Recent evidence of climate change — e.g. high-speed winds in Europe, snowfall in Jerusalem and Los Angeles, and the warmest winters in 300 years — are clear signs of how urgently we need to cut greenhouse gas emissions. It is timely, then, that the European Renewable Energy Policy Conference (hosted in Brussels at the end of January) saw the launch of www.reegle.info, which is touted as an “information gateway for renewable energy and energy efficiency.” Reegle acts as a search engine and “actors catalogue” of key players and organisations active in clean energy and energy conservation, and is expected to contribute to an increased global uptake of renewables and energy efficiency.
Publisher: Jerome Simpson (Green Horizon)
Publish Date: 22 May 2007
“Key prerequisites for a speedy global expansion of renewable energies and the efficient use of energy are supportive framework conditions and easy access to up-to-date and high-quality information,” said Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment. Whether you’re hunting for financing, need to find a technology supplier, or are looking for a market to invest in, Reegle is a good one-stop resource.
The Reegle online facility not only offers high-quality, up-to-date and reliable information, but encompasses coverage of emerging markets and developing countries, complete with country-specific details with regard to laws, regulations, policies, jurisdictions, investment and finance conditions, and technologies. Search results can be broken down by date, file type and/or organisational source (e.g. the World Energy Council). Just entering “wind farms” as search words brings up 161 web pages or document files linked by html, ranging from case studies and technology programmes to news articles and equipment providers.
Tabs at the top of the page, meanwhile, enable visitors to click on “actors catalogue” to home in on different constituent players (financers, universities, NGOs or businesses) and to narrow a search by geographical region and/or sector (e.g. renewable energy, co-generation), which is useful if, for instance, you’re looking to invest in a developing country. The “search by category” tab enables one to further narrow a search by information type, rather than by actor. By relying exclusively on pre-selected databases, such as those of the International Energy Agency (IEA) or World Bank, Reegle aims to avoid providing information that varies widely in quality and reliability — a problem typically associated with broader search engines.
The average visitor spends 20 minutes searching Reegle, which averages 10,000 unique visitors and more than 35,000 page impressions per month. Behind the user-friendly front end is a new design concept known as “semantic webbing” (the application of state-of-theart “knowledge-mapping” technology), which is used to link usage patterns. This kind of advanced “intelligent search” mechanism is designed to enable users to find information more rapidly. While Reegle is certainly useful (not least of all the “news” and “events” sections), much depends on the quality of information fed in and on how frequently the site is updated.
IEA and World Bank policy and programme documents are fine up to a point, but the real emphasis needs to be on facilitating technology transfer — i.e. linking renewable energy investors with project developers and energy providers. In fact, a “marketplace” for those actors actively seeking investors is being looked into as part of Reegle’s future development plans. Reegle was developed by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). It is sponsored by the governments of Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.