Abstract

We examine experiences of climate-change adaptation strategies and identify common trends and policies, in particular those aiming at decreasing carbon emissions from energy consumption and

production. From this analysis, we draw lessons and insights to assess alternative low-carbon policy

and strategy for the Colombian energy sector.

Introduction

Climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies group a set of complementary policies, with objectives ranging from encouraging sustainable uses of natural resources to promoting economic

growth based on renewable and low-carbon energy technologies.

We examine experiences of climate-change adaptation strategies and identify common trends and

policies, in particular policies aiming at decreasing carbon emissions from energy consumption and

production. From this analysis, we draw lessons and insights to assess alternative low-carbon policy and strategy for the Colombian energy sector.

To achieve this, we study and compare the climate-change strategies from a sample of 18

industrialized and developing countries (see Table 1). Some of these industrialized countries, such as Germany, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands lead the adoption of energy-efficient and renewable

energy technologies. Other industrialized countries, such as the U.S.A., have been less successful in

adopting low-carbon energy technologies, but have a large potential for increasing energy efficiency and energy-related emissions. Although developing countries have no specific targets for carbon-

emission reductions, they are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We therefore include

emerging countries, such as China, India and Brazil, as well as countries that largely rely on natural-

resource exploitation such as South Africa and Indonesia, and smaller countries that are highly vulnerable to climate change such as Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

We believe this sample is diverse and representative enough to encompass a wide range of motivations, designs, and results of climate-change strategies. These strategies for adapting to climate

change combine a set of policies with objectives ranging from increasing sustainable land use to

providing support to new industries based on renewable energy technologies and alternative energy sources. In the energy sectors, technology and efficiency are closely related and as a consequence,

energy policies frequently aim at increasing efficiency and developing technologies.

Colombia has not yet implemented a comprehensive strategy for climate-change adaptation. Although

there are limited policies and programs to increase efficiency and despite having a high share of

hydro-power generation, these programs are not well-structured initiatives and there are no goals for

decreasing carbon emissions from the energy sector.

The climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies we examine were published after 2005, and

19 out of the 22 countries in the sample have been enacted and under implementation. More than 80% of the countries in the sample published their strategy between 2007 and 2009. Although these

strategies are diverse, their objectives can be broadly classified as 1) increasing efficiency in energy

production and consumption; 2) decreasing emissions through standards and emission quotas; 3) developing technology to increase efficiency and decrease emissions, and 4) implementing

sustainable land-use policies. As Table 1 shows, all of the climate change adaptation and mitigation

strategies studied contain plans for decreasing emissions and increasing energy efficiency, usually by

ENERGY IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE-CHANGE ADAPTATION STRATEGIES

Yris Olaya, CIIEN, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, 5744255352, yolayam@unal.edu.co

Laura Cárdenas, CIIEN, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, 5744255350, lcardenas@unal.edu.co

Lorena Cadavid, CIIEN, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín 5744255350 dlorenach@gmail.com Isaac Dyner, CIIEN, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, 5744255350, idyner@unal.edu.co

Carlos Jaime Franco, CIIEN, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, 5744255353, cjfranco@unal.edu.co

Oscar Fernández CIIEN, EPM, 574 3802245, Oscar.Fernandez@epm.com.co

adopting energy-efficient technologies. Of the developing countries’ strategies, only China’s and

Brazil’s strategies have programs aimed at developing new technologies.

Table 1. Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, selected countries.

Table 2. Components of climate-change strategies in sampled countries.

