Wealthy nations try to eliminate energy goals

TO the outrage of environmentalists, industrialised nations and oil states at the World Summit on Sustainable Development worked yesterday to water down a timetable for rapidly expanding the use of clean, renewable energy technologies around the globe.

Renewable energy sources, such as wind power and solar energy, produce smaller and more expensive amounts of electricity than a traditional power plant. But the technologies generate a tiny fraction of the unhealthy smog that comes from burning oil, coal and other fossil fuels, as well as carbon dioxide and other gases believed to accelerate global warming.

The United States and Saudi Arabia were among several nations whose delegates were lobbying to eliminate specific goals to expand the use of renewable energy from the conference's implementation plan.