In January 2000, delegates from over 100 nations gathered at the first energy conference in the new Millennium, representing governments from four continents, United Nations Agencies such as UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNITAR, UN-ECE, WMO, WHO, WTO, FAO, OCHA, semi governmental and non-governmental organizations such as IEA, IUCN, ISES, WWF, IAHE, COGEN, CEFIC, CMDC-WSEC, EUBIA, EPIA, EWEA, AIT/FIA, ICC, IHA, ISO, IEC, IRU, Greenpeace, Greencross, EUROSOLAR, OICA, UIC, UITP, banking institutions including GEF, eco-funds and the World Bank Group, insurance and manufacturing industries, including Shell and BP, universities and research institutes. They met to discuss a realistic clean energy implementation plan for the new Millennium.
The World Solar Commission organized work sessions with Minister-level delegates attending to discuss the faster, world-wide introduction of direct and indirect solar energy.
Prominent former US Congressman Prof. Richard Ottinger, called CLEAN ENERGY 2000 a “stellar” event. The historic conference culminated in remarkable Conclusions for the Geneva Proclamation for Sustainable, Clean Energy and in a revised version of the Global Energy Charter, which was originally formulated at the 1st World Clean Energy Conference in 1991 for the Rio Conference on Environment & Development UNCED in 1992. Its impact on world energy policy is also reflected in the new energy statistics and forecasting matrix and with the ISO Standard for Technical Energy Systems Analysis, which were presented as a basis for a new total energy approach at UN, IEA, EU levels.
World renowned experts presented the pending problems like environmental degradation, climate change, health threats and the rising insurance risks by pollution, as dramatically experienced with record Millennium disasters in the last twelve month on all continents. Thereafter, practical solutions were shown how to curb emissions with better efficiency and renewable energy technologies, clean fuels like hydrogen and clean electric vehicles. The last day was dedicated to financing, which is needed to the extent of over 1000 Billion Dollars per year. The World Bank Group, private banking and fund managers presented their views on how the investments can be diverted from unsustainable to sustainable solutions.
The proceedings of CLEAN ENERGY 2000 can be ordered from the Secretariat.
Hans Erni, the most famous living Swiss artist who passed 91 just after the Conference dedicated a gigantic painting of 8 x 2,2 m to energy in the biosphere, illustrating all solutions from hydrogen to biomass, how to bring nature back into balance and save rare species from extinction. Dozens of color studies show the intensity of the two year preparations for this painting of historic significance which took Hans Erni over six month to be done in full size.
Full color reproductions measuring 30 x 63 cm can be ordered from the Secretariat together with the colorful 42 x 60 cm CLEAN ENERGY 2000 poster.
Nothing could have better shown the problem of rising fossil fuel prices than the European road blockades by truckers and the angry reactions by car owners in the recent protests which had unprecedented media coverage. Such price hikes will be inevitable when fossil fuel resources are soon starting their decline towards depletion, so well documented by the Mid-Point prediction by Dr. Colin Campbell in his keynote speech at CLEAN ENERGY 2000.
Such warning signs must and will lead to the much faster introduction of vehicles that are not consuming finite fossil resources any more. Major oil and car companies like Shell, BP, GM and FORD, who recently left the procrastinating, reactionary climate coalition, already took initiatives to switch gradually from fossil to renewable resources. BP is running now TV ads “beyond petroleum” and is reinforcing their photovoltaic business, while SHELL founded Shell Hydrogen and Shell Solar and started the “Shell Initiative” Foundation for the promotion of sustainable development. TEXACO bought a stake in Conversion Devices Corp., a US developer and manufacturer of advanced solar cells and new car batteries.
Maritta von Bieberstein Koch-Weser gave full support to the endeavors of the World Sustainable Energy Coalition’s Global Energy Charter in her remarkable speech at CLEAN ENERGY 2000. In sessions of the IUCN legal committee the Charter was adopted as official energy policy document of this joint governmental and non-governmental organization, which represents 78 governments, 112 government agencies and 735 NGOs from 139 nations. IUCN stands for “International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources”, also known as the “World Conservation Union”. Its history goes back 52 years. It can be called the first truly international voice for international nature conservation efforts.
The Global Energy Charter was already officially adopted by the International Automobile Federation FIA, the International Association for Hydrogen Energy and by some governments and communities back in 1991, when it was first proclaimed in Geneva.
