renewables 2004: Environment Minister J�rgen Trittin opens conference in Yemen

21 April 2004. In preparation for the International Conference for Renewable Energies taking place 1 � 4 June 2004 in Bonn, representatives of Middle East countries are meeting in Sana'a (Yemen) on Wednesday and Thursday this week. The Conference aims to sound out the possible contributions of this region to the increased use of renewable energies. Ministers and high-level government representatives are taking part, as well as representatives from trade and industry, research and NGOs. The Conference opens on Wednesday with a speech by Federal Environment Minister J�rgen Trittin.

"It may seem at first a paradox that renewable energies can play a significant role in a region with its own oil-rich countries," said Trittin. "But in this region, too, the harmful impacts of climate change can already be felt. The countries of the Middle East, however, have the best conditions for extensive utilisation of solar energy and in most cases also of wind energy. In the long-term, this creates the prospect of exporting electricity generated from solar power plants instead of oil." Initial measures for the utilisation of renewables exist, for example, in Yemen, where solar collectors are used for warm water treatment.

Renewable energies can also play a role in solving the most serious problem in the Middle East, namely drinking water supply. For instance, waste heat from solar thermal power plants could be used to desalinate seawater. The region has always been marked by water scarcity. The increased demand for water combined with the even more extreme droughts arising from climate change have served to exacerbate this scarcity.

A further problem is the lack of access to electricity suffered by many people in rural areas of the region's poorer countries. Here too, the decentralised structure of renewables offers a cost-efficient alternative to a conventional electricity supply from centralised power plants. The increased use of renewable energies creates regional economic impetus and thus secures jobs and income.

The conference will also further the exchange of experience between different regions � e.g. between Europe and the Middle East with regard to the expansion and use of renewables. Questions relating to research and financial framework conditions will also be discussed.