The web site, http://freshwater.unep.net, was launched the first The United Nations Environment Program has pioneered a project to map the solar and wind resources of 13 developing countries. The project, called the Solar and Wind Energy Survey Assessment (SWERA), is an effort to gauge the potential for alternative power projects in these countries.

"While the costs of renewable energies like solar and wind have been tumbling in recent years, obstacles remain to their widespread deployment particularly in developing countries," said Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of UNEP. "One of these is the uncertainty about the size and intensity of the solar and wind resource. The SWERA project aims to bridge this knowledge gap so potential investors can know, with a great deal of accuracy, the locations where they can secure a good and reasonable return".

Fossil fuels are the energy source of choice in developing countries, especially among the poor. According to the UNEP, those without access to organized and regular sources of electricity are forced to burn wood and other carbon-emitting forms of fuel.

"If we can accelerate the deployment of renewable energy we can not only bring down the costs, but also help in the fight against global warming and poverty," said Toepfer. "These technologies produce none of the gases, such as carbon dioxide, linked with climate change during their operating lives. In many developing countries...those without access to electricity are forced to fell trees for firewood and cooking fuel, accelerating impacts such as soil erosion and the loss of the world's wildlife."

Developed countries will also soon be looking for opportunities to deploy renewable energy in developing countries. The Climate Change agreements from Bonn and Marrakech, Morocco in November provide mechanisms for developed countries to offset their domestic greenhouse gas emissions by setting up clean energy in the developing world. In August a G8 Renewable Energy Task Force report estimated that it may be possible to deliver renewable energy to over one billion people by 2010.

Accurate information on local climate conditions is essential to properly gauge the return from renewable energy projects. The SWERA project will thus play an important role in presenting renewable energy to the 13 countries being surveyed.

"The investment of a solar thermal power plant of 200 megawatts (MW) electric capacity is approximately $400 million," said Tom Hamlin, Climate Change Task Manager for UNEP, Nairobi. "For such a power plant, an error of 10 per cent in the solar resource would amount to a difference of $150 million in revenues over the life of the project which is a heavy burden for its economic performance...SWERA will, we believe, considerably reduce those uncertainties."

The countries where the surveys are to be carried out are Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Cuba, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sri Lanka.

UNEP will hold its Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Cartagena, Columbia, in mid-February 2002. Renewable and clean energies, especially in the context of developing countries, are expected to be high on agenda of the world's environment ministers.