Clean energy gets a huge push

Three Amigos summit that will bring three American leaders together — US President Barack Obama, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — in Ottawa, is set to avail a strategic pledge to have their countries produce 50% of their power by 2025 from hydropower, wind and solar and nuclear plants, carbon capture and storage, as well from energy efficiency measures. Linked by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) since 1994, the three countries usually hold an annual summit dubbed the ‘Three Amigos’. The leaders will meet under a climate of economic uncertainty following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
The meeting is heralded as another victory for clean energy and environment as well. Given their strategic statures in the energy market, the three countries, along with China, would definitely accelerate shift to the clean energy more than expected.
White House senior adviser Brian Deese described it as “an aggressive goal” but one that “is achievable continent-wide”. He added that the alignment between Canada, Mexico and the United States on climate and energy policy “is stronger than it has been in decades. In all three countries, there is a significant move towards a clean energy economy”. The summit will also be an opportunity for the three leaders to announce new agreements to make it easier and cheaper to trade and transmit clean energy across the continent.
In 2015, clean energy — wind, solar and hydropower, plus nuclear power — accounted for 37 per cent of the three countries’ electricity. In the United States, the region’s largest electricity producer by far, clean energy currently generates around a third of total output, putting it behind Canada but ahead of Mexico. In Canada, hydropower generates some 59 per cent of electricity and nuclear power another 16 per cent.
Mexico looks forward to joining an existing commitment by the United States and Canada to reduce production of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, by 40 to 45 percent of its 2012 level by 2025.
Obama has been pushing for curbing climate-changing carbon emissions. But his new regulations on coal-fired power plants – the main US tool to reach emissions targets pledged at UN climate talks in Paris in December 2015 – were put on hold by the US Supreme Court earlier this year.
The issue of clean energy has been at the heart of politics and election campaign trail in the US. Democrat Hillary Clinton has said if she is elected president, she will work to ensure that half of the nation’s electric power will come from clean energy sources by 2030. That means she will carry forward the pledge of Obama.
However, GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump has emphasised the need to continue extracting fossil fuels, including coal, to power the nation’s electrical grid.
Indeed the push towards clean energy is global. The UAE is looking forward to increasing its target for power generation from clean energy to 30 per cent by 2030.
“What we know is that at least 25 per cent of electricity is going to be from both nuclear and solar,” UAE Energy Minister, Suhail Al Mazrouei, said after a ceremony to launch the third annual State of Energy report.
There is a potential it could exceed 30 per cent, depending on a number of projects. Under the government’s current plans, nuclear power is the main source of non-hydrocarbon based electricity generation.
Four new South Korean-designed nuclear reactors are due to come online between 2017 and 2020, each with generating capacity of 1,400 megawatts. They will provide an estimated 25 per cent of the country’s electricity demand by 2020, replacing primarily the natural gas-generated electricity that makes up the
bulk of power generation at present. The additional renewable energy power
generation in the country comes primarily from solar power.
Amigos summit demonstrates unity behind a consensus for strong global climate action. Clean energy will drive businesses of the future and will script
economic path of nations across the globe.