“This report is a comprehensive and authoritative contribution to the debate about whether renewable energy can solve the climate problem in an economically attractive fashion. It’s a blueprint for further development of the renewables sector and sets out clearly its role in climate change mitigation.” – Geoffrey Heal, Columbia Business School, Columbia University “Renewable energy resources and the technologies to expand their use provide the key energy source to address multiple challenges of national and global sustainability for all. This report is invaluable for the 21st century.” – Thomas B. Johansson, Lund University, Sweden, and Global Energy Assessment, IIASA “The IPCC has provided us with a well-researched, carefully-presented assessment of the costs, risks and opportunities of renewable energy sources. It provides a systematic analysis and scientific assessment of the current knowledge about one of the most promising options to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and to mitigate climate change.” – Lord Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics & Government, London School of Economics and Political Science “Renewable energy can drive global sustainable development. The Special Report comes at the right time and offers insights and guidance to strongly facilitate the change of our industrial metabolism.” – Klaus Töpfer, IASS Potsdam – Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies “There may be a number of ways to achieve a low-carbon economy, but no pathway has been as thoroughly and comprehensively explored as the range of possible contributions of renewable energy sources towards achieving that goal contained in this IPCC Special Report.” – John P. Weyant, Stanford University
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limate change is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. Its most severe impacts may still be avoided if efforts are made to transform current energy systems. Renewable energy sources have a large potential to displace emissions of greenhouse gases from the combustion of fossil fuels and thereby to mitigate climate change. If implemented properly, renewable energy sources can contribute to social and economic development, to energy access, to a secure and sustainable energy supply, and to a reduction of negative impacts of energy provision on the environment and human health. This Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN) impartially assesses the scientific literature on the potential role of renewable energy in the mitigation of climate change for policy makers, the private sector, academic researchers and civil society. It covers six renewable energy sources – bioenergy, direct solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, ocean energy and wind energy – as well as their integration into present and future energy systems. It considers the environmental and social consequences associated with the deployment of these technologies, and presents strategies to overcome technical as well as non-technical obstacles to their application and diffusion. The authors also compare the levelized cost of energy from renewable energy sources to recent non-renewable energy costs. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts. The full Special Report is published by Cambridge University Press (www.cambridge.org) and the digital version can be accessed via the website of the IPCC Secretariat (www.ipcc.ch) or obtained on CDRom from the IPCC Secretariat. This brochure contains the Summary for Policymakers and the Technical Summary of the report.
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AND CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION
“The Mitigation of Climate Change is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. The transition of our global energy system to one that supports a high share of renewable energy could be an integral part of humankind’s answer to this challenge. This report provides important groundwork for such a transition.” – Hartmut Graßl, Former Director of the World Climate Research Programme, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AND
CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION SUMMARY FOR POLICYMAKERS AND TECHNICAL SUMMARY
SPECIAL REPORT OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE