How can the Global South turn solar potential into solar power?
13 SEP 2023
Many countries of the Global South are perfectly placed to take advantage of the world’s cheapest energy source – the sun. With COP28 on the horizon, we look at the promise of this cleanest of energy sources, as well as the implementation barriers to be overcome.
Most of the Global South could meet its energy needs with less than 0.1% of its land covered by solar panels. This staggering statistic from Energy Monitor gives us much cause for optimism.
However, it’s not as simple as putting panels on the ground and plugging them into the grid.
While there is enormous potential for solar energy across the Global South, in many countries a lack of funding, infrastructure, economic instability and a range of other factors stifle its growth.
How can the Global South overcome these barriers and capitalize on this abundant resource to power its future?
The current state of solar
Solar energy now offers the cheapest form of electricity the world has ever seen. Its price has plummeted by around 85% over the past decade, making it cheaper than fossil fuels in 60% of countries around the world. At the same time, new innovations have emerged that allow panels to float on water or rise to preserve space for food production.
As a result, solar has become an increasingly viable energy source. According to IEA analyst Heymi Bahar, it “accounts for almost 60% of every power installation that will be built in the coming five years.” Currently, though, solar makes up just 3.6% of the global electricity matrix, so there is a lot to be done to make it the world’s go-to source of power.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Global South.
Many developing countries – particularly in the Middle East, Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa – have the perfect geographical conditions to develop strong solar networks.
They receive the highest concentration of solar radiation. They also have access to sunshine consistently throughout the year while other parts of the world experience seasonal shifts. In Ethiopia, for example, covering just 0.005% of its land with solar panels could meet current energy needs.
Equally strong are the incentives to expand solar. Developing countries are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, disproportionally affected by its most devastating impacts. They are already grappling with rising sea levels, droughts, floods and an array of other extreme weather conditions which are only likely to intensify as the planet warms. Fast-tracking the decarbonization of the global energy system could save countless lives in the long run.
At the same time, 80% of people in the Global South live in countries which import fossil fuels from abroad. This leaves them susceptible to massive fluctuations in the price of oil, natural gas and coal. Solar energy offers an opportunity to release the developing world from its dependence on imported fuel and build up its energy autonomy.
Barriers to the solar transition
If the conditions and incentives are there, what is blocking the expansion of solar energy in the Global South?
While the cost of solar-generated electricity is low, the upfront costs to install it remain high. Few governments – developed or developing – can afford to fund renewable projects on their own, so around 86% of investment worldwide comes from the private sector. To secure the level of finance required for a large-scale solar project, energy companies must demonstrate to investors that the necessary conditions are in place to make it financially viable.
This is where developing countries run into difficulties.
Many are hamstrung by instability. Unstable currencies, political unrest and corruption not only have tangible consequences for citizens, these factors make much of the developing world a ‘no-go zone’ for investors.
Even in more stable regions, developing countries are often hampered by slow-moving regulatory bodies. Others lack the infrastructure to transmit and distribute the electricity efficiently once generated. Some do not have workforces with the technical skills to build key components or carry out the necessary maintenance work.
Under these conditions, getting hold of finance is all but impossible and most solar projects are defeated before they can even begin.
Solutions to scale-up solar
But this status quo is changing rapidly. Solar projects are popping up all over the world and each one that comes online brings positive insights to apply elsewhere.
As the World Bank identifies, the process starts with government leadership and a strong commitment to the clean energy transition.
Governments in the Global South must ‘de-risk’ their economies and create a policy environment in which solar projects can become commercially viable. That could mean stamping out corruption, strengthening their electricity networks or streamlining approvals processes. Once these kinds of conditions are in place, it will be much easier for projects to secure private financing.
The Global South cannot do this alone. It needs far greater financial assistance than is currently available.
Historically, funding has come from the UN, World Bank and regional development banks, as well as international organisations like the Global Infrastructure Hub. But these channels are not equipped for the scale of the challenge we now face.
The International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA) has called for an overhaul of these institutions’ current project allocation processes to deliver funding on a far larger scale. Later this year, it will publish an extensive report alongside Masdar exploring how to make this – and other radical initiatives – possible, with the goal of tripling global renewable capacity by 2030.
Such a seismic shift can only happen with political buy-in from developed nations. Their funding is essential to provide investment funds with the resources they need to develop solar at scale.
That’s why many in the Global South will be looking towards COP28 with eager anticipation.
At COP26, a number of wealthy nations pledged to double or triple their climate finance contributions, finally committing to $100 billion in climate finance in June 2023. Yet their contributions still fall far short of what the developing world has requested.
