Renewable Energy Markets Worldwide Driven by Climate Change, Says Swiss Study

The study, "Clean Energy and Renewable Energy Market Worldwide 2007-2010-2015," claims the market volume of renewable energy worldwide will increase from US$95.8 billion in 2007 to US$124.4 billion in 2010 and reach US$198.1 billion in 2015. These figures and developments are based on the whole value chain. The energy efficiency will increase by 1 to 3 percent per year and there will be more than 120,000 direct employments by 2010 and two times more indirect.

According to Helmut Kaiser Consultancy, the major market driving forces come from these aspects: Climate change and economical damage -- depending on the country -- between 1 and 5 percent of the gross domestic product, and the pricing factor. These driving forces are based on the development of technology with nanotechnology and nano-bio-info converging technologies the key to enabling technology for renewable energy market during the next 20 years.

Because these technologies can modify the molecular structure so that more energy can be stored, transformed and utilized, their application will largely improve the performance-cost ratio of solar energy, biofuel and fuel cells.

Through minimization, fuel cell can store huge amount of energy within a small volume so that the energy can be easily transported, distributed and utilized in various locations. This will solve the biggest problem of utilizing renewable energy, namely the remoteness between energy production and application, states the report.

As to the regional development, Europe and North America are today's leaders in technology and in market share. Yet, developing countries such as China, India and Brazil are catching up rapidly, or even becoming leaders in certain sectors. The report also noted that with the substantial support from government, Asian developing countries will become the fastest growing market of renewable energy in next decade.