ADB to provide $1b a year on renewable energy projects


Direct link: http://www.financialexpress-bd.com/index3.asp?cnd=6/23/2006&section_id=24&newsid=28702&spcl=no

MANILA, June 22 (AFP): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced today it would release about a billion dollars annually for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

This is part of the second phase of the ADB's Energy Efficiency Initiative (EEI) which began in the second half of this year, the multilateral lender said in a statement from its headquarters in the Philippine capital.

As part of this second phase, the ADB will help develop action plans for individual countries as well as formulate an ADB clean energy strategy and action plan.

"Asia's current energy development path is environmentally and economically unsustainable," ADB East Asia director Anil Terway said in a statement.

The first phase of the EEI, which was completed this year, established a rationale and prepared an initial analysis of the "clean energy market" in the region.

The ADB warned that it would require more investment to come up with less polluting and more sustainable sources of energy. This would mean focusing both on supply and use of energy including power generation, delivery, energy-consuming equipment and more efficient facilities and infrastructure.

As a result, the bank will select projects "consistent with policies, priorities and targets of its developing member countries."

This initiative "will help the countries change their energy use patterns and secure a low-carbon future for the region," the ADB added.

Earlier this week, ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda warned that Asia must use energy more efficiently because the actions of the world's most populous continent will have a large bearing on climate change.

He noted that in the 30 years to 2003, Asia's energy consumption grew by 230 per cent compared with the average worldwide increase of 75 per cent.

 

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