategy (pdf 2.1 MB)
June 2008
Greenpeace
This report is an Australian version of the global energy scenario report by Greenpeace published in 2007. It contains an analysis of how future energy supply and use in Australia can be planned and implemented to provide large reductions in emissions. By using renewable energy sources to provide approximately 40% of electricity by 2020, energy related CO2 emissions could be reduced by 37% from 2005 levels with up to 60% reductions possible by 2050. The report also looks at the policy changes that would be required, and the employment benefits that will arise under this scenario.
Download from: energy [r]evolution (pdf 1.4 MB)
May 2008
US Department of Energy
Wind power could provide 20% of U.S. electricity needs by 2030, according to a new DOE report. According to the report, reaching the 20% goal will require boosting wind power from its current generating capacity of 16.8 gigawatts (GW) to 304 GW in 2030. Achieving this level by 2030 will require that the annual installations of wind power increase threefold, from today's 2,000 annual turbine installations to almost 7,000 per year by 2017. This 250 page report also has a wealth of information on the US wind industry.
Download from: 20% Wind Energy by 2030 (pdf 3.9 MB)
May 2008
United Nations Environment Programme
This report presents the dollar view of the current status of sustainable energy development, including both the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors. Investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency industries set a new record of more than $US100 billion worth of transactions in 2006. The analysis is based on the different types of capital flows and their movement over time, combined with regional and sectoral trends. Investment in sustainable energy is rapidly increasing, with $70.9 billion of new investment in 2006, which was 43% more than in 2005, and a similar continued growth trajectory so far in 2007.
Download from: Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment (pdf 2.7 MB)
April 2008
European Wind Energy Association (EWEA)
In its latest report entitled "Pure Power - Wind Energy Scenarios up to 2030", the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) outlines the road towards large-scale wind energy. Presenting three development scenarios for 2010, 2020 and 2030, the report examines in detail the probable impact on electricity, greenhouse gas emissions and the EU economy. It confirms the positive prospects of a technology that last year became the leader in terms of net power capacity additions in the EU. Wind power's share of new generating capacity is forecasted to be 34% in the period 2005-2020 and 46% in the decade leading up to 2030. Wind power's share of new capacity in Europe in the 25-year period 2005-2030 is 39%.
Download from: Pure Power (pdf 471 kb)
March 2008
REN21 Secretariat and Worldwatch Institute
This report provides an overview of the status of renewable energy worldwide in 2007. It covers trends in markets, investments, industries, policies, and off-grid renewable energy, from data collected by over 140 researchers and reviewers from dozens of countries. Wind power capacity increased more than any other renewable power technology in 2007 including hydro power, with an estimated 21 GW added. This represented a 28 percent increase over 2006.
Download from: Renewables 2007 (pdf 480 kb)
January 2008
Observ’ER
A review and update of the growth in renewable energy production for the countries of the EU. In both French and English, the report contains a breakdown by country and technology for eight renewable sectors. Solar and wind technologies grew strongly in Germany and Spain, but overall the growth is well below what is required to meet the EU 2010 targets.
Download from: State of Renewable Energies in Europe (pdf 870 kb)
January 2008
UK Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
This report provides a background to the Call for Evidence regarding the opportunities and prospects for renewable heat and some of the barriers that prevent the greater use of renewable heat in the UK. It provides a useful analysis and discussion on the heat and carbon markets in the UK as well as district heating. While focused on the UK, the content would also be useful for renewable heat and combined heat and power in Australia.
Download from: Heat (pdf 1.3 MB)
January 2008
American Wind Energy Association
The U.S. wind energy industry installed 5,244 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity in 2007, according to the latest market figures from the American Wind Energy Association. The rapid growth shatters all previous records and boosts the total U.S. wind power capacity by 45% in only one year. The total U.S. wind power capacity is now at 16,818 MW, with wind projects located in 34 states.
Download from: American Wind Energy Association (pdf 238 kb)
December 2007
Vencorp
The objective of this study was to identify the technical issues associated with the increased connection of wind power generation to the Victorian transmission network, and to determine the maximum amount of wind power generation that can be accommodated. Detailed system studies assessed the technical impact of wind power generation integration for demand levels of 4,000 MW, 7,000 MW and 12,000 MW.
Download from: Capacity of the Victorian electricity transmission network to integrate wind power (pdf 480 kb)
November 2007
Renewables Advisory Board
A report from the UK Renewables Advisory Board taking a detailed look at the role of on site energy generation in preparation for zero emission new homes in the UK by 2016.
Download from: The role of on site energy generation in delivering zero carbon homes (pdf 4.2 MB)
November 2007
American Solar Energy Society
A new report from the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society shows that as many as 1 out of 4 workers in the U.S. will be working in the renewable energy or energy efficiency industries by 2030.
Download from: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (pdf 1.1 MB)
November 2007
Ernst & Young Renewable Energy Group
The Ernst & Young Country Attractiveness Indices provide scores for national renewable energy markets, renewable energy infrastructures and their suitability for individual technologies. The indices cover long and short term periods, specific technologies and assessment by country.
Download from: Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices (pdf 1.1 MB)
October 2007
California Energy Commission
The objective of this project was to determine the potential size of the rooftop photovoltaic (PV) market in California, by county, for both residential and commercial applications for three cases: (1) current market without the California Solar Initiative incentives, (2) using the California Solar Initiative incentives, and (3) using new or improved business models. The results were further broken out by retrofit versus new construction installations. The analysis revealed that the 3,000 MW goal of the California Solar Initiative is achievable by 2016 with aggressive PV system cost reductions and new business models. Report prepared by Navigant Consulting for the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program of the California Energy Commission.
Download from: California Rooftop Photovoltaic (PV) (pdf 880 kb)
October 2007
Renewable Energy Generators of Australia
Renewable Energy Generators of Australia (REGA) have just released a report produced for them by McLennan Magasanik Associates on renewable energy. The MMA report, completed in 2006 but just released publically, provides a very useful analysis of the costs and benefits of the widespread adoption of renewable energy in the Australian economy. It discusses the current state of the industry, the domestic and global potential for renewable energy industries and compares cost curves for renewable, fossil and nuclear technologies
Download from: Renewable Energy (pdf 1.8 MB)