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Washington DC, April 24, 2013 – On April 24, 2013, the GEF organized a seminar at the GEF office, inviting Dr. Eric Martinot as a keynote speaker, an internationally recognized scholar, writer, and teacher on the subject of renewable energy.
Dr. Martinot made a presentation on the REN21 Renewables Global Futures Report, which provides a pioneering synthesis of the full range of credible possibilities for the future of renewable energy. The Report is available at: http://www.ren21.net/REN21Activities/GlobalFuturesReport.aspx
The three big takeaways from his presentation have been the following:
(a) Our thinking about the future of renewable energy is 10–20 years out of date. By understanding the real situation currently, and market, policy, and cost trends and credible scenario projections, we can understand that the future of renewable energy is now very different than the way many used to think about it.
(b) We are facing a whole new generation of policies for integrating renewable energy in large shares into power grids, transport, buildings, and industry. These policies will be seen, and be necessary, in the coming 5–10 years, and will represent a revolution in how policy makers address clean energy.
(c) The future of renewable energy is no longer about the technologies themselves, nor even about economics anymore. The future depends on the choices we make related to finance, policy, business models, new standards and practices, new social structures, and a host of other factors that are necessary for high futures shares of renewable energy.
The exchange of views about the future of renewable energy was lively and animated among the approx. 40 participants to the seminar that included GEF and World Bank staff.
Dr. Eric Martinot is report author of the REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century) Renewables Global Futures Report. He was formerly a renewable energy program manager with the GEF and a senior energy specialist with the World Bank. He has written 70 publications on renewable and sustainable energy since 1990.