Land use Energy efficiency Technology

development Emission limits and

regulation

Australia

Brazil

China

Costa Rica

Denmark

Germany

India

Indonesia

Japan

Country/region year Name of strategy Status

Australia 2011 Securing a Clean Energy Future

Adopted by

Australian

government

Brazil 2008 National Plan on Climate Change Active

China 2007 China’s National Climate Change Programme Active

Costa Rica 2006 Peace with nature Initiative

Denmark 2008 Dansih Strategy for Adaptation to a Changing Climate Active

European

Union2008 EU Energy and Climate Package Active

Germany 2007 Integrated energy and climate programme Active

India 2008 National Action Plan on Climate Change NAPCC Active

Indonesia 2007 National Action Plan Addressing Climate Change Active

Japan 2008 Action Plan for Achieving a Low Carbon Society Active

México 2007 National Strategy on Climate Change Active

México 2009 Programa especial de cambio climático 2009-2012 Active

Netherlands 2008 National Programme on Climate Adaptation and Spatial Active

Nicaragua 2010 Estrategia Nacional Ambiental y del Cambio Climático Active

Norway 2008 Agreement on Climate Policy Active

South Africa 2008Long Term Mitigation Scenarios, Climate Change Policy

FrameworkFormulation

South Korea 2008

Low Carbon Green Growth. Vision and 1st National Basic Energy

Plan 2008-2030 and Comprehensive Plan on Combating Climate

Change

Active

Spain 2007Spanish Strategy on Climate Change and Clean Energy 2007-2012-

2020Active

U.K 2009 The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan Active

U.S.A 2009 American PowerAct Active

México

Netherlands

Nicaragua

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

U.K

United States

New technologies are key for increasing efficiency in consumption and production, and as shown in

Table 2, energy policies frequently aim at both increasing efficiency and developing new energy

technologies. In the following sections we discuss each of the components of the climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, and compare them to the Colombian case.

Emissions reduction

Policies implemented before Kyoto’s protocol, in particular R&D policies and energy efficiency

policies, enabled the deployment of renewable energy technologies observed after 1990 and the reductions in CO2 emissions shown in Table 3. Carbon pricing and trading, along with feed-in tariffs

and other regulatory incentives have also contributed to promote renewable energies and decrease

energy intensity and emissions from some sectors. As shown in Table 3, between 1990 and 2008, Germany achieved the largest reductions in carbon emissions of the analyzed countries. By 2008,

however, most of the analyzed countries were far from achieving their emission goals, and some

countries, such as Japan, the U.S, and the Netherlands increased their emissions with respect to 1990

levels. Although further reductions are expected due to the recent economic crisis in Europe and the U.S., most of the countries signing Kyoto’s protocol did not achieve their emissions goal.

Table 3. Changes in CO2 emissions

Ton CO2 1990 -

GtC/yr Ton CO2 2008 -

GtC/yr Change (% 1990

emissions) Kioto's protocol

goal

Australia 277.1 387.9 40% + 8%

Brazil 241.4 428.5 78% None

China 2,477.3 6,907.9 179% None

Colombia 50.9 54.9 8% None

Costa Rica -- -- -- None

Denmark 55.8 53.4 -4% -21%

Germany 1,030.5 853.9 -17% -21%

India 581.4 1,442.5 148% None

Indonesia 153.7 379.9 147% None

Japan 1,162.7 1,388.6 19% -6%

México 279.7 440.8 58% None

Netherlands 221.2 272.8 23% -6%

Nicaragua -- -- -- None

South Africa 333.2 484.4 45% None

South Korea 255.0 653.5 156% None

Spain 236.7 380.0 61% + 15%

UK 622.4 577.9 -7% -12.5%

USA 5,473.2 6,369.1 16% -7% Sources: International Energy Agency (IEA, 2011a) and climate change strategies for each country

As previously discussed, CO2 emissions are effectively reduced by changes in the technology matrix for power generation. Renewable power generation is one of the most important technology changes

and it has been promoted through regulatory mechanisms and economic incentives. As observed in

Figure 1, between 2004 and 2008, global investment in renewable energy technologies grew, on average, above 30% annually (UNEP, 2011). Industrialized countries led research and development in

renewable energy at the beginning of the 1970s, and by the end of the same decade, economic

incentives such as tax deductions, feed-in tariffs, and incentives to investment began to be

implemented in the U.S., France and Denmark, among other countries. Voluntary programs, green energy obligations and tradable permits certificates were implemented after 1990 (Johnstone et al.,

2009). These policies have contributed to the changes in the power generation matrix observed

between 1990 and 2009. As Table 4 shows, hydropower capacity has increased at higher rates than other technologies, especially

in developing countries.

