A Short Impression
of Sustain 2001,
international sustainable energy event
held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Photos and Text by Surya Green

Introduction
The Sustain Conference and Exhibition on sustainable energy was held from 8 to 10 May 2001,
yet what occurred in those three days does not belong to the category of old news. The urgent reasons
for increased use of sustainable energy, and some practical ways to bring about that increased usage
were, in essence, the main themes handled at the Amsterdam gathering of energy professionals.
This is information more people need to have, especially those new to the emerging sustainable ideal.
With greater energy awareness, the general public will start to use energy more consciously and efficiently;
as well, more people will request, and eventually demand, the implementation of sustainable solutions
for this planet's life-threatening problems.

Against the backdrop of accumulating environmental pollution, the alarming rise of the global
temperature, oil supplies used as a main fuel for war, and worldwide poverty, sustainable energy,
and in particular solar energy, has to be considered a strategic element in any international effort
aimed to bring planet Earth back into balance. Solar power, in all of its forms, can provide clean,
safe, and sustainable energy to meet humanity's future needs. Moreover, the energy of our Sun is
available to all. The increased use of solar energy can, in fact, help remove some of the
inequalities that are at the root of the terrorism threat in the world today.

Sustainable energy, although predictably ignored at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development
in Johannesburg, is sure to become a visible issue after the Kyoto Protocol to bring down greenhouse gas
emissions becomes operational. That will create more national and international
opportunities for people motivated by renewable energy, and sustainable development itself, to meet
collectively for the exchange of green energy knowledge, ideas, and practicalities. The Sustain event
in Amsterdam is just one of a number of international meetings taking place in the sustainable field
nowadays, including those organized by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES),
the World Renewable Energy Network (WREN), and the photovoltaic industry.

Certainly the Sustain event on sustainable energy, as evidenced by its 2001 slogan
"Generating, Selling, and Buying Clean and Reliable Energy in a Competitive Market",
has a commercial basis. But when the items for selling and buying deal with practical
applications of green energy, the Sustain marketplace cannot be disregarded as just another
convening of capitalists to carry out "business as usual". While it is undoubtedly so that
more than a few sustainable energy professionals still serve the gods of moneymaking
as their first priority, it is also true that their efforts on behalf of sustainable energy will help
the planetary society take needed steps forward ahead towards the Global Age of the Sun.

Sustain 2001 was supported by the European Commission. The EC has an action plan
dating from 1997, the "White Paper for a Community Strategy and Action Plan,
Energy for the Future: Renewable Sources of Energy", COM (97) 599. The White Paper
calls for Europe to double, by 2010, the consumption of renewable energy in Europe
to twelve percent (up from six percent in 1997).

An essential part of the strategy outlined in the EU's White Paper is the Campaign for Take-Off.
The Campaign aims to stimulate the trend towards increased private investment in renewables.
Promotional measures, as well as complementary public funding, focus on the key sectors
of solar, wind, and biomass. In the transfer of the requisite renewable energy knowledge
and information, the EU sees as a partner the Sustain event. The Commission's Deputy Head
of Unit Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Demand Management
in the Directorate General for Energy and Transport, M. Perez Latorre, was on hand
at Sustain 2001 to explain the Campaign for Take-Off.

The European Commission
had a reception area in the Sustain 2001 trade exhibition hall
where it offered informational papers on renewable energy
and lectures presented by experts in the field.

Support for Sustain 2001 also came from Cogen Europe, the umbrella organization
for all institutions and companies involved in the combined generation of heat and power (CHP),
"cogeneration". CHP is the simultaneous production of electricity and heat, both of which
are used for energy applications. Simultaneously with Sustain 2001 there took place,
on 9 and 10 May, the Second International CHP Symposium. During two days of high-quality
presentations, discussions, and knowledge transfer, Europe and the USA met each other
in the field of Combined Heat and Power. The sponsors of the CHP symposium included
the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cogen Europe,
and Cogen Netherlands.

Speakers at the opening session of the 2nd CHP Symposium included (left to right):
Co-Chair Michael Brown, ICA; Ferd Crone, Dutch MP, PvdA;
Ludo van Halderen, EPON; Klaus Traube, German CHP Association.

