Earlier this month, the Indian state of Maharashtra announced a US$25 million smart grid program covering electricity distribution networks in eight cities including Mumbai, the country’s financial capital. Maharashtra has commissioned the German company Siemens to install smart grid technologies in the state to tackle issues such as outages and electricity theft. Smart grid technologies will also improve the efficiency of the existing and very inefficient Indian transmission and distribution network. Currently, nearly a quarter of electricity in India (and up to half in some states) is lost while being transported through the grid system (compared to 7 percent in the U.S.), causing economic losses to utility companies and contributing to widespread electricity shortages.

Evidence of an inefficient electricity grid in Hyderabad, India. Image source: Flickr user mckaysavage.

This investment is just one aspect of a recent major push for smart grids by state and central government in India. India ranks third in the world for smart grid investment behind the U.S. and China, and its investment is growing rapidly. A meeting of the Central Electricity Authority on March 5 led to a proposal for nearly US$50 million of funding from the Ministry of Power for smart grid projects across India. State governments are also expected to contribute about half of the funding required for smart grid pilot projects.

The Ministry of Power has established the India Smart Grid Forum – a voluntary consortium of power utilities, implementing agencies, smart grid consultants, research agencies, and nongovernmental organizations, among others – which aims to bring different stakeholders together to ensure a rapid and efficient deployment of smart grid technologies in India. The Forum calls for implementation of smart grid systems in all state capitals and large cities between 2014 and 2017.

The Ministry of Power also established the India Smart Grid Task Force (ISGTF), which serves as a platform for smart grid activities, but also focuses on coordinating initiatives between different government Ministries.

Recent weeks have seen smart grid projects moving forward in other Indian states as well. Puducherry was selected by ISGTF as one of eight pilot cities for smart grid technologies, and it recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Power Grid Corporation of India to install smart meters on 87,000 homes over four months this year. The new advanced metering infrastructure will allow customers to view their electricity billing in real-time and better manage their consumption. Smart meters will also enable the Puducherry Electricity Board to detect electricity theft, which costs India billions of dollars each year, much more easily. The city of Bangalore also launched a program this month that aims to install one million smart meters over the next year.

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The Jamaican economy is highly energy inefficient. In 2008, the country’s energy intensity index ranked 47^th in the world, at 8,937 btu per year 2005 U.S. dollar. The energy intensity index shows the energy efficiency of a nation’s economy; the higher it is, the more it costs to convert energy into GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Reasons for this high energy intensity include the energy demands of the bauxite and alumina industry, the inefficient public electricity system with its high transmission and distribution losses, inefficient energy use in the public sector, and low public awareness of the importance of energy conservation.

Worldwatch meets with Jamaica government officials to discuss energy issues. From left: Senior Director of Energy at the Ministry of Energy & Mining Fitzroy Vidal, State Minister Laurence Broderick, Worldwatch Caribbean Project Manager Mark Konold, and Sr. Engineer at Ministry of Energy & Mining, Gerald Lindo

Jamaica depends heavily on imported petroleum, which supplies 91 percent of domestic energy use. Transportation accounts for nearly half (47 percent) of the energy consumed, followed by the bauxite and alumina industry (30 percent), and electricity generation (23 percent). Despite the increase in world oil prices, Jamaica’s energy consumption has grown faster than its economy over the past decade. Given these realities, the Jamaican National Energy Policy for 2009-2030 aims to design and implement cost-saving measures to boost energy efficiency and conservation across the public sector.

In 2011, the Jamaican government set a target of reducing public sector energy consumption 5 percent below the 2010 level by 2015, mainly through public sector efficiency improvements. These include energy audits and building retrofits to replace lighting and air conditioning units, and improving building envelopes by implementing cool roof coatings and window films. Because reducing energy consumption also requires efforts of those who use public buildings, staff are expected to fully engage in the process by following the protocols in place. Education and knowledge dissemination about energy efficiency and conservation are a key component of this project.

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On December 29^th, the Jamaican government called for a general election which resulted in a changing of the guard from the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) to the People’s National Party (PNP). The PNP, led by Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, assumes control of the government after having lost it to the JLP in the summer of 2007. With this change, many questions arise regarding current initiatives, especially those concerning energy. Despite many signals that the country is moving toward a more sustainable energy future, including a renegotiated contract to help make Wigton Wind Farm profitable, official legislation for net billing, and the rehabilitation of hydroelectric facilities, energy prices continue to burden most consumers and the country’s energy future still remains unclear.

A map of Jamaica showing the election results from December 2011. Source: The Jamaica Observer

While both the PNP and JLP support renewable energy initiatives in their rhetoric, actual energy performance has been mixed. Until 2007, the PNP led the country for 18 years, and in that time the country’s first utility-scale wind farm was installed at Rose Hill. Its initial phase brought 18 megawatts (MW) of installed wind capacity to the island to complement the 21 MW of already-installed hydro power. The PNP also established the Office of Utility Regulation (OUR), which oversees, among other things, the island’s electricity sector.

