Renewable Energies (RE) emits no pollution, produces no greenhouse gases, and uses no finite fossil fuel resources. These are great environmental benefits. However energy is required to manufacture RE systems. Do these systems recover the energy required to construct them?

• Solar panels depend on mono-crystalline and poly-crystalline silicon, which are manufactured by purifying and crystalizing silicon. These processes are the most energy-consumptive parts of the solar-cell manufacturing process. Furthermore, energy is used to cut the silicon into wafers, processing the wafers into cells, assembling cells into modules.
• The construction of a wind turbine requires energy to make a 3-phase alternator, tower and rotor blades. Rotor blades are made from reinforced glass-fibre or carbon fibre mats, which usually are produced through a special vacuum infusion process.
• How lenght of time a RE system should operate to recover the energy that went into making it is refered to as the “energy payback time” (EPBT) or energetic amortization period.

The Energy Desk at DRFN has conducted various consultancies in the field of renewable energy, including the following:

· Outase Energy Supply Project: Commissioned the desk to conduct a baseline survey on various aspects including the extent of fuel wood use, availability, fuel wood, cost thereof, and social acceptability of the biogas technology.
· Elaboration of Case study for Programme for Biomass Energy Conservation in Southern Africa: Ýoung school leavers in Namibia are making a living from producing and selling improved stoves’.