By Angelo Baggini / Published on Wed, 2009-01-07 10:00
Year: 2005
Policy Status: In force
The Energy Efficiency Strategy of South Africa was approved by cabinet in March 2005 and takes its mandate from the White Paper on Energy Policy, published in 1998.
The strategy links energy sector development with national socio-economic development plans and sets the target for improved energy efficiency in South Africa at 12% by 2015. This target is expressed in relation to the forecasted national energy demand at that time.
The strategy:
- provides guidelines for the implementation of efficient practices within the economy, including the setting of governance structures for activity development, promotion and coordination;
- allows for the immediate implementation of low-cost and no-cost interventions, as well as higher-cost measures with short payback periods;
- acknowledges that there exists significant potential for energy efficiency improvements across all sectors of the national economy;
- acknowledges that energy efficiency will be largely achieved via enabling instruments and interventions, including economic and legislative means, efficiency labels and performance standards, energy management activities and energy audits, and the promotion of efficient practices.
The strategy covers all sectors and is being implemented through Sectoral Implementation Plans.
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By Angelo Baggini / Published on Wed, 2008-12-24 10:00
Year: 2007
Policy Status: In force
The New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy is the government's action plan to promote energy efficiency, energy conservation and the use of renewable sources of energy.
It seeks to promote sustainability as part of New Zealand's national identity, improve the quality of life for New Zealand families and drive economic transformation in business.
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By Angelo Baggini / Published on Tue, 2008-12-23 10:00
Year: 2007
Policy Status: In force
The New Zealand Energy Strategy (NZES), released on 11 October 2007, sets out the government's vision of a sustainable, low emissions energy system and describes the actions that will be taken to make this vision a reality.
The strategy responds to two major energy challenges:
- the need to reduce greenhouse gases to respond to climate change;
- to deliver clean, secure, affordable energy while treating the environment responsibly.
The NZES seeks to:
Provide clear direction on the future of New Zealand's energy system- Utilise markets and focused regulation to securely deliver energy services at competitive prices
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including through an emissions trading scheme
- Maximise the contribution of cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation of energy
- Maximise the contribution of cost-effective renewable energy resources while safeguarding our environment
- Promote early adoption of environmentally sustainable energy technologies
- Support consumers through the transition
Measures include:
- emissions trading, in which energy-intensive sectors' emissions would be capped and the scheme would spread to many sectors after 2012
- regulation favoring renewable energy production and 90% of electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2025
- improvements to car efficiency and further support for public transport
- funding for wave and tidal electricity production
- streamlining the resource consents process to enable consideration of renewable energy projects' national benefits;
- requirements for energy companies to publicly show their emission levels;
- voluntary sector agreements to reduce emissions;
- requirements on the car industry that vehicle fleet sales meet an overall fuel efficiency target; and
- introduction of renewable fuels to replace petrol and diesel.
It also includes a target of 90% renewable electricity by 2025.
The NZES forms part of a suite of measures which include the New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (NZEECS), the New Zealand Transport Strategy (NZTS) and a Framework for a New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme.
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By Angelo Baggini / Published on Sat, 2008-12-06 10:00
Year: 2006
Policy Status: In force
The
Energy Conservation Frontrunner Plan reinforces the national strategy to reduce petroleum consumption.
Setting a target to
improve energy efficiency by 30% relative to 2006 by 2030, the Japanese government pledges to establish a state-of-the-art energy supply-demand structure within a market of high prices that the government expects to endure for the medium to long-term. Beyond a sustained promotion of energy efficiency, the Japanese government pledges to optimise energy use by reducing oil dependence through improvements in the energy intensity of the oil-intensive transport sector.
The Energy Conservation Frontrunner Plan sets a
strategy to achieve this energy efficiency target, through strategic planning in both the
medium- and long-term. It establishes a plan to develop
energy conservation technology and the development and dissemination of a benchmarking approach, so that the energy conservation effect can be quantitatively verified.
Based on this plan, the
Energy Conservation Technology Strategy was formulated with the prospective target of recognising energy conservation technology as Japan's source of industrial competitiveness in the world, and achieving the respected status of the "World's No.1 Country of Energy Conservation" by overcoming resource and environmental constraints by 2030.
Additional information can be found
here.
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By Angelo Baggini / Published on Sat, 2008-11-22 10:00
Year: 2006
Policy Status: In force
The New National Energy Strategy was released in May 2006 which specified five featured fields as the focus for future energy security. This includes energy efficiency and conservation policy with specific measures, and a target of achieving 30% energy efficiency improvement by 2030.
Listed measures include:
- Establishment a state-of-the-art energy supply-demand structure, with the aim to reduce oil dependence to less than 40% by 2030, from the current approximately 50%. Measures include to address this aim include:
i) Energy Conservation Frontrunner Plan
ii) Transport Energy for the Next Generation Plan
iii) New Energy Innovation Plan
iv) Nuclear Power National Plan
- Comprehensive Strengthening of Resource Diplomacy and Energy and Environment
Cooperation, including via:
i) Comprehensive Strategy for Securing Resources
ii) Asia Energy and Environment Cooperation Strategy
- Enhancement of Emergency Response Measures such as the revision and strengthening of the oil stockpiling system and preparation of the emergency response system for natural gas.
- In order to promote cooperation between the public and private sectors, technological challenges to be solved by 2030 will be summarised in the energy technology strategy.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Thu, 2008-01-10 08:30
How should the 20 per cent renewables target be divided among the member states?
The EU has set two remarkable targets to be reached by 2020: 20 per cent energy saving and 20 per cent renewables in the energy mix. Those targets are remarkable because they were set without specifying in detail what the numbers meant or how they should be achieved. This resulted in two post factum discussions: how much does 1 per cent energy saving mean, and how should the 20 per cent renewables target be divided among the member states?
The latter is currently the subject of a heated debate in which all governments are running for cover. The debate failed to reach a conclusion in December and is postponed to the Commission meeting of 23 January 2008.
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By Hans Nilsson / Published on Fri, 2007-03-23 08:00
South Africa (SA) is heavily dependent on coal for its energy supply and is struggling with a demand that grows very fast as well as a need that is considerably bigger. Too many people do not have adequate access to energy supply that allows them to live a life using even basic goods that we associate with a modern society.
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