ABSTRACT

Sustainable development depends greatly upon the capacity to increase the supplies of renewable energy. The development of new renewable energy technology has advanced steadily over the last 20 years, so that most basic research has been completed and commercial implementation is established. Fossil fuels have a dominant role in all countries, and nuclear power is a significant component in the electrical power supply of most industrialised countries. Biomass combustion for steam-turbine electricity generation is well established, especially in the sugar cane industry and with agricultural wastes. The growth of modern renewable energy plant in both demonstration projects and in commercial business is significant now in Europe and world-wide. The wind power programme in Denmark is a good example of a successful policy that could be applied to other forms of renewable energy. The aim of these developments should be to provide energy for niche opportunities in the first instance and to allow markets to grow from the most favourable situations.