Figure 1. Global investment in sustainable energy 2004-2010 billions of dollars. Source: Bloomberg New

Energy Finance, cited by UNEP (2011).

Between 1990 and 2009 hydropower installed capacity grew by more than 50% in Brazil, China and

Costa Rica and by a 20% or more in Colombia and India. Wind power generation capacity increased

significantly in Spain, to reach 36% of total installed power capacity, and in Germany, where it

reached 17%. Use of biomass in power generation has increased by more than 5% in Germany, Brazil and the Netherlands. Other sources as tidal power, geothermal power and photovoltaic have had lower

adoption rates, although together, they account for a 15% of total capacity in Germany, a 8% in Spain

and Nicaragua and 6% and 5% in China and Brazil, respectively.

Table 4. Changes in installed power generating capacity between 1990 and 2009

Country Fossil fuels Hydro Wind Nuclear Other Biomass

Australia 18% 1% 4% 0% 0% 0%

Brazil 17% 64% 1% 3% 5% 7%

China 150% 58% 9% 2% 6% 1%

Colombia -2% 22% 0% 0% 0% 0%

52

76

113

151

180 187

243

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

bill

on

es

de

dó

lare

s

46% 48% 34% 19% 4% 30%

Costa Rica 27% 65% 6% 0% 3% 0%

Denmark -11% 0% 9% 0% 0% 3%

Germany -3% -3% 17% -2% 15% 5%

India 40% 20% 9% 2% 2% 2%

Indonesia 24% 9% 0% 0% 3% 0%

Japan 7% 1% 1% 2% 3% 1%

Mexico 40% 10% 1% 0% 0% 0%

Netherlands 8% 0% 9% 0% 0% 12%

Nicaragua 25% 0% 0% 0% 8% 0%

South Africa -3% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

South Korea 39% 1% 1% 8% 1% 0%

Spain 47% 4% 36% 0% 8% 1%

U.K 8% 1% 5% -3% 0% 0%

USA 24% 1% 4% 0% 1% 1%

* Otras: PV, Thermo-solar, Tidal, Geothermal

Feed-in tariffs are the most commonly, and the most effective instrument used to promote renewable

energy technologies (Dyner et al. 2011). These tariffs are part of the energy policies for climate

change found in more than half of the revised strategies. Feed in tariffs have supported wind power and solar PV deployment in Germany, Spain, Denmark, Costa Rica, and the U.S, among other

countries. As shown in Figure 2, Colombia along with Mexico and Nicaragua offer no direct subsidies

or feed-in tariffs to renewable energies. Instead, Colombia relies on a tax-deduction scheme for capital expenses, as shown in Figure 3. Financial incentives were given to renewable and low carbon

energies in more than 80% of the countries analyzed; in most cases, these incentives are provided for

renewable energy in general and are not tied to a specific technology. Other incentives are technology-specific such as hydropower and biomass incentives in México, solar energy incentives in

India and carbon capture and sequestration incentives in the U.K. Colombia offers no financial

incentives for renewables, although the program for providing energy to remote rural areas promotes

the utilization of renewable energy. Renewable obligation and green portfolios schemes mandate utilities to source a given percentage of energy sold to final consumers from renewables. These

schemes are or have been used in more than 70% of the analyzed countries. The share of renewable

energy in the portfolio varies between 15 and 40% in the majority of cases (see Figure 5); in the case of Colombia, there are no such incentives for renewables, although hydropower (including small

hydro) and biomass account for more than 70% of generated electricity (XM, 2009).

Figure 2. Feed in tariffs for supporting renewable energy in the analyzed climate change mitigation and

adaptation strategies. Sources: climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for selected countries.

Figure 3. Tax incentives for renewable energy in the in the analyzed climate change mitigation and

adaptation strategies. Sources: climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for selected countries.

