WWEC2013 in Havana will put Cuba and the Caribbean on the Wind Map of the World WWEC2013 Conference Resolution 12th World Wind Energy Conference and Renewable Energy Exhibition Opening Doors for Caribbean Wind Havana, Cuba, 3-5 June 2013 The World Wind Energy Association and the Center of Study for Renewable Energy Technologies (CETER), welcome the presence of those 560 participants from 42 countries attending this Conference, from wind and all other renewable energy technologies. The Conference covered all aspects of wind utilisation, related policies, manufacturing, development, operation as well as economic and social issues, with a special focus on how to accelerate the deployment of wind power in the Caribbean region. The Conference appreciates the support of the governments and governmental as well as non-governmental organisations, especially the Government of Cuba including the Ministry for Energy & Mines, CUBASOLAR, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation & Nuclear Safety, IRENA, UNESCO, UNDP, IDB, GIZ, the International Renewable Energy Alliance, REN21, the World Future Council, OLADE and all organisations and individuals enhancing the Conference. The Conference welcomes in particular the strong commitment and important contributions of the International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, to the event. The conference applauds the scientifically substantiated statements made that a 100 % renewable energy supply can be reached worldwide in the foreseeable future and it encourages all renewable energy stakeholders to join the Global 100% Renewable Energy Campaign which was launched during the event. The Conference appreciates that the French wind turbine manufacturer Vergnet Eolien has been awarded with the World Wind Energy Award 2013 for the capacity that it has shown to adapt the wind technology to the necessities of millions of people, in rural areas and in the areas of developing countries. Vergnet has become the most successful manufacturer of wind turbines in France, a manufacturer which has introduced in the Caribbean market its machines adapted to the Caribbean conditions. The Conference appreciates the Special Recognition for Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz. The Conference recognises Dr. Castro’s leading role in the introduction of wind power and renewable energy. Almost two decades ago, Dr. Castro started to shift Cuba’s energy supply towards renewable energy and energy efficiency. No other country in the Caribbean region has so far presented a similar progressive renewable energy programme like Cuba. Already in the early 1990s, Cuba created the first renewable energy programmes. In 1999, the first grid-connected wind farm was installed, and in 2005, the “Energy Revolution” was launched. It has also to be appreciated that most of the so called developed countries hesitate to present similar ambitious programmes even if they have a much better economical basis than Cuba to push renewable energy on a large scale. In this context, the Conference appreciates in particular that other countries can see Cuba as a pioneer in renewable energy and Conference hopes and expects that many other countries will also launch similar programmes in the future. The Conference also appreciates the Special Recognition for Dr. Prof. Conrado Moreno Figueredo. Since 1975, Prof. Moreno has been involved in academic and research activities related to wind energy, such as wind energy assessment and the design and manufacturing of wind turbines. With this long history, he is one of the most experienced wind scientists and professor not only in Cuba, but in the region. Since 2005, he has been a member of the National Wind Energy Group. The Conference recognizes that the Caribbean region is currently heavily dependent on fossil fuel combustion, with petroleum products accounting for an estimated of more than 90% energy consumption so the environment in the region is very vulnerable to climate change. The Conference encourages all Governments in the Caribbean, Central and Latin America to remove the barriers to renewable use in the region and develop a comprehensive long-term strategy that includes community power and local integration of renewable energies as key components. The Conference recognises that training and education have to be key elements of a strategy that aims at mainstreaming wind power .and support the initiative focused to create the Latin American Center for Capacity Building, Research and Scientific Information launched by CETER. In addition the Conference supports the following objectives, policies and actions to: 1. Remove gradually all subsidies and introduce the internalisation of all externalities to achieve a level playing field; 2. Pursue compensatory regulatory frameworks such as sufficient and effective feed-in tariffs that encourage renewable energy developments until this is achieved, and that provide sufficient financial security to promote long-term investment, especially for smaller and community based investors; 3. Focus on the integration of wind power into existing power systems also on the local and community level, create smart grids and enhance decentralised synergies between the various renewable energy solutions in order to achieve an integrated 100 % renewable energy supply in the foreseeable future; 4. Intensify the close cooperation with IRENA on the implementation of its work programme and contribute to its further refinement; 5. Raise the political and social awareness on all levels of society and in particular amongst local communities and enable them to obtain access to the necessary knowledge and technologies; 6. Create a stronger focus on community power in existing governmental, international, education, research and financial institutions; 7. Reduce overall costs for energy supply by an increasing share of renewable energy power and by a stronger focus on least-cost decentralised options for 100 % renewable energy; 8. Develop and expand national, regional and international financing mechanisms for renewable energy, especially making use of funds provided as part of the international