The first "working draft" edition of the Global Status Report on Local Renewable Energy Policies has just been completed.  You can download it at http://www.martinot.info/cities.htm  (this is a new page with links to other local-renewables associations and some further reading). The report is a collaborative effort by REN21, ISEP, and ICLEI (report posted on their sites too).

In the report, renewable energy policies are surveyed and summarized for 160 cities and local governments worldwide, plus short case descriptions are given for 30 cities.  The report finds many targets for renewable energy at the local level, plus many cities engaged in urban planning that incorporates renewables.  Other common policies are subsidies and grants, city purchasing of electricity or biofuels, city investments for renewables on public facilities, demonstration projects, incorporation of renewables into building codes/permitting, and a wide variety of information and promotion programs. Other regulatory policies include tax credits and exemptions and electric utility policies.  Other voluntary actions include investment funds, projects with the private sector, use of municipal land/property, and support for community initiative. The report also provides a framework for categorizing policies and outlines further research.

The report was distributed at the ICLEI World Congress in Edmonton, Canada this week.  We will produce the next edition  for an international conference on local renewables in Tokyo October 2-3, and then we hope to produce a third edition  for the Copenhagen Climate Summit for Mayors during COP-15 in December.

We now want to expand and improve the report. Information for each city also needs to be verified. Additional cites and cases, verifications, and suggestions for improvement are invited!  Please send to me by July 20. If you wish to be a "city correspondent" responsible for verifying or collecting information for one or more cities, please let me know.

www.martinot.info