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Apple is accused of environmental damages in China

By Qiong Xie

Haibing Ma, China Program manager at the Worldwatch Institute, was interviewed by Voice of America on August 31^st to discuss whether Apple, one of the most successful American IT companies, should be responsible for environmental pollution from its Chinese supply chain. Mr. Ma commented that even though Apple has completely outsourced its production to many factories in developing countries such as China, it still bears the responsibility to carefully choose its first and second tier suppliers to make sure all Apple components are manufactured in an environmentally friendly way.

Apple’s supply chain problem is only the latest example of an emerging environmental issue: the sustainability of globalized supply chains. The concept of sustainability has emerged as a popular word in the political, environmental and business fields, partially due to the report Our Common Future, which was presented during the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987. According to this report, sustainability is defined as “using resources to meet the need of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.” For the manufacturing sector, sustainability is more about using operational management, such as product design, process technology, and an environmental management system, to reduce negative environmental impacts to the greatest extent possible. In the era of globalization, supply chain management has become an indispensable part of operational management for companies with globalized business operations like Apple.

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November 6-12 is Energy Week in the Caribbean.

The winds of change are blowing in Haiti’s energy sector. President Joseph Martelly identified four priorities for his term: education, employment, environment and rule of law (Education, Emploi, Environnement, Etat de Droit – four “E”s in French). Last month, as the President attended a workshop on energy organized by Rene Jean-Jumeau, the recently nominated Secretary of State for Energy, he added energy as the fifth “E”. He emphasized the impact of the current energy situation on Haiti’s decreasing forest cover as trees are cut for the production of charcoal, and the importance of transitioning to a modern and resource efficient energy supply. President Martelly concluded, “Electricity is needed to develop Haiti’s industry, and cast away the darkness of moonless nights.” This added priority was also reflected in the general policy statement from the Prime Minister Garry Conille on October 11^th, where he mentioned the development of alternative sources of energy (notably) and the improvement of the country’s electricity supply as national priorities.

Haiti’s energy sector is marked by very low per/capita energy consumption, a very low electrification rate, a high dependency on fossil fuels with the highest energy intensity in the whole Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, and high supply prices. Haiti’s energy sector is primarily reliant on charcoal, which represents 75 percent of the country’s final energy consumption and, along with fuel wood, often constitutes the only source of energy for households living in rural areas. Intensive use of charcoal has been hugely detrimental to the vegetation cover of Haiti. Over 70 percent of Haiti’s 10 million people live without access to the electricity grid, which has led President Martelly to comment, “in terms of energy, Haiti is still in the Middle Ages.”  About 63 percent of electricity generation in the country is based on imported diesel fuel, mainly from Venezuela. Hydropower constitutes 37 percent of the country’s electricity generation. A recent WorldBank/Nexant report identified imported distillate to be the most expensive fossil fuel resource option for Haiti in the future, after LNG and coal, with a forecasted levelized price of US $22.45/GJ over 2014-2028.

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Mr. Gerald Lindo is a Senior Energy Engineer with the Ministry of Energy & Mining in Jamaica

From left to right: Fitzroy Vidal, Senior Director, Energy, Ministry of Energy & Mining; Honorable Laurence Broderick, MP; Mark Konold, Caribbean Energy Roadmap Project Manager, Worldwatch; Gerald Lindo, Senior Energy Engineer, Ministry of Energy & Mining

On September 19^th, a group of engineers met in Kingston, Jamaica during the Annual Conference of the Jamaica Institute of Engineers (JIE) to discuss the future of Jamaica’s energy sector. This year, the first two days of the week-long event were devoted entirely to discussing the country’s energy challenges and the way forward. The Principal Director of the Energy Division in Jamaica’s Ministry of Energy and Mining (MEM), Mr. Fitzroy Vidal, gave one of the keynote speeches detailing Jamaica’s National Energy Policy (NEP) and the progress towards its implementation.

It was a brisk and upbeat meeting, and Mr. Vidal’s speech was well received. Questions abounded on the direction of Jamaica’s energy sector and on the proposed considerations of innovative green technology solutions aimed at ensuring the country’s energy security and long term sustainability. However, underneath the cordiality and spirit of the conference was a smouldering worry, an elephant in the room: the tremendous price that Jamaicans pay for electricity.

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This September, the US Army established the Energy Initiatives Office Task Force in conjunction with announcing the ambitious goal of meeting over 25 percent of its energy demand through renewable sources by 2025.

