DATABANK
Governments nowadays recognise the important role renewable energy can play not just in promoting sustainable development and combating climate change, but as a possible source of innovation and new economic growth. Total energy supply from renewables grew by 2.4% per annum in OECD countries between 1971 and 2010, compared with just 1.2% per annum for total primary energy supply. The annual growth rate for hydro of 1.1% was lower than for other renewable sources, such as geothermal, which reached 5.3%, and biofuels and waste, which rose by 2.9%. Meanwhile, solar and wind recorded the fastest growth in OECD countries, in part because government policies have stimulated expansion of these energy sources. And there is room for further growth, since solar, tide and wind supply form but a small fraction of overall renewable supply, which is dominated
Budget pressures affect aid Aid from major donors in the OECD area to developing countries fell by nearly 3% in 2011, ending a long trend of annual increases: until 2011, aid had been increasing for more than a decade, and by 63% between 2000 and 2010, the year it reached its peak. Dips in bilateral, multilateral and humanitarian aid, as well as debt forgiveness, all contributed (our chart). Moreover, tight budgets in OECD countries look set to put aid under more pressure in the years ahead.
by biofuels, biomass and waste, as well as hydro.
Renewables in energy supply
For the OECD as a whole, the contribution of renewables to energy supply increased from 4.8% in 1971 to 7.6% in 2010. The contribution of renewables varied greatly by country. On the high end, renewables represented 85% of energy supply in Iceland, 39% in New Zealand and 37% in Norway. On the low end, renewables contributed 3% or less of the energy supply for Japan, Korea, Luxembourg and the US.
Contribution as % of total primary energy supply, 2010
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20
In general, the contribution of renewables to the energy supply in non-OECD countries is higher than in OECD countries, reflecting the importance of biomass. In 2009, renewables contributed 46% to the energy supply of Brazil, 34% in Indonesia, 26% in India, 12% in China, 10% in South Africa and 3% in the Russian Federation.
10 0 Japan UK US OECD total France Germany Italy Canada Denmark Switzerland Chile Portugal Finland Austria Sweden Norway New Zealand Iceland
Renewable promise
Source: OECD Factbook 2011-12: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932535033
See OECD Factbook 2011-12: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics Bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa was $28 billion, a slide of 0.9% in real terms compared to 2010. But aid to the African continent as a whole rose by the same rate, to reach $31.4 billion, reflecting assistance to North Africa after the revolutions in the region. The group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) saw a sharp fall of 8.9% in their net bilateral ODA flows, to $27.7 billion.
The largest donors were the US, Germany, the UK, France and Japan, while the largest real rises in ODA were from Italy, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. But official development assistance fell in 16 DAC countries, notably in Austria, Belgium, Greece, Japan and Spain. See www.oecd.org/dac
Development aid dips
Components of DAC donors’ net official development assistance Bilateral development projects, programmes and technical co-operation
Multilateral ODA
Humanitarian aid
Net debt forgiveness grants
In 2011, the countries that form the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) at the OECD (see link below) provided US$133.5 billion of net official development assistance (ODA), representing 0.31% of their combined gross national income (GNI). This was a drop of 2.7% in real terms compared to 2010. Within that total net figure, aid for core bilateral projects and programmes (i.e. excluding debt relief grants and humanitarian aid) fell by 4.5% in real terms. 96
Constant 2010 US$ billions
140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0
2000
Source: OECD
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011 (prel.)