The upcoming summit in Dubai is another vital opportunity to get around the negotiating table and take this commitment to the next level.
With time running out, it’s an opportunity the world cannot afford to squander.
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25 JUL 2024
Lessons from the Aral Sea: from desolation to revival
The Aral Sea, straddling the borders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was the world’s fourth largest lake in 1960. But in only six decades it has shrunk to just 10% of its former size. Fish and bird populations have collapsed. Local people endure ever harsher weather, difficulties growing crops, and debilitating health conditions brought on by a rapidly changing climate. The disappearance of this vast body of water and its catastrophic environmental and socioeconomic impacts on the region is an alarming allegory for the climate crisis at the global level.
But there's hope. Recent progress in water management, both in the region and elsewhere, may help the Aral Sea recover, and teach us critical lessons about safeguarding our natural resources.
Unprecedented decline
The decline of the Aral Sea has happened over just one lifetime.
Local people have fond memories of swimming in its waters. It boasted a thriving fishing industry. That all changed in 1959, when the Soviet Union brought industrialized cotton production to the region.
A water-intensive crop, cotton was grown using extremely inefficient irrigation practices which diverted water from the Aral’s tributaries. Some of these waterways lost half their volume, and were polluted with fertilizers and harmful pesticides. By 2007, the lake had dropped to just 10% of its original size, and salinity had risen from 14 grams per liter to over 100 – around three times that of normal seawater.
Once thriving lakeside towns and villages found themselves in the middle of a desert, their fishing boats half-buried and rusting in the sand.
The retreat of the lake also exposed 54,000 km2 of salt and dust, contaminated with pesticides, which is now blown across the region by increasingly strong winds. This causes a wide range of debilitating health conditions among humans, including kidney failure, anemia and intestinal cancer. Respiratory conditions affect children up to 200 kilometers away.
Restoring the Aral Sea was seen by many as a lost cause. And major challenges remain - from continued reliance on outdated cotton-farming practices, to regional tensions over how to share the water of the lake and its tributaries. But investment in infrastructure and the resilience of local communities have begun to pull it back from the brink.
Reviving the Aral
The completion of the Kokaral Dam in 2005, financed by the World Bank, was a vital turning point, offering the Aral Sea hope at its lowest ebb. The dam has led to an 18% increase in the volume of the northern part of the lake in Kazakhstan. Several fish species now thrive, as do the fishermen: Within ten years, their annual catch grew fivefold. A second World-Bank-financed dam nearby is set to continue the transformation of the local ecosystem and bring the entire reservoir’s temperature and salinity levels closer to 1960 levels, encouraging biodiversity.
Across the border in Uzbekistan, mass planting of saxaul shrubs is underway, in partnership with USAID. In just four years, these robust plants, which act as the first line of defense against desertification, have helped restore over half of the country’s three million hectares of degraded land.
Encouragingly, these measures are being matched by impactful water management reforms and investment at the governmental level. Uzbekistan is reconstructing irrigation networks, modernizing water management systems and introducing drought-resistant crops. Farming subsidies for water-saving agricultural technologies could reduce consumption by 40-50% and mineral fertilizers by 25-30%. The impact has already been immense. From just 28,000 hectares of farmland in 2018, these technologies now cover 1 million hectares - representing 27 percent of the total irrigated area. The government intends to double this by the end of 2025.
International collaboration
These country initiatives feed into the efforts of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), founded 30 years ago by the five nations of Central Asia. A unique collaborative effort, the fund is the most important platform for regional cooperation, encouraging member states to work together to share transboundary water and address the environmental and socio-economic problems of the Aral Sea basin. Kazakhstan is hoping to use its chairmanship of the fund to formalize an agreement to regulate the flow of the Syr Darya, one of the Aral’s main tributaries, helping avoid droughts in downstream countries.
In addition, the UN-backed Multi-Partner Human Security Trust Fund for the Aral Sea Region aims to channel financing into innovative solutions for this complex challenge. In 2021, the UN General Assembly declared the Aral Sea region a 'zone of environmental innovations and technologies', to encourage international research and scientific collaboration in the area.
It is unlikely that the Aral Sea will ever return to its 1960 level, but recent progress has handed this struggling waterway a vital lifeline. The sea’s rapid bounce back over just two decades shows the vast potential of water management measures, for the local ecosystem and the people whose livelihoods depend on it.
Hope for the future
The plight of the Aral Sea is an alarming glimpse into the planet’s future if we do not manage our precious natural resources responsibly. The lessons we can draw from both its destruction and revival apply everywhere.
Rivers, lakes and seas are a vital lifeline that billions depend on for food, livelihoods and power. Their steward governments have a responsibility to work together to share the benefits fairly and sustainably. That means supporting farmers with efficient water infrastructure and providing the right incentives to help them switch to more sustainable crops and practices. It means working collaboratively to ensure a regular flow from source to sea to stabilize regional climates.
While water management may not be taking center stage at COP29, it is critical to the wider goals of the Paris Agreement. It might just bring our struggling waterways back to life.
23 JUL 2024
Abu Dhabi's economic growth: how ADDED is building a diversifying and sustainable future
Today, Abu Dhabi is undergoing an economic transformation, with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) driving forward a vision that will future-proof the Emirate for generations to come. Charting a course toward a more sustainable future, Abu Dhabi is leveraging its advanced infrastructure and seamless synergy between government entities and the private sector. ADDED is relentlessly working to enhance economic diversification and build sustainable growth in a way that ensures Abu Dhabi’s economy benefits all who live and work across the Emirate.
Abu Dhabi’s visionary leadership has long acknowledged the need to diversify its economy, shift to a knowledge-based one, and build a truly sustainable future. The Emirate’s multi-faceted approach is nurturing key growth sectors, investing in emerging tools and technologies and fostering innovation across the entire economic ecosystem.
A diversified economy and renewable energy
Renewable energy is a critical component of a sustainable future and one of ADDED’s key areas of focus. ADDED supports research and development in this field, attracting investments and encouraging the growth of clean energy companies. Similarly, it recognizes the importance of advanced technologies as a driver of economic growth. By fostering a tech-friendly ecosystem, ADDED is attracting and retaining skilled professionals, positioning Abu Dhabi as a hub for innovation.
ADDED has collaborated with several local and international partners to extend the Emirate’s sustainability efforts further. This significant shift toward a non-oil economy is the key contributor to the Emirate’s economy, and today the non-oil sectors comprise almost 54% of Abu Dhabi’s GDP.
A circular economy
At the heart of ADDED's sustainability strategy lies the circular economy concept, which it has introduced through a comprehensive framework for the industrial sector. This framework will significantly reduce industrial waste and promote responsible resource utilization. The industrial circular economy policy framework sets ambitious targets, including a 50% reduction in industrial process waste, equivalent to at least 40,000 tonnes annually. It will encompass key sectors, ensuring 100% compliance by 2030, with the plastic manufacturing sector achieving 100% compliance by 2025. This transition benefits the environment and opens avenues for cost reduction and enhanced efficiency within businesses.
A vibrant SME scene
To ensure a balanced, inclusive and sustainable business ecosystem, ADDED fosters an entrepreneurial environment that enables the development of innovative solutions particularly those focused on environmental sustainability and social impact. This is achieved through incubators and accelerators that provide support and resources to startups in strategic sectors, while prioritizing those that address environmental challenges, promote resource efficiency and contribute to the Emirate’s circular economy. SMEs comprise over 90% of businesses in Abu Dhabi, employing more than 46% of the workforce and contributing more than 42% to Abu Dhabi’s non-oil GDP, which further underscores the Emirate’s nurturing business environment and strong support for SMEs.
Smart and sustainable transportation
Led by ADDED, Abu Dhabi has been heavily involved in transforming the transportation sector by adding smarter and more sustainable means of transportation. In Q2 2024, ADDED announced investment opportunities worth AED11 billion in transportation industries, especially after the launch of the Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (SAVI) cluster in 2023.
It has also inked several agreements to boost the manufacturing and assembly of electric commercial vehicles (ECVs) in Abu Dhabi and enhance innovation within the Emirate’s automotive, mobility and transportation sectors. ADDED is leveraging the benefits of public-private partnerships to deliver future-proofed infrastructure, renewable energy projects and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
Building a Sustainable Future
Abu Dhabi's economic transformation is a work in progress, but the commitment to sustainability is evident in ADDED's initiatives. It lays the groundwork for a prosperous and environmentally responsible future for the Emirate by promoting diversification, innovation, and a circular economy.
Abu Dhabi has acknowledged that the transition to a sustainable economy requires a skilled and adaptable workforce. This is where the Golden Visa program plays a crucial role in attracting and retaining top-tier professionals and sustainability thought leaders from around the world. This visa ensures that the brightest minds are contributing to the Emirate's vision for a greener and more sustainable future, particularly those with expertise in clean technologies, renewable energy and environmental sciences.
