Climate-smart technologies : integrating renewable energy and energy efficiency in mitigation and adaptation responses

Climate-smart technologies : integrating renewable energy and energy efficiency in mitigation and adaptation responses / ed. by Walter Leal Filho,Franziska Mannke,Romeela Mohee,Veronika Schulte &Dinesh Surroop. Springer, Berlin, August 2013 – ISBN : 978-3-642-37752-5 (Print) -978-3-642-37753-2 (Online)

http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-37753-2/page/1

Presentation by Walter Leal Filho :

Climate change is regarded as having the potential to derail the good efforts that countries have undertaken for decades to overcome poverty and boost growth. Moreover, in countries with the possibility to seize renewable energy sources, overall socio-economic development is impaired if a large share of the gross domestic product is spent on imported fuels.

Climate smart technologies such as the use of renewable energy is, for example, of great relevance for the socio-economic development of countries in the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) region, especially in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), as to date these vulnerable islands heavily depend on (imported) fossil fuels to meet their energy needs.

Apart from the environmental benefits and the fact that it concretely contributes to mitigate climate change, the local generation and use of renewable energy can offer many benefits for improving economic development (e.g. a wide range of local job opportunities, from high-skill to low-skill, and from high-tech to agriculture) as well as foster investments  and reduce energy imports. Moreover, introducing non-fossil energy provision may foster the often low adaptive capacity of the local population to withstand the future challenges of climate change, to which SIDS are particularly vulnerable. Even though renewable energy provisions today reach many distant regions, local actors are still lacking expertise and  capacity-building is difficult due to limited access to the latest technologies and knowledge, especially in ACP Small Island Developing States.

This reference book is based on a set of truly international contributions, provided from two main events. The first is the “International Conference on Technology Transfer and Renewable Energy 2012” held in Mauritius on 21-22 June 2012. The second source is the fifth on-line climate conference (CLIMATE 2012), held on 5-9 November 2012. Both initiatives were undertaken as part of the project “Small Developing Island Renewable Energy Knowledge and Technology Transfer Network” (DIREKT), funded by the ACP Science and Technology Programme, an EU programme for cooperation between the European Union and the ACP region. DIREKT partners are the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany), the University of Mauritius (Mauritius), the University of the West Indies (Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago) and the University of the South Pacific (Fiji).

This book is divided into three main parts. Part 1 (Climate Change Trends and Strategies) focuses on papers handling matters of strategic nature such as political frameworks and policies, paying a special attention to social and  economic issues. Part 2 (Renewable Energy Strategies and Methods)  contains a set of papers which deal with technical aspects of energy efficiency and renewable energy use on the one hand, and their strategic nature in energy security on the other. Part 3 (Climate Smart Energy Technologies) looks at technologies  which may assist with climate change mitigation and adaptation on the one hand, but which also deliver multiple benefits  on the other, especially is respect of food security and development benefits.

A unique feature of this publication is that it  introduces a variety of concrete projects, initiatives and strategies currently being undertaken and implemented across the ACP region and beyond, showcasing concrete examples of how new technologies as a whole, and renewable energy in particular, can assist island nations in meeting the challenges climate change pose to them.

Danièle Revel

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