Words of Welcome
The main sponsor of Sustain 2001 was Novem, the Netherlands Agency for Energy
and the Environment. In his welcome address to the conference,
Novem Managing Director J.B.V.N. Pleumeekers stated very clearly that Sustain 2001
was all about translating renewable energy policies into the reality of sustainable development.
The Novem Managing Director pointed out that renewable energy offers ever-increasing
opportunities even though it cannot yet compete with fossil fuels on a cost and price basis.
"But renewable energy can compete when it comes to environmental benefits," he said.
With more successes, innovative approaches, and expanding markets, he summed up after an
informative introduction, "the time is right" for renewable energy.

Sustain Conference President J.B.V.N. Pleumeekers, Managing Director Novem (center),
exchanges comments after the opening session with two members of his Novem support team:
S. van der Zwaag (left) and R. de Bruijne (right).

Clear Cause of Climate Change
At the opening session the urgent problem of global climate change was addressed most thoroughly
by P. Vellinga, Director of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC.

IPCC was established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 1988 to address
the problem of potential global climate changes. Vellinga presented a graph showing
that the average surface temperature in the Northern Hemisphere has gone up dramatically
since the1960s. In fact, the rate and duration of warming in the last one hundred years of the second
millennium was much greater than during the previous nine hundred years. Similarly, weather scientists
estimate there is a sixty-six to ninty percent chance that the decade of the 1990s was the warmest decade,
and 1998 the warmest year, of the full thousand years of the entire millennium. The previous downward
temperature trend, which seemed to be directing planet Earth towards a new Ice Age, was completely
reversed in the past one hundred years. Over the next one hundred years, a rise is expected between 1.5 to six degrees.

P. Vellinga, Director of IPPC, informed the Sustain 2001 Conference
that the IPCC's assessment report of 2001 leaves no doubt
that the global warming pattern originates primarily from human behavior.
He spoke about the "scary rise" of global temperatures and the planet's waters.

Letting the "scary" facts speak for themselves, Vellinga told that the burning of fossil fuels
has increased the atmospheric concentration of CO2 by thirty-one percent since 1750. The present
CO2 concentration has not been exceeded during the past four hundred and twenty thousand years, and likely not
during the past twenty million years. This makes it more difficult for Earth to release the absorbed
solar radiation and thereby the atmosphere heats up.

Rising temperatures mean waters get warmer. Warm waters take up more space than cold,
resulting in the rise of the level of the seas. The sea level may rise from ten centimeters
to one meter, but this effect is slow because it takes time for the water to expand.
Even if additional greenhouse effect could be stopped immediately, the sea level would continue
to rise over the next five hundred years. Ice sheet models project that a local warming of more than
three degrees, if sustained for millennia, would lead to a complete melting of the Greenland
ice sheet with a resulting sea level rise of about seven meters. In the short run, temperature rises
will lead to more floods, forest fires, and heat waves and a "flip-flop" pattern of irregular climate
which the global community is already experiencing.

Only Renewable Energy Will Slow Down Climate Change
After presenting a comprehensive view of the climate change problem, Vellinga declared:
"By 2100 we have to wind up with a lower level of C02 emissions than today.
We have to reduce as rapidly as possible or we will have bigger risks."

The best strategy to follow? The IPCC director said it is good to introduce increased energy efficiency,
but history shows that even after an oil crisis there is a limit to what energy efficiency can do.
As long as there is a rise of the GDP, the gross domestic product, people in general will use
more energy. "Overall efficiency and no regrets will not bring the CO2 emissions down far enough;
fiscal and other regulations are needed," stated Vellinga.

Vellinga packed an ample supply of pertinent details into his hard-hitting
twenty-minute presentation, and his final summation was clear and to the point:
"It is an enormous challenge to bring down CO2 emissions; we will slow down climate change
only with renewable energy. We have to look into the future and see, within the next fifty
to one hundred years, a carbon-free energy system."

