Governments approve U.N. report on big renewables potential

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Renewable sources such as solar, wind and hydropower could fulfill almost 80 percent of the world's energy demand by 2050 with the right policies, according to a U.N. report which won backing from governments Monday.

The report, by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), broadly matched a draft written by scientists and was approved by government delegates at talks in Abu Dhabi.

Environmental groups said some findings were watered down, partly due to opposition by oil exporters.

"Close to 80 percent of the world energy supply could be met by renewables by mid-century if backed by the right enabling public policies," the IPCC said.

The report also said a shift to cleaner energies would help cut greenhouse gas emissions, which it blamed for climate change including floods, droughts, heat waves and rising sea levels.

Growth in renewables has already surged in recent years, and costs are falling.

"We see a rapid increase in wind and solar PV (photovoltaic) especially," Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the IPCC, told a news conference.

Ottmar Edenhofer, who chaired the report, said there were few limits to the theoretical potential for renewable energies. "However, the substantial increase of renewables is technically and politically very challenging," he said.

Scenarios for 2050 ranged widely, from just 15 percent share to 77 percent. Renewables now account for about 12.9 percent of world energy supplies.

WIND

"The report clearly demonstrates that renewable technologies could supply the world with more energy than it would ever need, and at a highly competitive cost," said Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of the Global Wind Energy Council.

Environmentalists said some language favorable to renewables was toned down in all-night wrangling into Monday, partly by OPEC nations led by Saudi Arabia.

The underlying IPCC report was written by scientists but in Abu Dhabi the 26-page summary for policymakers had to gain approval from governments, a step meant to give the findings global legitimacy.

"There are all sorts of 'mights' and 'mays' introduced," said Jean-Philippe Denruyter, manager of global renewable energy policy for the WWF conservation group. "It's not a big problem. We are quite positive about the outcome."

One IPCC member said of OPEC states: "They haven't been wildly enthusiastic but have certainly walked along with us."

Sven Teske of Greenpeace, an IPCC author, said the summary had toned down, for instance, formerly clearer statements that renewable energies were often already cost effective.

Still, he added that the underlying findings: "will be the standard book for renewables."

In 2008, renewable energy was dominated by bioenergy -- such as firewood in developing nations -- and followed by hydropower, wind, geothermal, solar power and finally ocean energy.

An IPCC review of 164 scenarios for the shift to renewable energies showed that they could make cumulative carbon dioxide savings of 220-560 billion tonnes from 2010 to 2050, aiding the fight against global warming, it said.

That compares with 1.53 trillion tonnes of cumulative fossil and industrial carbon dioxide emissions in a reference scenario for the same years.

(Writing by Alister Doyle in Oslo; editing by Jason Neely)