Russia Sets the Bar Low With Its New Renewable Energy Mandate
photo: Paolo Crosetto via flickr
Most people probably have never said the words ‘Russia’ and ‘renewable energy’ in the same sentence, unless the words ‘doesn’t really think much about’ are stuck in between them. Well, change that and read the following aloud: Russia has a new renewable energy mandate. It’s not exactly record setting, but one small step in the right direction from the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases is still a step. Here are the details:4.5% Renewable Energy by 2020Under the new plan, by 2020 Russia would add some 22,000 MW of renewable energy to its coal and natural gas dominated electrical generation. This would bring the percentage of renewable energy from less than 1% today to 4.5% eleven years from now. Hydropower projects (which already amount to 2% of Russia’s electricity generation) above 25 MW are not included in this renewable energy target.
That may not sound like much but consider that if you take large scale hydropower out of the US electric mix, other renewable energy sources account for about 4.5% today and wind, solar and geothermal amount for just about 1%. Which is just to say that Russia and the US aren't starting from radically dissimilar places here.
via: CleantechRenewable Energy 10 Steps to Renewable Energy Future: A TreeHugger ReviewRenewable Energy, Solar Power, Key to India’s New Climate PlanNorwegian Wind Power Could Become Europe’s Battery
