Stiftung Mercator

For the purpose of the report, a team of international experts analysed more than 160 scientifically generated scenarios for the energy supply of the future. Some of these scenarios estimated renewable energy sources to be able to account for nearly 80 percent of global energy use by the middle of the century, though more than half of the scenarios expected the proportion to be below 30 percent in the year 2050.

Since 2008, the IPCC working group “Mitigation of Climate Change”, which is responsible for the SRREN, has been co-chaired by Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. For the latest report, around 120 scientists from all over the world systematically assessed specialist literature on six renewable energy sources: bioenergy, solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, ocean energy and wind energy.

Last week, following approval by the member countries of the IPCC, a summary for policy makers – a short version of the comprehensive report, which comprises some 1,000 pages – was published in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The Fifth Assessment Report of the IPPC, due to appear in 2014, will also draw on the findings of this report.

Stiftung Mercator has supported the presentation of the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources because it is committed to ambitious reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions in its thematic cluster Climate Change. Expanding renewable energy sources is key for achieving these targets, and foundations can exert considerable influence in this area.