A few posts back I mentioned how Spain was taking a lead in switching to renewable energy. So it’s only fair to add a link to this article about Spain’s little neighbour Portugal, another country that is taking some real steps to develop a clean energy future.
Archive for inspiration
Spain setting a lead
Is anyone taking this climate change business seriously?
Spain might be.
The government has promised to achieve 12 per cent of energy from renewables by 2010 and unlike a number of other countries, it looks likely to achieve that target. It already generates almost third of its electricity from wind power and has an installed solar generating capacity of 400 megawatts. It has introduced feed-in tariffs to encourage homeowners to install solar panels.
In 2005, it became the first country in the world to require the installation of photovoltaic electricity generation in new buildings, and the second after Israel to require the installation of solar hot water.
Some regions of Spain are aiming to be 100 per cent renewably powered in the near future – the northern provinces of Castilla y Leon, La Rioja, Navarra, Aragon and Galicia all generate more than half their electricity from renewables.
Paradigm shift
At the launch of a $40 million carbon sequestration trial project near Nirranda in Victoria yesterday, Australian Federal Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said new coal-fired power stations are inevitable and carbon storage technology must be developed to tackle climate change.
“We must succeed … because Australia is … a fossil fuel dependent economy and our major export is coal… there is no alternative,” Ferguson said.
So… Australia’s economy depends on coal, therefore the solution to climate change must involve using coal. Except carbon capture isn’t proven. What if it doesn’t work? Is there still no alternative?
Ferguson’s comments are an example of something I’ll be highlighting a lot in this blog – the need for paradigm shift.
A paradigm is the dominant core principle; our society is currently organised around a paradigm of economic growth. As Bill Clinton famously said: “It’s the economy, stupid.” We need a new paradigm focused on sustainability. In other words: “It’s the environment, stupid.”
Ferguson and his ilk are locked into the old paradigm – economic growth is essential, we’ll do our best for the environment within that framework.
The new paradigm would put it the other way round – saving the environment is essential, we’ll do our best for the economy within that framework.
What people like Ferguson don’t seem to grasp is without the environment, there will be no economy. It’s not a choice.
Earth Hour
Dim the lights and turn off the TV for an hour at 8pm this Saturday for Earth Hour. OK, it’s a symbolic gesture not something that’s going to save the world but we need to get behind everything that promotes environmental awareness.
Solar Sahara could power Europe
July 25, 2008 · Filed under commentary, inspiration · Tagged clean energy, renewable, solar, solar thermal
This article in The Guardian gives an idea of the scale of thinking and vision needed to really turn climate change around. I’ve felt for a long time that tinkering around the edges of the problem won’t do it; what we need is a Manhattan Project for renewable energy.
My sense is solar thermal, out in deserts and able to be transmitted over huge distances by DC power cables, is the endgame for clean energy. Something, that is, similar to this proposal. And if you can put a huge power station in the Sahara to power Europe, then you can put a huge power station in the middle of Australia and power this continent too.
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