climate change negotiations, and ensure that the Global Green Climate Fund gives priority to renewable energy and community based projects; 9. Support communities especially in developing countries in obtaining easier access to technology and finance; 10. Encourage all wind energy stakeholders to participate in the next World Wind Energy Conference which will be held in Shanghai, China, 7-9 April 2014. Havana, 5 June 2013 When People think about Havana and Music they thing about “Bonavista Social Club” I do the same but I do add this inspiring music created for the WWEC2013: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMzA5yOqUA4 WWEC2013 June 3rd to 5th, in Havana Cuba WWEC2013 in Havana will put Cuba and the Caribbean on the Wind Energy World Map Dear Friends and Colleagues, You have some time ago received the first official invitation from the hosting partners the Cuban People & Government as well as the WWEA in Bonn. My personal advance appeal to my friends is to encourage you all already now to plan to participate in this exiting world event that will help to put Cuba, the entire Caribbean Basin with all its countries and all of the Americas on the Renewable World map for a sustainable future. The Caribbean is blessed with wind and sun an yet the electricity and energy consumption is mainly based on fossil fuels. This is an outstanding opportunity for a concerted effort to change this and to utilize this great opening of a huge new market for the industry to use any present free capacities for the development of this very promising area of the world. Put this important opportunity into your 2013 calendar! The single biggest opportunity for advancement of the Cuban region and everywhere is laying in the introduction of sustainable innovative renewable energies, efficient systems, transportation systems on the same principals and advancing all of the buildings including public buildings, industries and tourist facilities. This will showcase to the world that they take the environment serious by drastically reducing the fossil fuel consumption and replacing them with clean electricity based on the resources of Sun, Wind, biomass and others. All these resource are in abundance available everywhere and just need to be developed and harvested and not wasted. Scandinavia and Germany/Europe have per capita shown the lead for quite some time and now it is time for all of us to get out of the fossil fuel addiction. Particularly for the Caribbean Basin this is an enormous opportunity that needs to be taken. In a region blessed with so much beauty, sun and wind we must and will succeed in building a future for the following generations with fresh air, clean water, buildings in harmony with its surroundings and wholesome organic grown food. It is very timely to activate and to promote RE and particularly innovative wind energy systems in the Caribbean, Middle America and all of the Americas. This conference will attract presenters from all over the world with the most advanced and smart systems and technologies. We are living in an era of big changes if we together approach this with a focus on quality and sustainability we will be part of an exiting journey where the renewable energy will be front and centre. This peaceful revolution will bring energy culture and prosperity to Cuba, the Caribbean and the whole world. As part of the Cuban tradition and culture including the art, music and heritage you will during and around the WWEC2013 in Havana and everywhere in Cuba experience the finest world class beaches, fantastic hotels, fine natural organic food and world class entertainment presented in the most perfect and joyful way. See you all in Havana! – Nos vemos en La Habana Best regards Volker Welcome Dear Friends… Velkommen Kære Venner… Willkommen liebe Freunde… Bienvenidos queridos amigos… Welcome to all
WWEC 2012 Conference in Bonn Germany
This year, the World Wind Energy Conference 2012, will be hosted by beautiful Bonn, Germany.
The focus of the conference will be Community Citizens’ Power, and it will highlight the status of community power worldwide.
We will examine community power benefits, and the policies necessary to support it. Our goal will continue to be the evolution of tools and strategies to develop and further promote community power all around the World.
Stefan Gsanger, WWEA Secretary General: “If we want to reach a 100% renewable energy supply worldwide with wind energy as a cornerstone, we have to make sure that the local communities actively support this endeavor and that they benefit from the wind farms in their vicinity. Community Power ownership models offer an excellent approach to achieving this objective.”
Community Power is the best way forward, and we look foward to seeing you in Bonn for this year’s wonderful WWEC 2012.
Renewable energy sector may have 20m new jobs
ABU DHABI — The Renewable energy sector around the world will have some 20 million new job opportunities by 2030, said Helene Pelosse, interim Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), here on Monday.
Addressing a five-day conference on renewable energy, which began on Sunday, -Pelosse said there is significant growth in the jobs in the renewable energy sector worldwide. In 2008, it was 2,332,000, which is expected to reach 20,000,000 additional jobs requirements in the sector by 2030.
According to her, there could be 50 per cent renewable energy in the energy mix by 2050. There were double digit growth rates for photovoltaic and wind over the last years and 60 per cent of new capacity in Europe come from renewable energy. Pelosse said, 85 countries are with policy targets and other 75 countries with feed-in tariffs.
On global green growth, she said, in 2004-2008, there was a fourfold increase in renewable energy investments, while RE investments in 2009 stood at $162 billion. Pelosse said, the renewable energy currently amounts to 18 per cent of the global final energy consumption. A shift in energy potential is required as the coal, oil are on the downturn and how many years left for fossil fuels even if shale gas and oil are increasing reserves, Pelosse said.