These experts bring with them the skills, knowledge and innovative thinking necessary to drive forward Abu Dhabi's sustainability goals, making the Golden Visa an integral part of the Emirate’s transformative journey toward a sustainable future.
As ADDED continues its efforts, Abu Dhabi further cements its position as a regional and global leader, demonstrating that economic success and environmental responsibility can go together.
16 JUL 2024
Q & A: Pure Harvest CEO Sky Kurtz on sustainability as a competitive advantage and why food security is really about water
How does sustainability align with your strategy?
Sustainability is foundational both to our company’s vision and to our business strategy. Pure Harvest is unique in that we are actually an energy company, taking sunlight and converting it into calories as efficiently as possible, seeking to achieve the maximum output per unit of useful photonic energy, while minimizing the capital and resources needed to do so.
We use technology to make resource-efficient food production possible, making us more sustainable. This is something we can be proud of, and it’s a value our consumers increasingly care about. We see sustainability as a source of competitive advantage: to reduce the need for fertilizer or chemical pesticides, for example, we're using technology and renewable resources like natural predators to improve the health and quality of our food, at once benefiting the planet and our profitability.
What do you see as the most important opportunity to focus on in the sustainability space?
There is a tremendous focus on carbon today, and rightfully so; however, sustainability is also about food, water and waste, and carbon’s role in climate change is negatively affecting all of the above. In terms of both scale and urgency, water is the most important, and ultimately water is food, as roughly two-thirds of the world's freshwater is used in food production.
Without enough potable water and water-efficient farming methods, we will have widespread famine and disaster. These problems aren't well understood or talked about, but I think they will become a louder and louder siren, drawing attention to ramifications for national security, food supply, trade policy and economics, and fundamentally both the quality and sustainability of life itself.
How are you involving stakeholders in your sustainability efforts?
We're engaging every stakeholder that will listen to drive a compelling and clear narrative on how solutions like ours can be part of the future of food. Last year, we onboarded Dr. Josef Schmidhuber as Chief Sustainability Officer, who carries a Nobel Prize for his work which helped to make climate change a household topic. He is now developing our first-ever sustainability report, to make sure we’re in line with international standards and that we can credibly demonstrate a healthy ESG record to our many stakeholders.
Being part of the solution at the government level at home is also important to us, and we’ve done our best to support the UAE’s vision and goals for sustainability. I was part of the delegation of Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, the former UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, at COP26 where the UAE earned the privilege of hosting COP28. I’ve also had the opportunity to serve as a member of a national committee focused on the adoption of agritech for food security, promulgating solutions and shaping policies for more sustainable food production in the UAE.
How are you fostering innovation in sustainability?
In 2016, one of our co-founders, Robert Kupstas, was working with the International Renewable Energy Agency and looking at water saving solutions for the Middle East. When he saw that we use roughly two thirds of our freshwater to farm less than 15% of our food in the GCC, he realized that to solve the water security problem, you also had to solve the food production problem. His idea was to build bridging technologies to reinvent proven, large-scale greenhouse solutions in the GCC’s challenging climates.
Since then, we’ve continued to innovate. Currently, we’re developing AI tools that make food production more efficient by automating climate management and improving our yield forecasts– tools we plan to offer to other farmers in the future. We also innovate in ways that might seem simple at first, but have a huge potential impact. For example, in a partnership with Nadec, a large dairy producer in Saudi Arabia, we co-located our farms with a 30-megawatt solar power installation. Our collective power demand is large enough to enabIe utility-scale solar deployment.
In what other areas do you see sustainability-related opportunities?
Enacting new government regulations is a valuable opportunity to facilitate sustainable development – but we’re very lucky to operate in one of the most forward-thinking government environments. The European Commission’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is a great example of a regulatory innovation that reduces emissions by leveling the playing field of domestic carbon policies so local companies are not disadvantaged.
Financial innovation is also key. Emerging markets will need tools and services to develop and trade carbon credits and provide rigorous auditing and carbon accounting, and to then support companies to sell carbon credits in global markets so they can access capital. I think these private market companies will be necessary to make possible a carbon market that will function at scale across every sector.
There is also a lot of space for innovation in food waste, which is estimated at between 17% and 33%, globally. I think innovations in logistics and cold storage will go a long way to reduce waste, and in turn reduce the amount we need to produce.
Finally, alternative proteins hold a lot of promise. For example, precision fermentation is a novel solution wherein microorganisms like yeast are engineered to produce specific proteins, such as those found in meat or dairy. It holds promise as an alternative protein solution due to its efficiency, sustainability, and potential to address environmental and ethical concerns associated with traditional animal agriculture.