How much technology transfer takes place in the CDM?

1
How much technology transfer takes place in the
CDM?

• TETRIS conference, Brussels, November 30th, 2006
• Heleen de Coninck

2
Definition of technology transfer (IPCC, 2000)

• A broad set of processes covering
• the flows of know-how, experience and equipment
• for mitigating and adapting to climate change
• amongst different stakeholders such as
  governments, private sector entities, financial
  institutions, NGOs and research/education
  institutions.

3
Approach

• Researched three aspects of technology transfer
  for CDM
• Origin (outside of host country?)
• New or improved (not business as usual in the
  host country)
• Knowledge transfer or capacity building
• Based on PDDs, publications, email with project
  developers
• Calculation of investment value based on
  estimate of the capital costs per project per
  technology
• Registered projects on 1st January, 2006,
  examined
• 63 projects in 20 countries
• Total emission reduction of 28 MtCO2-eq per year

4
Technologies used - Number of projects
5
Technologies used - GHG reduction
6
Technology transfer - origin of technology

• Landfill gas mainly Netherlands
• N2O reduction mainly from France
• HFC-23 destruction Japan, UK and Germany
• Methane capture host country
• Hydropower various Spain, France, Japan,
  Switzerland and the United States and host
  countries
• Wind energy Spain and Denmark
• Bio-energy host country

7
Technology transfer - new or improved
Word of caution country available technology
sometimes unclear diffusion into other areas in
same country omitted
8
Technology transfer - capacity building/knowledge
transfer
Word of caution Difficult to check relying on
PDD, which has an interest in exaggerating
9
Which technologies are transferred?
10
Investment value per technology

• Total value 470 million euro

Investment costs rough numbers, so very large
uncertainties
11
Investment value per country
12
So?

• CDM can be associated with technology transfer
  mainly in
• large-scale non-CO2 greenhouse gases
• wind energy
• Small-scale technologies tend to be local,
  particularly bio-energy and agricultural projects
• Hydropower shows a mix of countries of origin
• Capacity building or knowledge transfer appears
  to have taken place in almost half of the
  projects
• Investment value of Annex I to non-Annex I
  technology transfer about 470 million Euro
• Compare CER value of ca. 140 million Euro (_at_ 5
  euro/tCO2-eq)
• Biggest CER buyers do not equal the biggest
  technology exporters
• United States also exports some 50 million Euro
  but isnt leading

13
Future developments

• Extrapolation of the results, even to the
  present, difficult for several reasons
• Number has risen to 450 projects
• Lots of new technologies
• Analysis outdated but still relevant
• Of course, future depends on post-2012
  developments, persistence of the carbon market,
  and potential reform of the CDM
• Increasingly manufacturing of technologies in
  host countries (e.g. wind energy industries in
  India, China)
• On the other hand, as potential for technology
  transfer grows with market, more export potential
  for technologies from EU and Japan