April 12, 2009
· Filed under green living tips · Tagged insulation, solar energy, solar power
I’ve been asked about the Federal Government’s grants for insulation, so here is the relevent link.
Basically you can get $1600 back for either installing solar hot water or installing ceiling insulation. The insulation grant is only available if you currently have no ceiling insulation or your ceiling insulation has an R-value of less than 0.5. (The recommended R-value for ceiling insulation in Sydney, for instance, is 2.5.)
In most cases, this grant will make installing ceiling insulation free.
This is separate to the grant for installing solar panels.
July 4, 2008
· Filed under inspiration · Tagged climate change, renewable energy, solar, solar energy, solar power
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.
June 18, 2008
· Filed under inspiration · Tagged renewable energy, solar, solar energy, solar power, Spain, wind, wind power
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.
