Global Views on Advancing Renewable Energies
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Global Views on Advancing Renewable Energies www.wirec2008.gov The growing world population, rising standard of living in the developing world, and the limited supply of fossil fuels, which accounts for 85% of the world’s energy needs, have an impact on global energy security, economics, and climate. Solutions to these global challenges require a global effort. In addition to energy conservation and increased efficiency in the use of energy, access to clean, affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy production—especially renewable energy—will be essential to enhancing global peace, alleviating poverty, and growing our economies while at the same time ensuring that we pass on a healthy planet to future generations. The world has tapped just a small portion of the vast supply of renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric, hydrogen, and ocean wave. Considerable challenges in research and development (R&D), market adoption and financing, and economic development— especially rural development—must be addressed and overcome to ensure a rapid scale up of renewable energy technologies worldwide. Policies with crosscutting impact on these challenges need to be implemented at the sub-national, national, and international levels. For example, funding research will result in more efficient and cost-effective materials and catalysts. New and innovative methods for financing renewable technologies and their deployment will result in rapid market adoption. Equitable distribution of revenues generated by these technologies will enhance all economies, especially in the rural developing world. To find solutions for these challenges and to speed up market adoption, the U.S. government, together with the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), organized and conducted the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) held March 4–6, 2008 at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center. WIREC, a ministerial level conference, was the collective effort of public and private partners, both domestic and international, that resulted in bringing together the world’s leaders in the field of renewable energy from governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. Nearly 9,000 individuals from 125 countries, including 103 ministers, participated in WIREC. More than 70 Official Side Events and Workshops were hosted during WIREC, representing organizations from Africa, North America, Latin America and 824
the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe. WIREC also featured a world-class trade show with exhibits from 246 organizations and a global business conference. WIREC was sponsored by nine U.S. government agencies (Departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, and Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, United States Agency for International Development, and White House Council on Environmental Quality) as well as by countries such as Canada, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. Among the co
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