1. Best data for good Decision Making
Rana Adib
Research Coordinator
REN21 Renewables Academy
Bonn, 11 Novembre 2014
Some persons asked me yesterday why the data topic is prominently addressed as a plenary session.
- Some critical persons amongst you might think: Hm, REN21 did not manage to set-up another session…. Personally, I DOUBT IT
Some of you might think… they want to promote themselves: MAYBE
You might think: they want to acknowledge the work of all the contributors beging here: MOST CERTAINLY
But, what is the most important:
Data & information is highlight relevant to all of us!!
Anybody from us sitting in the room uses some kind of data or information for his/her work.

2. Data, energy data, renewable energy data is relevant for all of us!
We use it for:
Learning and understanding
Analysing
Presenting
Taking decisons
Convincing (decision-makers) /selling
Evaluating/monitoring ….
Obvisouly, there is the gud feelding… and personally I believe very much in this, BUT you cannot take major decisions based on the gud feeling or the gud feeling only…. And even if you do so, for selling it, you will need to provide a solid data basis.
This is especially true if the decision implies a financial investment…
Data/information is the basis for all (major) decisions

3. What does this mean for renewable energy?
No good decision without good data!
We need renewable energy data…
To advance the energy transition, to advance energy access, to attract investors’ and policy makers’ interest, to inform policy & regulatory framework and to monitor advancements.

4. Why is Data Important? Basis for decision-making
necessary for energy planning,
informs policy design and adaptation efforts
Demonstrates current situation and opportunities
Attract investors
Attract private industry
Stimulate economic development
Shows the potential of a technology, a sector, a country/region
Presence of data is necessary for country to assess progression towards energy access and stimulates economic development

5. A case-study: Wood-fuel consumption in Serbia (FAO)
FAO: WISDOM, Woodfuel Integrated Supply/Demand Overview Mapping
Assessing level of substitution of heating oil by wood
Total amount of wood used for energy purposes: 1.37 MTOE
4.9 times higher than officially reported data
 need to review policy framework (bioenergy subsidies)
Conclusions:
Importance of household studies
Data output depends on quality of input
Reconciling data sets
What happens if you have wrong data?

6. Different types of renewable energy data
Market & industry data/information
Economic/Investment data
Information on political & regulatory framework
Energy statistics
Renewable energy potential
Household surveys
Impact analysis …
 Qualitative and quantitative data
The data have different objectives – and the expectations and necessary standards vary
As you see, there is qualitative and quantitative data

7. Renewable energy data - Challenges
General challenges
Data production is costly
Information is owned
Information is power
Information is political
Data/Information can be manipulated
Specific challenges
Renewable energy data is
Cross-cutting and involving many stakeholders
Decentralised/disperse (and small-scale)
Evolves quickly
Tracking is difficult  data gaps exist (availability, accessibility, quality,…)

8. There is a need to include informal data
Formal vs. Informal data
There is a need to include informal data
From
Private sector (industry, consulting)
Research & Academia
NGOs
Development organisations
Individual experts

9. Formal vs. Informal data
”Coming back to the questionnaire, I believe NGOs cannot serve as serious information / data source, perhaps they can just serve to provide their own opinion about possible barriers and whatsoever obstacles for promotion of RES in a certain country. UNECE should base its annual status report on official sources in order to make it credible, while NGOs cannot be regarded as such sources”
”There is a need to include informal data sources, but there needs to be a formal validation” (ECREEE)
There is a tension between stakeholder groups and a need to build trust between the stakeholders and trust in informal data

10. Establish trust in informal data
Transparency (necessity of referencing)
Methodology
“Trust” in the data provider
“Trust” in the data aggregator
Trustful collaboration between the formal and informal players
Validation process

11. The REN21 Renewables Global Status Report is an international platform for data collection on renewable energy policy, market and industry trends.

12. From a single contribution to an important message on renewable energy….
Technology/Sector information
Country information
Data are analysed and cross-checked by an authoring team to define the “story”.
Data are peer-reviewed by international experts.

13. Regional Data Networks
REN21 also works with others around the world to promote renewables, build up networks and expand outreach efforts.
IEA Medium Term Report
SE4ALL Global Tracking Framework
IRENA Global Atla s
REN21 cooperated closely with the IEA, IRENA, SE4ALL, UNEP, EUEI PDF and the Frankfurt School, organising conferences and jointly publishing reports on the renewables sector.
World Bank Status Energy Access Report
UNEP CTCN

14. Global, regional, and country data
Process
Global Status Report
Regional Reports
Data

15. Conclusions
Reliable, timely and regularly updated data are essential for
Establishing energy plans
Defining targets
Designing and continuously adapting policy measures
Monitoring
To overcome data gaps, resources are needed to establish continuous data collection
More importantly, informal data need to become “acceptable data”: establish data networks and partnerships amongst stakeholder groups at the international, regional and national levels
Global perceptions of renewable energy have shifted considerably as nicely illustrated by a recent cover of the New Yorker.
The past decade has set the wheels in motion for a global transition to renewables, but a concerted and sustained effort is needed to achieve it.
Over the last 10 years, continuing technology advances and rapid deployment of many renewable energy technologies have demonstrated that the question is no longer whether renewables have a role to play in the provision of energy services, but rather how we can best increase the current pace to achieve a 100% renewables future with full energy access for all.
For this to be become reality, current thinking needs to change: continuing the status quo of a patchwork of policies and actions is no longer sufficient. Instead, technology developments, finance models as well as stable and predictable renewable energy policies need to be systematically linked across the public and private sectors in order to support and drive the transition process.
The successful energy transition with renewables will depend on
More-rigorous integration of renewable energy into the energy mix
A levelised playing field for the entire energy sector
Stable policy frameworks for renewables
Long-term and differentiated policies to sustain and increase investment levels
Greater attention to the heating and cooling and the transport sector
Improved energy data to monitor advancements in achieving a renewable energy transition 

16. Data output is only as good as data input
Data output is only as good as data input.... Let‘s collaborate to improve the data situation and avoid this:

17. Data is needed - Some recent quotes....
Atul: We don’t have enough data or we don’t know how to access the data
To advance heating & cooling we need good data, good monitoring, appropriate mapping of renewable energy sources and demand.