Figure 4. Financial incentives for renewables in the analyzed climate change mitigation and adaptation

strategies. Sources: climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for selected countries

17%

55%

28%

No subsidies Feed-in tariff Other

5

13

No tax exemptions Tax exemptions

CO

19%

56%

25%

No financial incentives

General incentives

Technology-specific incentives

CO, MX, NI

CO

Figure 5. Renewable energy portfolios or obligations in the analyzed climate change mitigation and

adaptation strategies. Sources: climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for selected countries

Energy efficiency

Energy efficiency policies aim at improving processes and energy use in the industry and final consumers. These efficiency policies usually encompass more than electricity use, and are also aimed

at other sectors such as road transportation. By 2010, all of the analyzed countries had implemented at

least one energy efficiency program and applying mechanisms such as subsidies, tax exemption, as well as consumer awareness and education initiatives (see Table 6). For example, the EU non-binding

commitment consists on a 20% increase of efficiency from projected 2020 levels (PEW, 2009). In the

EU, the largest potentials for increasing efficiency are identified in building, transportation, and

appliances (COM, 2011).

Energy efficiency programs target a variety of sectors, depending on the priority of each country, as can be seen in Table 5. Efficiency in illumination is one of the most commonly implemented

programs, followed by efficiency rating of equipment and/or mandatory efficiency standards for

equipment. Building codes increasing energy efficiency, along with weatherization assistance

programs are also part of the strategies for reducing energy consumption in residential and commercial sectors.

Table 5. Summary of energy efficiency programs implemented in sampled countries

Program Country

Lighting efficiency BR, CH, MX, IN, SA, AU, CR, SP, JP, CO

Efficiency standards for equipment BR, CH, I, IN, AU, CR, DN, JP, SK

Vehicle efficiency AU, SP, I, SK, UK, G

Building efficiency BR, CH, I, DK, JP, MX, UK, G

Energy efficiency in industry CH, CR, NI, I

Heating systems CH, BR, MX

Cogeneration CH, SP

33%

11%22%

28%

6%

Renewable energy portfolios/Renewable energy obligations

(as share of consumption)

No portfolio

Less than 15%

Between 15 and 20%Between 20 and 40%

CO

Efficiency in engines CH, IN, I, JP, SA

Efficient boilers CH

Recycling BR, JP

Biofuels BR, NK, USA, CH, DK, CO

Smart meters UK

Australia: AU, Brazil: BR, China:CH, Colombia: CO, Costa Rica: CR, Denmark: DN, Germany: G, India:I, Indonesia: IN, Japan: JP, Mexico: MX, Netherlands: NL, Nicaragua: NI, South Africa: SA, South Korea: SK, Spain: SP, U.K: UK, USA: USA

Table 6. Summary of mechanisms used for promoting energy efficiency in the sampled countries.

Country

Direct subsidies AU, BR, CH, DK, SP, I, JP, MX, SA, SK, UK, USA, G, CR

Tax exemption AU, CH, DK, SP, NL, I, JP, MX, SK, UK, USA

Public outreach and awareness AU, BR, CH, CR, DK, SP, NL, I, IN, JP, MX, NI, SK, UK, USA, G

Taxes AU, CH, DK, SP, NL, JP, SA, UK, USA, G

Australia: AU, Brazil: BR, China:CH, Colombia: CO, Costa Rica: CR, Denmark: DN, Germany: G, India:I, Indonesia: IN, Japan: JP, Mexico: MX, Netherlands: NL, Nicaragua: NI, South Africa: SA, South Korea: SK, Spain: SP, U.K: UK, USA: USA Sources: information from International Energy Agency (2011a) and climate change mitigation and adaptation

strategies for each country.

Energy efficiency programs in Colombia have been in place since the 1990s; the first programs for rational energy use targeted the residential sector, introducing natural gas as a substitute for electricity

and liquid fuels in cooking and water heating, and in their most recent version, these programs have

targeted efficiency in lighting, phasing out incandescent light bulbs. Although CO2 emissions in Colombia have grown between 2000 and 2008 (see Table 3), energy intensity has decreased, thanks to

improvements in technology and energy efficiency programs. Note that these efficiency programs do

not aim at sectors such as road transportation and agriculture/land-use, which are among the main

contributors to CO2 emissions in Colombia.