The US Army is promoting renewable energy as a practical solution to pressing security, economic, and environmental challenges. Source: US Army

This initiative is part of a larger agenda within the Department of Defense to promote renewable energy as a cost-effective security measure. Over the last decade, rising energy costs have increasingly strained military budgets and concerns over fuel convoy and supply security have risen to the fore. As an organization, the US Army currently spends over US $4 billion per year on energy to power bases, installations, transport vehicles, and equipment around the world. The projected costs of the status quo, that is, maintaining a fossil fuel-based energy mix, have proven unsustainable to top military leaders. For example, with every US $1 increase in global oil prices, the US Army’s energy budget can fluctuate by over US $30 million. The Army has indicated that in addition to its environmental benefits, ramping up renewable energy makes sense from both an economic and national security perspective. Secretary of the US Army John M. McHugh recently stated that “The Energy Initiatives Office Task Force will help the Army build resilience through renewable energy while streamlining our business practices so developers can invest in and build an economically viable, large-scale renewable energy infrastructure”.

As one of the largest energy consumers in the world, the US Army’s adoption of such aggressive renewable energy policies will be a major boon to the US and global renewable energy industries. The Energy Initiatives Office (EIO) Task Force estimates that the US Army will need an additional 2.5 million megawatt-hours (MWh) per year of additional renewable energy supply over the next 10 years to meet its 25 percent goal.  A recent Pike Research report on US military energy initiatives finds that the renewable energy investments from the Army and other branches of the military will top US $10 billion annually by 2030 and continue to grow. Some analysts estimate that the US Army alone may attract over US $7 billion in private financing for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects over the next five years. This increase in demand can provide manufacturers and generators the long-term financial security they need to make significant structural investments in renewable energy production and innovation.

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Global Energy Portfolio Shares by Energy Resource (Source: Renewable Revolution: Low-Carbon Energy by 2030)

On September 20, in remarks at the United Nations (UN) Private Sector Forum in New York, UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro announced the launch of a High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All, a body whose aim is to catalyze actions at all levels to achieve three goals by 2030: ensuring universal access to modern energy services, doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. Migiro, speaking on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, emphasized the critical role that energy must play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The High-Level Group, consisting of leaders from business, government, and civil society, will work to design a sustainable energy action agenda in time for the Rio+20 conference in 2012, a year which the UN General Assembly has designated the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. The Sustainable Energy for All Initiative’s goals were first articulated in a summary report of the Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC) last year titled Energy for a Sustainable Future.

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On July 25^th, 2011, The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) committed $35 million to help reconstruct Haiti’s electricity sector. The grant is the first of three policy-based operations the IDB expects to conduct over the next three years to help Haiti build a reliable and sustainable electricity grid.

The objectives of the grant are to develop and implement a new legal and regulatory framework to foster Haitian-based institutional capacity to govern and oversee the power sector while supporting the use of clean energy. Specifically, plans include supporting the creation of an Energy Direction as an autonomous entity in charge of planning, regulation and supervision of the energy sector. Importantly, this is the first step towards the creation of a Ministry of Energy, which Haiti does not yet have. The plans further call for expanding electricity access to rural areas and developing an institutional and regulatory strategy for urban biomass and Liquefied Petroleum Natural Gas. Finally, the grant aims to convert the national utility Electricité d’Haïti (EDH) into a financially and operationally viable company through short term targets of creating operational and financial indicators for EDH in an effort to reduce operational costs. The long term objective is to open up participation to the private sector by working with Haiti’s already established Commission for the Modernization of Public Enterprises.

Haiti has nine isolated small electricity grids throughout the country as opposed to one national transmission grid. A recently-approved grant by the Inter-American Development Bank aims to help Haiti increase the efficiency and reliability of their electricity sector.

EDH was created in 1971 and has a national monopoly on electricity generation, transmission, distribution and commercialization. It was formed to control the newly built Péligre hydroelectric plant. Since then, efforts have been made to privatize the company in part due to a Structural Adjustment Program led by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in 1995; however, these efforts have since stalled. Today, combined technical and commercial electricity losses are above 50 percent. The Government of Haiti transfers 12 percent of the national budget annually, or over $100 million, to keep the company afloat.

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President Obama announced last week that automakers must enhance the future performance of their cars and light trucks if they want to continue selling in the United States. The fleets for Model Years 2017 through 2025 will need to meet a combined highway/city performance equivalent to 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) and 163 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per mile according to EPA test procedures. The new standard extends one established in 2009 that requires a Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) of 35.5 mpg and 250 grams of CO2 per mile by Model Year 2016. For passenger vehicles, the standards increase by an average of five percent annually from 2017 through 2025.

The CAFE requirement includes a flexibility mechanism that provides credits allowing automakers to reduce their fleet-wide efficiency performance by designing a variety of systems including efficient air conditioning, flex fuel engines, and compressed natural gas treatment. These ‘accounting tricks’ combined with the possibility of a slight rebound effect in driving behavior may undermine fuel efficiency improvements. Meeting the higher fuel economy standards may not be so far out of reach for automakers even without flexible crediting, considering the efficiency levels achieved by cars on the road today, such as the Toyota Prius, which gets 50 mpg. Nonetheless, the new standard is leaps and bounds beyond the 27 mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard for passenger cars that had been in place since 1985.

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