Sustainable Development
H.J. Koch, Director of Energy Efficiency, Technology, and Research and Development
for the International Energy Agency, was another one of the conference's expert speakers.
The International Energy Agency is an autonomous agency based in Paris. Linked with
the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), the IEA is the energy forum
for twenty-six of the world's most industrialized countries. Member governments, most of them
from the EU and G7 nations, take joint measures to meet oil supply emergencies, share energy
information, coordinate energy policies, and cooperate in the development of energy programs.

Before giving the IEA's views on the energy challenge and its work to find energy solutions
with the private sector and government, Koch reminded the delegates of the now classical definition
of sustainability. He quoted from Our Common Future (1987), the report brought forth by the
Brundtland Commission (World Commission of Environment and Development), called after
its chairwoman, the Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. The recommendations
of the Brundtland Commission, which was set up to formulate a global action plan for long-term
environmental strategies to reconcile the objectives of development and the protection
of natural resources, led to the Earth Summit (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Bruntland
report defines "sustainable development" as "a form of development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

Highest Priority for Sustainable Energy
Koch said that sustainable energy deserves the highest priority for two reasons. First,
oil supplies can no longer provide energy security. In 1997, OECD countries had to import,
on average, about fifty-five percent of their oil. Experts predict that this figure will reach close
to sixty-four percent by 2010, with India soaring to an import level of eighty-five percent.

The second reason to strive for sustainable energy connects with environmental
and global climate issues. "We are threatened everywhere by environmental problems.
Extracting and transporting energy presents its own set of risks. Oil, gas, methane can escape;
nuclear wastes are hazardous, despite a good track record. And then there are the CO2 emissions.
"Governments, he stated, need to develop policies to address the increased global demand
for fossil fuels over the next twenty years.

Koch's point was clear:: "Our energy is based on fossil fuels, and this is expected to continue
for two decades. Unless things change drastically, fossil fuels will still account for ninety percent
of our energy use by 2020…. We have to invest more in renewable energy development."

In the transition to a sustainable energy future much has to change, not only the structure of
the energy sector, but as well the behavior of people, societies and economies.

The "sustainable" luncheon at the 2nd CHP Symposium
offered mainly meat and fish dishes.

Sustainable Energy Future
In his presentation at the opening session of the Sustain 2001 Conference, IEA's Koch
pointed out that the sustainable future requires obstacles to be removed for clean energy
suppliers, energy prices have to reflect the costs to society from "unfriendly fuels",
and the longer-term benefits of renewable energy need to be considered.

Koch also spent some time discussing energy efficiency. To increase energy efficiency
and reduce climate change, he said, governments have to review energy subsidies,
conclude voluntary agreements with industry especially in regard to technical applications,
launch procurement schemes to boost public awareness and knowledge, foster increased
research and development of energy technology, and collaborate internationally.

The private sector has as well a vital role to play. Koch listed certain key objectives
of working with the private sector. These included creating a climate of confidence and
consensus, encouraging the private sector to make good choices for renewable energy
even when this may entail higher costs, agreeing on shared objectives, and working with
long-term policies and measures.

Working Together to Preserve the Planet
Sustainable solutions present a big challenge but they do exist, declared Koch.
He was sure that "diversifying away from carbon fuels offers long term help" together with
the reduction of energy consumption. "Governments can give the right policy framework,
companies have the know-how, and the public can offer cooperation," he declared.
"Incentives are needed and all the forces have to work together: no one can afford
to be the odd man out." Koch's final statement said it all:
"Everyone has a stake in preserving this planet."

IEA Director H. J. Koch in conversation with a delegate
after his presentation to the Sustain 2001 Conference.
"Everyone has a stake in preserving this planet."

Boosting Demand for Solar Water Heaters
Over the three days of the Sustain 2001 event, conference delegates, consisting primarily
of senior and middle management people from the public and private energy sectors, attended
specialist presentations, panel discussions, and open exchanges on the themes of Green Power,
Building Systems, and Marketing. Tightly scheduled as it was, the Sustain 2001 conference
kept participants continually occupied with many overlapping sessions and special events.

For conference delegates especially interested in solar systems, the Building Systems Session
offered a number of talks on large scale and industrial applications of solar and thermal energy.
In his presentation, C. van der Leun of Ecofys, The Netherlands, an internationally
operating consultancy company with the mission to work on a sustainable energy supply
for everyone, focused on solar water heating.

