With increased urbanization and rural development, waste generation and agriculture biomass will continue to increase at exponential rates. Presenters in this session provided the latest data and information on technologies for extracting energy from waste products; new biomass conversion technologies; biochar from biomass and solid waste; gasification and pyrolysis; waste to biochemical products and materials; integrated system solutions for optimal use of bioenergy and waste, and examples of smart policies and incentives.
Session 5.3: Bioenergy and Waste-to-Energy
Session 5.1: Novel PV Applications and Reaching Grid Parity
The global market for solar photovoltaics (PV) is expected to grow by a dramatic 65-fold by 2050, due to technology innovations and policy incentives. Presenters in this session covered experiences and practices in PV development, incentives and policies, new business models and investment approaches, future PV technologies and applications, and new and emerging PV technologies.
Session 4.3: Financing of Large-Scale Renewable Energy Projects
As we continue to drive the clean energy transition, it is important to discuss how to finance large-scale renewable energy projects. Presenters in this session covered best practices in financing of solar parks, floating solar projects, solar rooftop and residential solar business models, and battery storage and virtual power plants.
Session 4.4: Crossing the “Valley of Death”: Impact and Venture Capital Investments in Early-stage Clean Energy Firms
It is a major challenge to cross the “Valley of Death” as an entrepreneur and to develop a company that can showcase positive results and demonstrate the ability to expand capacity to make impactful gains in the market place. Presenters in this session highlighted the challenges and risks faced by start-up companies in the clean energy industry and provided examples of how to overcome these obstacles.
Session 4.2: The Role of Governments in Enabling Clean Energy Financing
Facilitating the region’s energy transition to a low-carbon economy will require innovative public finance mechanisms, particularly those that can be structured to leverage private sector financing. This session included discussions of how the public sector can support the expansion and development of clean energy financing.
Session 4.1: Global and Regional Trends in the Financing of Clean Energy
Developing countries across the globe are making an aggressive push toward a low-carbon economy and have set national clean energy targets. However, to achieve their targets, they will require huge capital investments and innovative mechanisms to unlock new sources of financing.
Session 3.3: Innovative and Inclusive Microfinance for Renewable Energy
Energy access for poor rural communities is dependent on three core pillars: appropriate renewable energy technologies, effective distribution channels, and affordable financing. Microfinance institutions (MFIs), in partnership with pro-poor energy product suppliers, can offer financing and built-in distribution channels to their existing clients, most of whom are women.
Session 3.4: Innovations in End-use Applications
Rural poverty is almost synonymous with energy poverty—without access to modern energy services, there is little opportunity for economic advancement. Access to modern clean energy allows for more productive end uses, job creation, longer productive hours, and cleaner water and sanitation, among other benefits.
Session 3.2: Going Beyond Solar Home Systems: Scaling Up Micro-grids and Mini-grids
Solar rooftop PV, particularly solar home systems, are well established globally, including across rural communities in Asia. Some efforts to promote solar rooftop have been successful; however, others, especially in remote and island communities, face multiple technical problems, including lack of proper maintenance or equipment replacement.
Session 3.1: Planning and Building for Climate Resilience and Low-Carbon Growth
Asia’s rural populations—from remote mountainous regions to low-lying coastal communities in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) countries and Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations (FCAS)*—are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change: extreme weather events, drought, increased precipitation, rising sea levels, storm surges, and coastal flooding.
Session 2.1: Sustainable Energy for Water Supply and Sanitation
There is a critical need to properly address water supply and sanitation in Asia, as the lack of adequate waste management policies and infrastructure improvements is impacting many watersheds. This session featured discussions on water treatment for water supply, and energy generation from waste, including biogas from sludge digestion.
Session 2.4: Sustainability Lessons in Hydropower, Offshore Wind, and Pacific Utilities
Presenters in this session examined efforts to make hydropower more sustainable, including improved basin planning and management, and the study of environmental flows (EFlows) as a way of mitigating the effects of human developments on rivers and estuaries, and thus managing water resources for long-term sustainability.