SciDev.Net

Projects in developing countries that both promote renewable energies and help reduce carbon dioxide emissions are not receiving sufficient attention from the international community, even as part of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism – a structure that allows developed nations to invest in projects in the South in return for credits to help them meet their requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In this article in The Christian Science Monitor, Eric Unmacht describes how, for instance, steam produced by Indonesia's 500 volcanoes could produce large amounts of electricity. But investors prefer cheaper projects that reduce emissions of other gases, such as methane, nitrous oxide or fluorocarbons.

Some organisations are attempting to close 'loopholes' in the Clean Development Mechanism to help attract more investment for renewable energy projects. But part of the problem is that developing country governments, including Indonesia's, have been reluctant to boost these projects for fear that they will compromise their exemption from having to meet emission targets as part of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.