REN21’s Renewables 2012 Global Status Report speaks to the cumulating effect of steady growth in renewable energy markets, support policies and investment over the past years. In 2011,

• Renewable sources supplied 16.7% of global final energy consumption. The share of modern renewables increased, while the share of traditional biomass slightly declined.
• One hundred eighteen countries –more than half in the developing world– implemented RE targets.
• Investment in renewables increased 17% to a record $257 billion, despite a widening sovereign debt crisis in Europe and rapidly falling prices for renewable power equipment.
• Photovoltaic module prices dropped by 50% and onshore wind turbines by close to 10%, bringing the price of the leading renewable power technologies closer to grid parity with fossil fuels such as coal and gas.

In this series of webinar-based training, we present the report findings with a regional focus. Go in depth and behind the scenes of the REN21 report with Christine Lins, Executive Director of REN21 and a series of guest speakers who will bring unique regional expertise.

Webinars in the Series

Panelists

Christine Lins

Christine Lins was appointed as Executive Secretary of REN21, the Renewable Energy Policy Network of the 21st Century, in July 2011. During the last 10 years, she served as Secretary General of the European Renewable Energy Council, the united voice of Europe’s renewable energy industry. Lins has more than 15 years of working experience in the field of renewable energy sources. Previously, she worked in a regional energy agency in Austria promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Lins holds a master's degree in international economics and applied languages.

Ranier Hinrichs-Rahlwes

Ranier Hinrichs-Rahlwes is the President of EREC, the European Renewable Energy Council, the umbrella organization of European renewable energy industry, trade and research associations. And he is the President of EREC’s member Association EREF, the European Renewable Energies Federation, the voice of independent producers of energy from renewable sources. He is a Board Member of the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE). He is BEE’s spokesperson for European and international affairs, and he is the Chairman of BEE’s related working group.

Alexander Ochs

Alexander Ochs is Director of Climate and Energy at the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C. where he leads a growing team of researchers, is a member of the Institute’s management team, chief editor of the renowned Re|Volt blog and a co-editor of the transatlantic newsletter Connected. A co-editor of three books, director of two documentary films, author of numerous scholarly articles, and frequent contributor to public media, Alexander currently also acts as President of the Forum for Atlantic Climate and Energy Talks (FACET), senior fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and adjunct lecturer in George Washington University’s Sustainable Urban Planning Program.

Arne Schweinfurth

Arne Schweinfurth is an economist and advisor on renewable energy for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Since January 2010, Arne has worked for GIZ in Jakarta, Indonesia, and he manages the Renewable Energy Support Prgoramme for ASEAN (ASEAN-RESP), a regional project that supports the development of the renewable energy sector in the 10 member states of the ASEAN community. In addition Mr. Schweinfurth is responsible for implementating the Project Development Programme Southeast Asia in Indonesia (PEP SEA) with a focus on private sector cooperation in the bio energy and solar power sector.

Bah F M Saho

Until his appointment with Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), Bah F. M. Saho was the Director of Energy in The Gambia from December 2000. He was responsible for the overall national energy policy planning, formulation, and implementation, development of programmes and projects with national regional and international institutions and promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency programmes. Saho’s accomplishments include development of a National Energy Policy document, including the renewable energy sector; formulation and enactment of the Electricity Act; drafting of a petroleum legislation; and establishment of a framework and funding for renewable energy legislation.

Gonzalo Bravo

Gonzalo Bravo is a research associate at the Bariloche Foundation. He is member of several multidisciplinary teams in energy studies and its relation with the environment, specialising in the power sector and renewable energies. He has participated in policy and economic research issues; tariff audits and framework design; as well as technical assistance to state dependencies, energy sector firms, and other institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Bravo also teaches energy economics at Comahue National University and is a lecturer in environmental economics at the National University of Río Negro.