She said, there are three main drivers for renewable energy: economic growth, climate change and energy security.
World Wind Energy Conference 2010
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The World is in a time of great challenges. From the gushing oil spill in the Gulf to the growing concern over climate change. It is also however, a time of great opportunities. Opportunities abound for the World to come together and embrace renewable energy and a wide field of new sustainable technology solutions.
These solutions include wind power, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal, geo-thermal, seasonal energy storage systems, and many other sustainable systems.
This year in Istanbul, Turkey, The World Wind Energy Association is hosting the World Wind Energy Conference to bring together community advocates, key players, and leaders in the field of wind power and renewables industry.
It is a time for our minds and hearts to meet and integrate our common goals to make this a better and safer and cleaner World, ready to solve the challenges we all face.
We are definitely moving in the right directions when we look toward the community power models that bring all stakeholders to the table, and integrate the best technologies to bring energy to a distributed equity and quality for all people of the globe.
Wind power is one of the best forms of renewable energy, and it lends itself perfectly to the local integration that is necessary around the World where energy availability can mean the difference between poverty and economic equity.
The proliferation of large scale wind operations around the World shows that resources and economic intent is inline with this sustainable technology. The only component that still needs to be detailed is the worldwide development of standardized models that make smaller scale community power available to all corners of the globe.
As was done in Denmark and Germany, the true community power model put the large scale turbine in the hands of the individual farmer. All that was necessary was a cooperative banking structure that understood and supported the technology and the economics, and access to the technology and know-how.
Today we have all the pieces of the puzzle on the table, and the patterns are emerging in great clarity.. Pieces are falling into place with ease, and the hands that can, are more and more willing to move the remaining pieces into place. The time is ripe for the integration of all these options to bring wind power into the new wind renaissance, where it becomes one of the true backbones of distributed energy around the World..
Wind power is clean, beautiful, and ideal for our new post-industrial technological era that we can clearly see on our civilizations horizon. I can not think of a better solution for the time being, and this is one that will definitely serve us well for hundreds if not thousands of years to come.
Now, for this transition period with its great challenges let us pray for the World, and for our humanity that we may find the strength and unity to bring all conflicts to their ends, and begin an era of peace, prosperity, and global co-operation with which will heal our past and celebrate our future.
Volker thomsen WWEC2010
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World Wind Energy Conference 2009
The WWEC 2009 will take place June 23- 25 on Jeju Island, South Korea. Please see WWEC2009 for details.
WWEC2008 David Suzuki
Hermann Scheer on Renewable Energy
No one makes the case for Renewable Energy better than Dr. Herman Scheer. As a pioneering leader in wind and solar technology and policy in Germany, his models and praxis serve as a blueprint for the world energy situation. In his speach he outline the problems associated with the current energy system, and the elements needed to transition towards the renewable energy future, now.
After the Hermann Scheer WWEC2008 speech, there is a bonus clip with David Suzuki, Herman Scheer and Kristopher Stevens.
Thank You to all WWEC 2008 Supporters and Participants
To all participants, delegates, presenters and members of the WWEC2008 and the greater Community Power Community including students, faculty, staff and board at OSEA, WWEA and SLC
Dear friends and colleagues:
I very much appreciate the huge amount of feedback I have received from everywhere but particularly from students. It is great that you are sharing the positive feeling and energy with most of the 800 participants, delegates, volunteers and hosts. This has been an extraordinary event. Somehow people for a change did not focus on the negative but on the positive opportunities.
St. Lawrence Colleges could not shine as a five star convention center but fared extremely well as a seven star community college. Everybody felt at home at SLC in one global community. We all felt secure and well looked after including a wholesome and delicious food, good shelter and wonderful music. Together with 5 Ontario Ministers and the President of the Canadian Parliament / Speaker of the House of Commons Peter Milliken who all whole heartily joined the strong commitment to a better and sustainable future. On Friday Following these outstanding activities the Minister of Research and Innovation the Hon. John Wilkinson and I hosted a round table to sum up the opportunities moving forward. We were joined by the Hon. John Garretson Minister of the Environment and 14 world leaders in renewable energy policy making. The inspiring discussion did bring out that there is a feeling of the World and very much including Ontario having been mislead in the past but that here is an openness to listen to people or countries that have made a successful transition and change.
We all at one time believed that the large energy providers of this World have the competence and ownership of introducing the long overdue change. We have all found that our trust in their ability has been in vain or at least ignored. We are in a situation were we must find better ways as some leading countries already have done. I mentioned the example that if we want to introduce real change we can not expect the very people that have been preventing change to lead this transition. It may be a bad example but is like asking criminals to design a legal framework against crime and also lead the implementation.
