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.
Posts tagged renewable energy
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.
Irresponsible investment
April 23, 2008 · Filed under commentary · Tagged ACF uranium, Australia, ethical investment, renewable energy
You’d be hard-pressed these days to find a government body in Australia, from the Federal Government down to Woop Woop Council, that doesn’t claim to be leading the way on climate change. But a new Australian Conservation Foundation study [] shows how few are putting their money where their mouths are. The study reveals Australian government funds invest almost fifty times more ($6billion) in coal and uranium than in renewable energy ($126million), while only 1.5 per cent of funds are ethically screened.
Even states such as NSW and Victoria, which have policies banning uranium mining, still invest about five times more in uranium mining companies than in renewable energy.
It’s another reminder that sustainability hasn’t yet penetrated beyond the office partitions of the “environment department” into the everyday culture and thinking of all areas of government.
And on the subject of government spending … the cost of Australia’s involvement in Iraq has now passed the $2 billion mark.
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