NEW UN STUDY HIGHLIGHTS HUGE POTENTIAL FOR GENERATING CLEAN ENERGY IN AFRICA

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From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 13 May 2013 16:00:01 -0400
Subject: NEW UN STUDY HIGHLIGHTS HUGE POTENTIAL FOR GENERATING CLEAN
ENERGY IN AFRICA
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

NEW UN STUDY HIGHLIGHTS HUGE POTENTIAL FOR GENERATING CLEAN ENERGY IN
AFRICANew York, May 13 2013 4:00PMLess than 1 per cent of all patent
applications relating to clean energy technology (CET) have been filed
in Africa, according to a new United Nations study, which also
highlights the opportunity for the continent to leapfrog existing
fossil-fuel energy sources and, in the process, cut greenhouse gas
emissions and improve public health.

Africa has a huge untapped potential for generating clean energy,
including enough hydroelectric power from its seven major river
systems to serve the entire continent's needs, as well as enormous
potential for other energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal,
according to the study by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the
European Patent Office (EPO).

Hydropower, the most commonly used renewable energy source, is
estimated to be utilized at just 4.3 per cent of the continent's total
capacity – although recent years have seen efforts to ramp up clean
energy, with North African nations leading in solar and wind
categories, Kenya in geothermal, Ethiopia in hydro and Mauritius in
bioenergy.

<I><"http://documents.epo.org/projects/babylon/eponet.nsf/0/f87537c7cbb85344c1257b24005e7119/$FILE/patents_clean_energy_technologies_in_Africa_en.pdf">Patents
and Clean Energy Technologies in Africa</I> also points out that
intellectual property and patenting in particular have been
highlighted as a significant factor limiting the transfer of new clean
technologies to developing countries, and identified as a barrier to
these countries meeting new emission limits for CO2 and other
greenhouse gases.

While the lack of patents filed means CETs can be freely exploited in
Africa, the lack of these patents to protect their products means
source companies may be reluctant to offer up their know-how to
promote technology transfer, according to a news release on the study.

"The development and transfer of technologies are key pillars in both
mitigating the causes of climate change and adapting to its effects;
patents are a crucial part of this process," said UNEP spokesperson
Nick Nuttall.

"In addition to an accelerated response to climate change, boosting
clean energy technologies have multiple green economy benefits
including on public health – for example, in sub-Saharan Africa more
than half of all deaths from pneumonia in children under the age of
five, and chronic lung disease and lung cancer in adults over 30, can
be attributed to solid fuel use," he added.

The study found that of the 1 per cent of identified CET-related
patents filed in Africa, the majority came in South Africa – meaning
there was very little activity in the rest of the continent.

Also, only 10 per cent of African inventors apply for patent
protection in Africa; the majority tend to seek protection in four
other regions: the United States (27 per cent), the European Patent
Office (24 per cent), Germany (13 per cent) and Canada (10 per cent).

The report adds that there are signs that the situation is changing.
Despite low patent application numbers, the overall inventive activity
in African countries grew by 5 per cent between 1980 and 2009,
compared to 4 per cent at the global level. With a 59 per cent
increase, mitigation technologies grew most significantly in that
period.

Noting that Africa's intellectual property system requires further
development to better support the transfer of technology that can
mitigate climate change, the report makes a number of recommendations,
including the development of international policies to promote CET in
Africa without having to consider significant issues relating to
patent rights.May 13 2013 4:00PM
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