Figure 6. Evolution of energy intensity in Colombia.

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

Energy intensity in Colombia (BEP/Thousand US$ PPA)

Land use

Changes in land use affect not only emissions, but nature’s ability to capture and sequester carbon.

Land use and zoning programs are the last identified component in the climate change mitigation and

adaptation strategies. Land use changes are not directly related to energy, which is the focus of this review, but they do affect energy consumption patterns. Urban sprawling for instance increases

driving hours and emissions from transportation. In addition, urban areas with low population density

need more energy and materials than other areas with higher population density (EPA, 2011). Land use policies are not included in all of the climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, as

shown in Table 2. All of the studied strategies for developing countries, however, contain land-use

policies such as deforestation control and sustainable forestry (including biomass) into their climate

change adaptation and mitigation strategies. In the Colombian case, vulnerability to climate change and in particular, the vulnerability of energy supply to climate change has not been fully assessed and

it is therefore not considered when creating energy policies. Forest rehabilitation programs, as well as

community development programs are not linked to energy policies, but they are part of other environmental and social policies.

Table 7. Components of land-use policies for mitigation/adaptation to climate change in selected

countries.

Forestry Community development Zoning plans

Australia

National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable

Development launched in 1992; Agriculture

Advancing Australia in 1997; Carbon farming

initiative supporting reforestation and

revegetation, savanna fire management, native

forest protection, among others (2011)

Low Carbon Communities , Remote

Indigenous Energy Program, Household

advise line / website, within the australian

climate change strategy (2011)

Develop scenarios on regional climate

impacts as inputs for regional planning

financed by the the Regional Natural

Resource Management Planning for

Climate Change Fund

BrazilAction plan for preventing and controling

deforestation in the AmazonCommunity development plan Ecologic and economic zoning

China

Natural Forest protection program, conversion of

cropland to forest program, sandification control

programs.

National and regional spatial plan Urban and rural zoning plan

Colombia NA NA NA

Corea del Sur Restoration of forests and wetlands NA NA

Costa Rica Payment of forestal services

Land zoning policy for Costa Rica (in

study) Law of land use, conservation and

management (1998)

Denmark Wetlands and coastal management plans NARisk building areas and flood-risk

management plans

Germany

Joint Task for the Improvement of Agricultural

Structures and Coastal Protection (GAK),

adaptation of foresty to climate change through

conversion of monocultures into stable deciduous

and mixed stands.

NA Federal Building Code

Holanda National forestry plan NANational plan of climate adaptation and

spatial planning

IndiaNational Mission for a “Green India”: program for

reforestationNA NA

Indonesia

Preventive forest fire actions, control of illegal

tree cutting, management of flooded land and

flood prevention, reforestation programs,

Change land-clearing practices as a part of

the preventive forest fire effort

Programs for land rehabilitation

(Gerhan), natural resource conservation

(MIH), Management of peat land, River

watershed programs. Improvement of

land policy

Japan Improving forests

Support of community based initiatives,

regional NGOs, and promotion of industrial

cluster project. Support of local production

for local consumption.

Support to the formulation of regional

planning to cut greenhouse gas

emissions, and to the implementation of

measures based on this planning

México General law of sustainable forest development NoGeneral law of ecological equilibrium

and environmental protection, 1998

NicaraguaLaw for conservation, promotion and sustainable

development of forestry sector.

