Address by Dr. Hermann Scheer, MP, General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE), President of EUROSOLAR, to the 3rd World Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, Osaka, May 12th, 2003I am delighted to address this 3rd World Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference. At the end of the 2nd Conference in July 1998 in Vienna I received the First PV Solar World Price. One of the reasons for receiving this Prize was my commitment to the global promotion of PV policy, such as the initiative for the 100.000 PV roofs and facades program in Germany.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Prof. Hamakowe for the Award of this Conference. I know him since 15 years - and it is a very symbolic sign that a protagonist in PV science gets this price - after I got it as a protagonist in PV policy. I received the price before the 100.000-roof-programm definitely became adopted by the German Government. This happened in November 1998 and I had the opportunity to design it. It started at the 1st of January 1999. It's content was a zero-interest-rate credit for ten years, with no pay-back in the first two years and a cancellation of one from 8 pay-back-rates. 15 months later, in April 2000, we modified this promotion rule in connection with the new Renewable Energy Act. Since this date, a payment of 50 EUROS cents were granted for the embedding of each kWh for the next 20 years, with a reduction of 5% annually for all new installations. This pushes cost-decline. For all small devices up to 5 kW peak a 10 years credit with a 1,9% interest rate is granted. In 2002 we extended the limit of this promotion from a total of 350 MW to 1000 MW. This program became the main driving force for PV market introduction and business activities in Europe. At the end of this year the 100.000-roof-program will be totally implemented.
The basic-condition for this was not only the legal framework. The evolution of this program shows a remarkable difference of PV-installations within Germany. Some regions are under the average, some are far above average. The majority of the installations was realized in those regions and cities, where local NGOs for Solar Energy motivated people by organizing solar days and helped the hands-craft-sector become aware of its future business.
The lesson of our program is:
The broad introduction of PV is a cultural challenge. A change in the behavior of the people towards energy is needed. The awareness should be stimulated that they can start own initiatives and that they can become personally a part of the solution and not any more a part of the problem. To this end, it is necessary to inform the population that Renewable Energies - in particular PV as the primadonna - could meet all future energy needs. For this we must overcome the mental barrier against PV, which is in the mind of the majority of the politicians, the scientists, the industrialists and of ordinary fellow citizens: this barrier is the underestimation of PV, because every device, mainly in private homes, is only a very small contribution to the total demand. There exists a lack of imagination, that millions of such installations could replace a number of large power stations. Many people do think that such a change in role from energy consumer to energy supplier could not happen, out of sociological reasons. I’ve had a television debate with the President of the German Federation of Industries, a former CEO of IBM-Europe. He attacked me with the words: "You should not tell the people that the energy needs of an industrial society could be satisfied with your small technologies." My answer was: "My advice to you is to speak after considering the real opportunities and not before.
15 years ago, when you were CEO of IBM, you and your company were convinced that the future of the information technologies will be high-centralized computers, and the small computers will be not more than a toy for some children. Based on this wrong assumption your world company decided to go the wrong way and almost collapsed and lost the leading role in the field of information technologies. The success story of personal computers changed the world within one single decade. This is the example for the global PV revolution: to extend the information society to a solar information society. The satellite for this extension must not be installed. The sun is the free of cost pre-investment for this development, the greatest gift for human kind. The lesson is: we should not speak only about technologies and business, we have to speak about new cultural opportunities. The main message of the global PV experts’ community is to create confidence for PV in the society and to encourage all kinds of people to become involved. The main professional purpose of the PV community is the enlargement of PV applications - in the field of solar architecture, of electronic and electrical technologies, grid-connected, not grid-connected, cable-connected as well as not cable connected systems, and not to forget of new load-management and storage-technologies. Many people ask: "How long will it take until the indispensable energy change is accomplished? The more the market introduction and the improvement of industrial profiles will be fostered, the broader the activities in various fields of possible PV applications will be, the earlier the answer will be: "Not long".
New ambitious targets are needed. In my country the next amendment of the Renewable Energy Act will be adopted in some months. My colleagues and I, who are working on this, want to cancel the present introduction limit of 1000 MW. For the outrunning 100.000-roof-program we try a compensation with higher direct fees. And I have proposed a new, more ambitious target: A 1-Million PV devices program up to 2010, which will be drafted this year.
Finally, I want to say some words about the global development, in my capacity as General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energies, which was founded in June 2001 and as President of EUROSOLAR. The WCRE was initiated by EUROSOLAR in order to build up a global voice in the global debate on Energy policies. In 2001 we organized the International Impulse Conference for the Establishment of an IRENA, an institution that is meant adopt the features of a Governmental Organization. It is high time to establish such an agency, because Renewable Energies - the hope for humankind - are the only Energy Source that is not promoted by a specialized international institution. Global dissemination of human capacity building and consultation of governments for RE policies must be the aim of this IRENA. The German government adopted this idea and is by now putting it into practice. Mandated by the government, I will have talks in the course of the next year with other governments that want to become co-founders of this agency. For the founding act all governments will be invited to join this agency. In 2002 the WCRE had its First World Renewable Energy Forum on Policies and Strategies. The topic of this Forum was: "Renewable Energy - Agenda 1 of the Agenda 21". Renewable Energy was forgotten in Rio 1992.
Our Forum set up an Action Plan for the Global Proliferation of Renewable Energy for the Johannesburg Conference. We proposed a special cooperation among the countries that were already supporting Renewable Energy. This incentive was successful: 80 countries signed in Johannesburg a memorandum of common understanding. History knows many military alliances for the maintenance of peace and security. We call now for an alliance for the promotion of Renewable Energy in order to protect the natural environment to the benefit of everybody. It was the proposal of the WCRE that all like-minded countries should join an International Governmental Conference for the promotion of Renewable Energy. This conference will take place next year from June 1-4 in Bonn. Its purpose will be to transfer ideas and proposals of the Renewable Energy community to all governments.
We are promoting and pushing a change of priorities in energy policies towards Renewable Energies. However, the ways to promote Renewable Energies differ depending on the structure of the economy, the taxation systems and the infrastructure:
- In grid-connected countries: Feed-in-tariffs-laws with minimum prices and guaranteed access to the grids are a prerequisite for electrification with Renewable Energy
- In non-grid connected countries: financial incentives are needed:
- For example, tax exemption for Renewable Energy in countries with high energy taxes
- Cutting subsidies in countries where high energy subsidies (300 billion dollar worldwide) exist. In India, for example, PV could develop very fast, if subsidies for diesel-generators are cut in not-grid-connected rural areas.
Own initiatives, besides development aid, are possible everywhere in the Third World. The expenses on oil import exceed the total export income of a majority of African countries. That means: if they base their economies on fossil energy dependency they will have no chance of development.
Everywhere in the world we have to overcome another mental barrier. This barrier lies in the assumption that Renewable Energies are considered to be an economic burden. But a comprehensive view shows: Renewable Energies create unique new opportunities. One lies in the chance to avoid future conflicts on outrunning fossil energy resources.
In our discussions about costs and cost decline for Renewable Energies we have to indicate their benefits to explain the economics of Renewables. In this spirit the WCRE invites for the 2nd World Renewable Energy Forum: Policy and Strategies, which will take place two days before the International Governmental Conference, May 30/31. This Forum is meant to be the prelude of the Renewable Energy community for the Governmental Conference and will give inspirations to it. At this conference we want to present an Earth Charter for Renewable Energy. I am sure that this 3rd World PV conference will stimulate this spirit.
