‘We built our economies by destroying nature — renewable energy lets us safeguard Earth’

Eminent physicist

Daniel Kammen

is professor of energy at the University of California, Berkeley, and director of

the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory

(RAEL).

The World Bank

’s first chief technical specialist for renewable energy and energy efficiency, the distinguished scientist spoke to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke about the advantages of clean energy, its technological developments — and its philosophical worldview:
What are renewable energy’s greatest advantages?
The first is that renewable energy, like solar, wind and geothermal power, is clean — it doesn’t create carbon emissions. The second is that renewable technology goes well beyond carbon benefits — it can be distributed to meet local needs and be integrated into the fabric of the infrastructure. The third is that it makes energy much more democratic — individual businesses, homes or communities can install solar energy or wind power. They can benefit and sell power back to the grid. So, renewable energy’s advantages include cleanliness, appropriateness for scale and making energy a democratic commodity, not only a one-way sale by large power companies.

WHAT SOLAR POWER CAN SAVE: By investing in a solar energy plant over coal-powered energy generation, Sabah, Malaysia, protected its ‘coral triangle’ reef-based marine ecosystem (Photos: Courtesy Daniel Kammen via PVT, IStock)


What has held renewables back globally?
The evolution of renewable energy technology itself is remarkable. Solar and wind power are now the cheapest forms of energy in most parts of the world. But

fossil fuels

are still subsidised by upto five trillion dollars a year, paid largely by governments. Fossil fuels have that huge incumbent advantage. However, renewables can’t be limited now. It’s not just that the prices have fallen so much — renewable energy is much more scalable. Once, a ‘power plant’ meant a large-scale oil or diesel plant. But renewable energy can be even one solar panel powering a home. Being modular, unlike the fossil fuel supply chain, is pushing renewables quickly. Its technology is growing apace — when energy storage batteries were expensive, you had power only as long as the sun was shining. But now, through the dramatic price decline in energy storage, you have several days’ capacity. This liberates the spread of renewable energy.



Can renewable energy help developing countries meet their growth needs?
Renewable energy is actually far better at meeting growth needs than fossil fuel energy. One problem developing nations face is that energy resources often stay restricted at the central level — distributed renewable energy at village levels can generate far more economic activity than the fossil fuel system. Also, renewable energy systems can be built in a fraction of the time it takes fossil fuel plants. I’m currently working on projects in Malaysia and Kenya. Both countries have been considering installing a coal plant for over a decade. They still haven’t got even the permits required for this, but clean solar and

geothermal energy

systems have already been built in under one year. For rapidly industrialising countries, renewable energy is a far easier fit. And this is crucial, considering that about one billion people globally don’t have sufficient energy for their daily needs — one out of seven people on Earth lives in energy poverty. That is one of the largest factors holding back growth.

Courtesy: Daniel Kammen (from Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September 2020)

Courtesy: Daniel Kammen (from 'Affordable Energy for Humanity', 2019)

Courtesy: Daniel Kammen (from 'Defeating Energy Poverty', 2020)

Is there a gender dimension to renewable energy?
Yes. Exposure to unhealthy cooking fuels is far higher among women and children, who suffer these health impacts. The domestic use of unclean energy like firewood or crop waste also involves girls doing this labour over boys. This impacts their access to education. Gender equity involves clean energy.



Which are some interesting renewable energy markets?
In East Africa, a regional power market — the Eastern Africa Power Pool — has developed, where Ethiopia is selling hydropower to Kenya, Kenya is selling geothermal to Uganda, Uganda is selling hydro to Sudan, etc. Renewable energy there meets both domestic and international needs.

Morocco

is now a major seller of wind and solar power to Europe via undersea transmission lines. Similar projects to sell solar power to Europe are developing across North Africa now.



Can you describe your work in Sabah, Malaysia, which transitioned to renewables?
A coal-fired power plant was proposed to be built in a coastal city in Sabah. The area needed power, but a coal-based plant would damage the ‘coral triangle’ located there. The coal plant would need a barge of coal from Australia or

Indonesia

each week. That would wreck the coral ecosystem. We helped Sabah develop an alternative — we found that by investing in solar energy and making a stronger grid through increasing transmission lines across the province, the coal plant would not even be needed. The utility cancelled the coal plant order — it invested in solar energy efficiency instead. It’s been over 10 years since that coal plant wasn’t built. But the province has moved swiftly towards widespread clean energy.

Research: National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Nature, BP Statistical Review of World Energy 202
Does renewable energy bring a philosophical change in our worldview?
Yes. We have built our economies around the planet largely by destroying nature. We are now seeing the consequences in terms of climate change, fires in California and Australia, heatwaves in Siberia, storms in India. These costs are mounting very fast. People now sense that simply replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy isn’t enough — we have to think very differently about our relationship with the planet. Understanding the benefits of renewable energy beyond green electrons — for biodiversity, habitats, health — indicates the road we need to take. If we want to be stewards of the planet, we have to think not just about the next fuel, but what choices that fuel allows us to make about our relationship with nature — we need to rethink our relationship with nature. Renewable energy lets us do this. It gives us the opportunity not to exploit but to safeguard the Earth.