The Global Energy Charter, an initiative by the founding members of CMDC and WSEC promotes a holistic, interdisciplinary effort to improve energy policy by all players in the sense that a concerted structural change is needed to mitigate harmful greenhouse gases and bring the biosphere back into a healthy balance. The combination of massive research, engineering, financing and project implementation are needed to substitute damaging energy sources and systems as fast as possible to avoid further health and environmental damages and the depletion of precious fossil resources, so badly needed by future generations for an intelligent organic chemistry, ranging from plastics and synthetic fibers to pharmaceuticals.
CSD is the commission of the United Nations which has the task to follow-up on the Rio resolutions, in particular Agenda 21. In 2001 it will deal for the first time since Rio with energy, a sore subject which special interest groups tried by all means to keep out of the UN agenda since 1992, thus indirectly admitting its environmental implications. The 9th CSD session will at last deal particularly with energy in 2001, strongly supported by CMDC-WSEC and other NGOs defending the environment, renewable energies and sustainable development.
Under the ISO number DIS13602 this standard now passed after eight years intensive committee work the last draft stages to serve as a tool for complete technical energy systems analyses. With this comprehensive methodology it becomes possible to quantify all input and output parameters of micro and macro energy systems ranging from simple light bulbs and kettles to complex power stations and automobiles.
Applications are ranging from analyses of energy production and conversion systems with different energy carriers like electricity, fuels or bio muscle power to full energy chains which can now be made comparable with all their impacts on nature, climate and health, including phenomena like pollution, noise, radiation, land use, safety risks and other external cost.
Life cycles, external effects and decommissioning of energy systems can be quantified with the ISO13602 standard for the determination of the internal cost, efficiency and external social cost, thus complementing other important ISO standards like quality management (ISO9000), environmental management (ISO14000 series), basic units (SI system) etc.
Energy statistic were all biased in the past towards non-renewable energy resources and even IEA mixed up coal with biomass in their widely used statistics. All statistics ignored the huge sustainable energy source “muscle power”, with its significance in Asian and African nations.
To remedy this deficiency and to provide a better energy planning tool, the CMDC President initiated this new work item proposal for ISO/TC203. Energy experts from around the world are invited to support this effort with an active participation in working group ISO/TC303/WG3. Applications can be addressed to the CMDC Central Secretariat and through the national standards bodies.
The 13th Conference of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy IAHE and the HYSOLAR Conference in Munich, both demonstrated the merits and viable solutions of the hydrogen energy concept. Concurrently Physics Nobel Prize winner Professor Carlo Rubbia, who is the new Chairman of the Italian National Energy Research Institute ENEA and the President of China agreed upon a closer cooperation on Hydrogen Development and Implementation. Shortly afterwards at the HYFORUM in Munich German State Minister of Economy Werner Muller and Royal Dutch Shell Group Chairman Sir Mark Moody-Stuart stressed the importance of hydrogen in the future energy mix, to replace gradually fossil fuels.
Hundreds of reports alarmed the world about the worst disasters ever recorded in history, which all happened in the last decade of the past Millennium. Switzerland alone suffered the worst avalanches, the worst flooding and the worst hurricanes ever experienced, causing hundreds of death and thousands of casualties with insurance damages amounting to many Billions of Swiss Francs, destroying part of the Gross National Product. Similar reports came from India, China, the United States and such terrible events were reported again with death casualties and huge material losses in the last few weeks from Vietnam, Great Britain, Northern Italy and from the Valais in Switzerland – a never ending series of catastrophes !
Virtually all leading scientists around the world agree now on the causality between manmade disasters by fossil energy pollution, incalculable nuclear risks and the Million years old balanced weather cycles of nature, which were in the past only occasionally disturbed by volcano eruptions and meteorites entering the Earth atmosphere.
Every citizen on our planet is encouraged to become more active in defending our precious biosphere and climatic balance by using energy more wisely, by avoiding fossil fuel vehicles and planes and by avoiding fossil energy intensive sports like hot air balloons, car and motor boat racing and by pushing clean mobility by the use of hydrogen and clean electricity.
More information from the CMDC-WSEC “World Sustainable Energy Coalition”
Central Secretariat, POB 200, CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.cmdc.net
or from the Chairman of ISO/TC203/WG3, G.R. Grob by e-mail info@icec.ch
Cercle mondial du consensus, World Circle of the Consensus,
Weltkreis des Konsens
World Sustainable Energy Coalition
CMDC-WSEC, rue de Varembé 3, POB 200, CH 1211 Geneva
20, Switzerland
Phone: +41-22-910-3006, Fax: +41-22-910-3014, e-mail:
info@cmdc.net