Van der Leun presented the Soltherm Europe Initiative originated by Ecofys. The Initiative
aims to realize a structured increase in the market development of solar thermal applications.
The results of the Soltherm Europe Initiative should form the basis for a growth of the
solar thermal market to one hundred million m2 of collector surface in 2010, which is the target figure
of the EU's White Paper. As outlined by Van der Leun, the core of the Solterm Europe Initiative
concentrates on speeding up solar water heater sales throughout Europe, generating demand,
and coupling manufacturers to installers. "A synergy has to be created between existing
national approaches."

To make the Soltherm Europe Initiative a success, said Van der Leun, EU interaction is essential.
Commitment and co-operation are needed between the EU countries and the industry associations.
Each EU country has to set up information centers; trained and motivated sales and installation
organizations have to be available to people. For optimal results, the sales and installation companies
have not only to sell and install systems, but they also have to cooperate with information centers.

At the Building Systems session, C. van der Leun of Ecofys, The Netherlands,
presented the Soltherm Europe Initiative to realize a structured increase
in the market development of solar thermal applications.

Solar Success in Austria
The only woman speaker at the solar session was C. Egger, Head of International
Cooperation and Training for the OkoEnergie-Cluster of the O.Ö Energiesparverband,
Austria.

The O.Ö. Energiesparverband is the regional energy agency of Upper Austria.
It is a non-profit association with thirty-one members, among them energy suppliers, energy consultants,
environmental groups, professional associations, and firms involved in energy technology.
To help energy consumers use energy more efficiently is the main objective of the agency;
it promotes energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy sources, and new energy technologies.
As well the O.Ö. Energiesparverband has set up the ÖkoEnergie-Cluster (OEC), a network
of RE supply companies that foster innovation and competitiveness of green energy businesses.
More than ninety green energy companies and organizations of various sizes have joined
the OEC partnership, contributing to a positive market trend in the field of renewable energy.

More than thirty percent of the primary energy consumption in Austria is produced from
renewable energy sources. Her region in Upper Austria, told Eggers, is a booming market
for solar energy. "Every new family house in Upper Austria is equipped with solar PV,"
she pointed out. "If we can do it, there is no reason why other countries cannot do it too."

Basics for Solar Success
Underlying this success, stated Egger, is a comprehensive, regional energy action plan.
The plan was passed in 1994 by the regional government and determined clear goals to be
met by 1999. To continue the strategy of the successful first energy plan (1994 to 1999)
into the 21st century, the Upper Austrian government unanimously passed the
Energy 21 Action Plan. The solar goal is to have one million m2 of thermal solar collectors
installed by 2010. Energy efficiency will have to be increased by ten percent by 2010.

An important factor for success, told Egger, is to carry out renewable energy support campaigns;
communication and public awareness create demand. In Upper Austria, as well, solar energy
advice is offered gratis; energy advisors give free consultations to individuals and organizations
on energy efficiency and renewable energy options for home or office. Another service
is the "energy hotline".

Egger spoke of the financial support and legal measures created to promote the use
of renewable energy. People in Upper Austria get a subsidy of twenty to twenty-five percent
for a domestic installation. "But they still need to spend the rest," said the speaker, "and here is
where the information program comes in. It explains why people should pay the rest themselves."
The government has similar programs for multi-family houses and other buildings.

After further elaborating on the work of the green energy network in Austria, Egger rounded out
her presentation by declaring most enthusiastically: "Solar panels and PV have
an interesting future in the world!"

C. Egger, of the OkoEnergie-Cluster in Austria, (center),
was available at the Sustain 2001 exhibition stand of O.Ö. Energiesparverband
to speak about the market for solar energy in her region.

Green Energy World Trade Exhibition
The information stands in the trade exhibition hall, representing governmental organizations,
ngo's, and sustainable energy companies, gave a good overview of the emerging renewable
energy industry. Over two hundred exhibitors from around the world displayed renewable energy
products and services organized into the sections of Wind, Biomass, Solar Heating
and Photovoltaic, Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Energy, New Technologies, and
Finance and Consulting. There were sections by country as well. Sustain's homeland,
the Netherlands, displayed itself prominently at the Holland Solar pavilion with its bright
red, white, and blue national colors clearly to see.