Sustainable land management, food security

programs, engagement of communitiesLand-use law

South Africa NA NA NA

SpainFire management, reforestation and improvement

of forests

Building law (Ley de ordenamiento de la

edificación)

U.K Woodland Carbon Task Force Rural Development Program

Planning Policy Statements and

Guidance (PPS & PPG). Draft National

Planning Policy Framework

Innovation and technology development

Technology development has been key to creat low-carbon goods and practices. Barlett (2011) ranks

the countries that lead R&D in low-carbon energy technologies using patent counts from the period

between 1988 and 2007 and data from UNEP, EPO and ICTSD. China is the only emerging country leading technology development in all technologies, while Germany, the U.S. and Japan are at the top

of patent issuing in most technologies. Johnstone et al. (2009) analyze the impact of environmental

policies in technological innovation for renewable energy and find that Germany, the U.S. and Japan have registered the largest number of patents for renewable energy.

Table 8. Innovation in renewable technologies between 1988 and 2007 from Bartlett (2011).

Source: Bartlett (2011). Data sources: UNEP / EPO / ICTSD, Patents and Clean Eneergy: Bridging the

Gap Between Evidence and Policy, September 2010

Studies by Johnstone et al. (2009) and Barlett (2011) indicate that patents for wind power increased

rapidly since the mid-1990s. According to Johnstone et al. (2009), patent registry for tidal increased rapidly during last years, whereas the lowest number of patents were issued for geothermal and

biomass from waste. at the same time, research in conventional energy continues and the number of

patents for conventional technologies is comparable to the number of patents for renewables (UNEP, EPO and ICTSD, 2010).

Ranking Solar Wind Biofuels Geothermal HydroAdvanced

hydrocarbons

# 1 Japan Germany U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A.

# 2 U.S.A. U.S.A. Germany Germany Germany Japan

# 3 Germany Japan Japan Japan Japan Germany

# 4 South Korea Denmark France Israel U.K France

# 5 France Spain U.K Austria France U.K

# 6 U.K U.K Italy Canada Italy Norway

# 7 China-Taiwan France Austria France Canada Canada

# 8 Netherlands Netherlands Canada Netherlands Norway Netherlands

# 9 Italy Canada Netherlands U.K. Switzerland Italy

# 10 Switzerland Italy Switzerland Italy Australia India

Emerging countries China China China China China India

Table 9. Number of patent applications in EPO for renewable energy technologies, weighted by GDP

(1978-2005). Source: Johnstone, Haščič, y Popp (2009)

Research in renewable energy and low carbon energy sources in Colombia is low. The main research

topic in this area is energy efficiency, and studies tend to focus on methodology rather than on

technical aspects of efficiency. The technical studies that reach pilot stages usually target specific industrial problems, and we found no instances of projects within commercial or pre-commercial

stages (see Table 10).

Table 10. Research on renewable and low carbon energy technologies in Colombia.