However that does not mean we do not want to include the big energy providers in the discussion and also consider their perspective. But is has to be in a way that we together will create a community based pathway to a sustainable future. Many huge monopolists have showcased their lack of leadership and their tendency to misuse the power for too long that we can ignore this. I encourage the Ontario Government to use a strong new broom to clean the filth of the past and let companies like Hydro One become what they should be a jewel and a customer oriented clean provider for efficient, healthy and sustainable energy. The future can and should include and inspire all to be part of a peaceful revolution towards a renewable or new energy age. The oil and coal age is already history and finished and not worth fighting any more wars over.
It was inspiring to see the passion and listen to the Ministers John Gerretsen, Donna Cansfield and Leona Dombrowsky when they articulated a united
pathway to a sustainable future and it was particularly uplifting to listen to the Deputy Premier the Hon. George Smitherman first public speech as the newly appointed Minister of Energy and Infrastructure. He is open to anything and willing to act. That sounds promising and if we support him properly in this huge undertaking I am certain that he and the strong united Government of Ontario under Dalton McGuinty leadership will succeed in finding the right way. A planned visit to Germany and Denmark will be very helpful and the partnership offer by the German Ministry of the Environment and Nuclear Safety promises great progress and outcomes. The round table hosted by the Minister of Research and Innovation John Wilkinson on the Friday following directly the conference was an eye opener and great conclusion. The 14 world leaders together with Ministers John Wilkinson and John Gerretsen who also was able to join the discussion was another encouragement to move forward with optimism and a clear set of goals.
Community Power was well presented by leaders like Herman Albers. Nobody but him could demonstrate a successful movement better, he is himself being a farmer and the president of the largest Wind Energy Association in Germany a real community power group, largest on Earth representing 20.000 members, who have build 25.000 MW of RE electricity capacity to be doubled to 50.000 MW by 2020.
Our own tireless environmental Troubadour of the “Nature of Things” David Suzuki and the Architect of the European Feed Inn Tariffs and alternative Nobel Prize winner Dr. Hermann Scheer lead our choir of community power by articulating powerful messages to the world. The Napanee High school students and tireless inventors, designers and developers of an innovative solar powered Sterling engine who did compare well with world leaders demonstrated community power at its best and real hope for a bright future in Ontario and elsewhere. A large delegation from China and India lead a strong presentation from 60 small and large evolving countries. It was very rewarding to see how all these groups of different nationalities and cultures
where united around our Theme Music and Song “Community Power, Energy and Love” Helmut Lipsky, Suzie LeBlanc and their international colleagues
did present this very powerful and energizing music specially composed for the event in a unforgettable way. Sometime in the early fall this music will be available and can be ordered via OSEA or Helmut Lipskys webpage.
Finally I want to mention that several documentary films were created during the WWEC2008 and the one hour Documentary “Winds of Change” that is building on the Napanee High school students stunning inspiration will be the center of my next commitment. I am planning to present this at 100 high-schools in Eastern Ontario between September and early next year and with the help of 100 student ambassadors across our great country we will spread the peaceful revolution of the “Winds of Change” through additional thousands of high schools and this way reach a few million young people in North America. My generation and the following generations have not done very well in preserving our environment. The young people, our future leaders will certainly do much better and eventually make us proud of how they succeeded in supporting the long overdue turnaround to a sustainable future. On a personal note my next long range mission will center on our home and “The One House Revolution” showcasing how an individual can make a difference and create a self sufficient home in a economic feasible way for the average family. Starting this fall I will open our home to the public, including schools and students, once a week and also demonstrate how viable a small indoor winter garden can be.
As a small present and symbol from my colleagues Dale Dolan from OSEA and Stefan Gsaenger from the WWEA and my appreciation to have been of an important service I include the lyrics and the logo of the Theme Song. “Community Power, Energy and Love”
May the great Spirit be with you at all times and guide you towards a peaceful and sustainable future!.
If we can be of any service do not hesitate to contact us.
Best personal greetings!
Volker
Some of the exceptional press coverage has been scanned and will be forwarded to you in portions during the next few days.
In addition to this we did get a great National and International coverage of TV and Radio.
WWEC 2008 media coverage from The Kingston Whig-Standard Newspaper
Dr. David Suzuki Keynote Speaker at WWEC 2008 ~media coverage
Volker Thomsen
Executive Chair World Wind Energy Conference 2008 Executive Chair of numerous World Conferences and Events
Founding Vice President World Wind Energy Institute Chair Thomsen Foundation for a Sustainable Future Founding inaugurator of LIFE Bangladesh “Learning by Playing
President & CEO, Retired. St. Lawrence College Now Living and Volunteer Work in Lübeck-Travemünde Germany [email protected] Tel.: *49 4502 845 Cell: +49 176 9973 4909