The 2001 edition of the Sustain Exhibition
organized exhibitors into theme groups and country pavilions.
At the Holland Solar Pavilion, visitors could meet representatives
of 15 Dutch companies working with sustainable energy.

Do-it-Yourself Solar Paneling
One company participating in the Holland Solar Pavilion was Ubbink Nederland BV,
a manufacturer of photovoltaic roofing materials. In co-operation with Greenpeace
(which asked for solar paneling to use on existing buildings), and with Shell
(manufacturer of the solar panels), Ubbink developed do-it-yourself solar panel solutions
for existing buildings. Rather than the rather complicated installations for newly-built houses,
the Ubbink solution "takes only four hours to install". According to D.J. Zandman,
Export Manager, Ubbink is "a futurist of technological solutions for the roof".

At this moment, told Zandman, the company's do-it-yourself paneling is mainly purchased
by pioneers and ideologists. The reason for this, he explained, is that it takes about fifteen years
to get back the investment (through a reduction in electricity costs). "But if one thinks ecologically,
one gets the payback in four years." The carbon dioxide emission reduction payback time is
about four years. [Ed. note: Solar panels are manufactured using electricity made from fossil fuels.
After about four years' use, the panels have saved on the CO2 emissions that were emitted
during their manufacture.]

Zandman explained that the average efficiency rate of a solar panel in the Sun-scarce Netherlands
is about ten percent of its total power capacity; one standard multicrystalline panel delivers
about ninety kilowatt-hours a year. The maximum output can be achieved when the most sunlight
is caught; it is therefore best to place the solar panels on the south side of the roof, aimed
perpendicular toward the Sun. Considering the altitude level in the Netherlands, the slope
should on average be thirty-six degrees -- a little steeper during the winter time, a little flatter in summer.
The least output will be achieved when a solar panel faces north.

D.J. Zandman, Export Manager for Ubbink Nederland (right),
explained the virtues of do-it-yourself PV roof paneling
at the company stand in the Holland Solar Pavillion.

In the trade exhibition hall of Sustain 2001,
a relaxed atmosphere prevailed.
Nuon is one of the largest Dutch energy providers.

Talbotts is a heating company headquartered in the UK.

The to-be-expected large European presence at the Sustain 2001 event made itself felt
with the stands of Sweden, Germany, and Austria most visible. There were as well some
exhibitors from North and South America, only one exhibitor from Africa (Ghana),
one from the Middle East (Israel), and one from South Asia (India).

At the stand of Unison Technologies Limited, India,
Chanakya Balaram (left), and Prof. Annie C. Mathew (right),
provided information about Unison and its varied activities in the field of sustainable energy.

Unisun, based in India's hi-tech hub of Bangalore, promotes all forms of sustainable energy.
Among its products, services, and activities are solar cooking demonstrations and sales
of solar cookers. Unisun has solar box cookers for up to six persons as well as the parabolic
cooker that can serve thirty to fifty people. Large capacity solar cookers are suitable
for community uses, for instance in schools. The cookers can reach temperatures up to
six hundred degrees C (1112 degrees Fahrenheit). Solar cookers are especially beneficial in India,
where one third of infant mortality is caused by acute respiratory illnesses. As in Africa,
often these illnesses come from inhaling the smoke produced from wood fires used for cooking
inside closed huts. Solar cookers eliminate the smoke danger entirely. Among its range of activities,
Unisun teaches the technology for mass solar cooking: "thirty-five thousand people… or more!"

China Pavilion
China, and also Taiwan, represented their part of the world. For the first time ever,
representatives from the renewable energy sector of China attended a green energy
event in Europe. The China Pavilion showcased several government companies as well as
over ten privately-owned Chinese enterprises working with solar thermal and PV, wind,
or biomass. All were members of CREIA (Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association),
the branch organization for RE companies in China that was founded in Beijing in 2000
with support from UNDP (United Nations Development Program). An independent, industry-led,
and self-financed association, CREIA aims to provide a business network for its members,
raise awareness of renewable energy investment opportunities in China, and provide key policy
adviceto the Government of China.