Wind Solar Geothermal Biomass Nuclear Tidal

Basic research Yes Yes Yes

Yes No Yes

Pilots Yes Yes No

Yes No No

Commercial No No No

No No No

Wind Solar Geothermal Tidal Biomass All sources

Total 1978-

2005 sin

ponderar

Australia 1.25 9.51 0.26 2.43 0.7 11.84 135

Austria 3.88 12.58 2.05 2.1 2.67 21.38 112

Belgium 4.15 6.8 0.46 0 1.32 12.84 84

Canada 1.18 1.44 0.26 0.19 0.51 3.44 66

Cechz Republic 0.41 0.83 0.41 0 0 1.24 3

Denmark 41.25 5.7 0.85 3.82 4.58 55.35 196

Finland 4.32 3.33 0 1.66 4.3 13.95 42

France 1.5 5.36 0.49 0.35 1.36 8.83 315

Germany 10.32 16.42 1.47 0.36 2.11 30.23 1,494

Greece 1.24 1.45 0 0.62 0 3.1 15

Hungary 0.56 4.48 0.56 0 0.56 5.6 10

Ireland 2.55 2.42 0 3.05 0 9.04 18

Italy 1.16 2.23 0.3 0.42 0.91 4.87 169

Japan 1.07 11.38 0.46 0.13 0.84 14.24 1,095

Luxemburg 0 6.33 0 0 0 13.04 6

Netherlands 5.59 9.99 0.49 0.64 1.26 17.58 179

New Zealand 0 0.8 0 0 0 2.39 5

Norway 4.97 4.33 1.38 6.81 0.85 16.63 59

Poland 0.18 0.53 0.18 0 0.53 1.58 9

Portugal 1.07 2.13 0 0 0 3.47 13

Slovak Republic 1.24 1.24 0 1.24 0 3.71 3

South Korea 0.56 0.92 0 0 0.28 1.77 25

Spain 3.14 1.93 0.21 0.58 0.11 5.92 112

Sweeden 7.52 7.48 2.44 3.49 1.95 20.79 119

Switzerland 4.23 21.71 1.62 0.63 3.55 31.21 173

Turkey 0.16 0 0 0 0 0.41 5

U.K. 2.05 2.41 0.19 1.48 0.79 6.5 226

U.S.A 0.81 3.69 0.27 0.31 0.45 5.38 1,133

Unweighted

world total1460 3599 290 325 520 6,032

One of the causes of the low innovation activity in Colombia is the weaknesses of the science and

research system. As shown in Figure 7, during the past 15 years, the Colombian research council has funded less than three research projects per year in the area of efficiency.

Figure 7. Research on energy efficiency in Colombia, number of projects financed by the national

research council. Elaborated from data from Colciencias, 2012.

Discussion

We compare and analyze advances in energy policies as a part of adaptation and mitigation strategies

for climate change. Most of these policies aim at reducing emissions using a mix of cap-and-trade and

standards regulation, increasing efficiency through technology renovation and public outreach programs, and diversifying energy sources, by increasing the share of renewables and low carbon

power generation. These programs complement each other and together, have contributed to

decreasing emission rates of GHG.

Evidence indicates that efficiency gains in generation and consumption of energy have been key to reduce CO2 emission rates. However, at the current rates of population and economy growth, these

initiatives alone are not sufficient to attain decreases in carbon levels.

In addition, industrial concentration in the power industry and current regulation of electricity markets

are entry barriers for renewable and low carbon energy sources. Government support for renewable

and low carbon energy technologies ranges from setting up a regulatory framework (to promote the

adoption of renewable energy technologies) to funding long-term research (to develop such technologies). These research programs have the largest potential to create low carbon economies.

Long-term programs such as the Sunshine project implemented in Japan in 1974 and the fossil fuel

independence strategy of Denmark, among others, have had positive effects in both energy efficiency and on the creation of markets and employment in the energy sector.

Most South American countries have a high share of hydropower in electricity generation. As a result, carbon emissions per capita and per GDP unit in the region are, in general, lower than world average

emissions. However, Latin-American countries have unexploited opportunities to develop renewable

energy and to lower their energy intensity. For the studied Latin-American countries, technology

development is not at the core of the climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies; in this case, the main benefits of adopting renewable sources are to diversify energy sources and to adapt new

1

0

2

0

1

0

1 1

2

3

2

1

2

3

2

Cantidad de proyectos

Research on energy efficiency

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

technologies to each country’s conditions. Specifically, we identify the following lessons for

Colombia:

Experiences around the world indicate that a mix of mechanisms and incentives is needed to

promote the adoption and development of low carbon and renewable energy technologies. The

specific mechanisms and incentives depend on the institutional structure of each country and on

the characteristics of technology. In this direction, economic and regulatory incentives can

efficiently favor different types of technologies via feed-in tariffs. We observed that economic

mechanisms favor technologies in the commercial stage, so it is necessary to establish whether the

policy objective is to promote the adoption or the development of new technologies, and adjust

the chosen mechanism accordingly.

Leading technology development is not the only reason for adopting low carbon technologies.

Low carbon and renewable technologies also contribute to increasing energy security through

diversification, self-sufficiency, and higher efficiency in consumption. CO2 emissions from

electricity generation in Colombia are already below world average, but adopting low carbon and

renewable energy technologies can diversify energy sources and develop existing resources.

In addition, efficiency of energy consumption in Colombia can be improved in all economic

sectors, from industry to households, and the greatest opportunities might be attained in the road

transportation sector.

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