Spain: Renewable Energy Powerhouse
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 06.28.07
In its recent Spain survey, The Financial Times (subscription needed) elaborates at length on the spectacular growth and development of the country’s renewable energy industry, a rapid rise that has allowed it to become the world’s second largest producer of wind energy after Germany and a front-runner in solar and biofuel technologies (peep some of our earlier posts listed at the end for some examples of its sustainable prowess). Indeed, March 20 marked the first time that thousands of whirring wind turbines provided a whopping 27% of the country’s total electricity supply, a historic high reached by pumping energy from 72% of its total installed wind capacity (which we reported on earlier here).
This is in great part due to the big investments made by Spanish energy companies and the government’s early adoption of favorable tariff incentives that provide a guarantee to producers that all their energy will be purchased. “Spain has created a cluster of knowledge in clean energy that sets it apart from most other countries,” said Miguel Salis, a private equity manager. “This has enabled Spanish groups to invest successfully in other markets where there is huge potential for growth.”
Firms like Gamesa, a manufacturer and installer of wind turbines, Iberdrola, a power group, and Acciona Energia, a wind park developer, have all become world-beating businesses (in some cases, world leaders) with some of the largest global market shares in their respective industries by making crucial, early investments in their core technologies.
Spain’s environment and climate are also widely credited for its huge gains in renewable energy. As Europe’s second most mountainous region (after Switzerland) and one of its least densely-populated states, Spain was the ideal location to mass-produce and install wind turbines and photovoltaic panels without causing too much public outcry. It all just comes to show what can be accomplished with the right government policies and a business climate willing to embrace change and risk.
Image courtesy of Technology Review
Via ::Renewable energy: Revolutions turn nation into green leader (newspaper)
See also: ::Seville Solar Station, Southern Spain, ::Wind Power Is Spain's Top Energy Source This Week, ::Wave Energy For Spain Keeps Moving Forward, ::Solar Spain
"March 20 marked the first time that thousands of whirring wind turbines provided a whopping 27% of the country’s total electricity supply."
I wish our leaders in congress would take their jobs more seriously and require a greater percentage of renewable power for our utilities by 2020. We seem to be about 12 years behind Spain and with the present mentality in Washington, it seems that little progress will be made in the ensuing years.
What we may need are leaders with a better undestanding of renewable energy and not ones so much under the influence of the oil and coal industries. Lobbying in Washington is powerful and money seems to be able to overcome the effort to think clearly and carefully on matters concerning the direction our country should be taking with respect to energy.
adrianakau2aol.com
There is also a dark side to this renewable energy leadership: in Southern Spain, huge greenhouses produce a large percentage of all the fresh fruits and vegetables consumed in Europe.
The impact of these greehouse on the environment has been tremedous: they consume huge amount of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and water. Since the south of Spain is a fairly dry region, they have been pumping water out of the huge aquifer table, to the point that it is almost exhausted.
So, hurray for renewable energy in Spain, but its agriculture deserves a big booo.
I live in southern Spain and it is indeed an enviromental nightmare. Yes you do see plenty of wind turbines but have a quick look at the area just west of Almeria in Google earth. Yet another enviromental disaster that can bee seen from space!
There has been a frenzied building boom too which uses concrete like - well, there was no tomorrow. In all these new builds I have yet to see any sign even a basic awareness of enviromental issuess let alone a single solar panel and please don't get me going on the golf courses!
hey, you should see what we're doing with solar energy over at Southside Air Inc. Be sure to stop by our website at http://www.southsideair.com and leave us some comments about what you think at http://www.southsideair.com/blog .