At the China Pavilion, Zhi Li (left) and Miao Hong
answered questions about CREIA and renewable energy in China.

At the CREIA stand, Sustain visitors were able to come into contact with
Chinese representatives and their particular renewable energy products or services.

At the China Pavilion, Easterners and Westerners
spoke the same language of renewable energy.

Energy Sustainability in China
The fifty-strong CREIA team came West looking for new cooperation partners, exchange of technical
and marketing know-how, and assessment of their own export potential. At Sustain 2001,
the team apparently had success, further identifying the European market for Chinese RE goods,
and learning more about the European product specifications, such as the ISO and CEN standards.
Most of these issues came up during a Chinese Solar Thermal Workshop. Although the Sustain 2001
Conference officially ended on 9 May, a special side event took place on 10 May. That was
a China Workshop on Solar Thermal Energy, "Moving Towards Energy Sustainability in China",
organized by Novem at the request of the Chinese delegation.

The CREIA Workshop was co-chaired by Liu Xianfa, Deputy Director of Department
Resource Conservation and Comprehensive Utilization, State Economic and
Trade Commission, P.R. China, and Lex Bosselaar, Program manager Novem,
and Chairman IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Program.

In his opening words, Bosselaar stated that the workshop aimed to bring better cooperation
between China and the European countries leading to mutual benefits for trading and information
exchange. Then Liu welcomed all the participants and said that China has been making efforts
in energy efficiency and renewable energy for the past twenty years. The aim in China is to have
two percent of the total energy demand supplied by renewable energy sources in 2015.
The percentage coming from hydros could become as high as five to six percent. The major topic
for China's renewable development focuses on the solar energy capacities. "Solar application
is a major topic for renewable energy development."

During the past five years, the average annual growth rate in the market for solar applications
was twenty-five percent. China is currently the largest user of solar energy in the world. Liu expressed
his hopes that there would be further opportunities for Chinese and European companies
to work together, especially on solar thermal applications.

At the China Solar Thermal Workshop, CREIA Director Zhu Junsheng (left),
gave an overview of the development of solar water heating systems in China.
Li Junfeng (center), Deputy Director of the Energy Research Institute
of the State Development Planning Commission,
spoke about China's policy in solar thermal and market development.
Zhi Li (right), Energy Economist for the Center for Renewable Energy
Development (CRED) of the Energy Research Institute,
provided English translation.

Summing Up
After four hours of informative presentations by seven speakers, both Chinese and European,
the China Solar Thermal Workshop came to a close; within hours the entire Sustain event itself
found its end. Later, in a final press release, the Sustain organizers expressed their satisfaction
with the three-day gathering. There were a record number of visitors -- about seven thousand people
visited the Sustain 2001 Exhibition, conference participants included, compared to the six thousand and five hundred
visitors at the previous Sustain Exhibition in 1999 -- and generally positive feedback was received.

Commented RAI Product Manager Marc V. Sterel: "Despite the problems connected
with the Kyoto Protocol, the importance of sustainable energy is clearly gaining widespread
recognition among people everywhere, including management in the private sector.
This means that the prospects for sustainable energy are good."

So this was a short impression of one of the sustainable energy meetings taking place in
our changing times. Whatever its commercial basis, Sustain 2001 was a serious forum
for sustainable energy. The Sustain event brought together well-informed participants
who take the challenge of clean environment-clean energy seriously. Whatever the fuel
of their personal motivation to work in the renewable energy field, those professionals
are already actively promoting the green power that is at the basis of sustainable development.
And more power to them! It is safe to say that energy underpins basically everything in society,
and it is time for planetary society to clean up its global act.

Short Impression in Photos and Text of Sustain 2001 © copyright Surya Green 2011

Note:
An extended impression of Sustain 2001,
ten times the size of the document above,
written by Surya Green and Manu van Poppel,
was offered for publication to
NOVEM, the Netherlands Agency for Energy and the Environment,
which accepted the manuscript for the agency's professional purposes.

Previous Page

Home