World Bank's Clean Energy Czar calls for "spectrum" of technologies

Last week the World Bank announced the appointment of Daniel Kammen (left) as its ‘clean energy czar’. Kammen is currently the head of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at University of California, Berkeley.

This week Kammen gave an interview to the New York Times in which he stressed the importance of a spectrum of technologies that “fit lots and lots of different local situations”.

One big hurdle, he says, is getting economists to recognise the value of externalities.

Our economy is fixated on one metric, money ... we need to put a value on the quality of our energy systems, the ability to preserve nature, to preserve the oceans and the rivers.

In the interview he also praises the large-scale use of distributed energy in parts of East Africa.

Kenya, for example, has more solar installed per capita than any other country. That’s a remarkable thing for a poor nation.


pic: ScienceWatch