Environment, Europe, Headlines

ENVIRONMENT-SPAIN: The Sun Will Save Euros and Energy

Alicia Fraerman

MADRID, Nov 15 2004 (IPS) - The use of solar energy that has been declared compulsory for new buildings by the Spanish government as of next year will not only save consumers money, but will also cut the burning of fossil fuels and reduce air pollution.

The new measure adopted by the administration led by socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero should lead to the installation of 4.5 million square metres of solar panels by 2010.

By that time, it is predicted, solar panels in the European Union (EU) will amount to 100 million square metres – 10 times more than the current total, of which 581,000 square metres are found in Spain.

Implementing preventive measures is essential, because the current industrial development model based on non-renewable energy sources such as oil, coal and gas is not sustainable, Domingo Jiménez Beltrán, director of sustainable development in the prime minister’s office and former executive director of the European Environment Agency (EEA), told IPS.

Likewise, the Spanish Environment Minister, Cristina Narbona, pointed out that if energy consumption remains at the present levels, the world’s oil and natural gas resources will be depleted before the end of the century, which is why she considers it crucial to diversify energy sources.

The government measure to enforce the use of solar energy in new buildings was introduced because hot water is the second biggest expense on the energy bill of Spanish households, after heating.

According to a study by the state Institute for Energy Diversification and Efficiency (IDAE), a panel of merely two square metres on the roof of a house can assure the supply of between 50 to 70 percent of what is required to heat up water. The actual proportion depends on the position of the panels and the geographic location of the building.

Similarly, a one-family house equipped with solar energy diminishes the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere by an amount equivalent to one and a half tons per year, or 20 percent of the average discharge of cars in Europe, according to the IDAE.

The institute calculates the costs of a solar energy system for heating water at between 1,100 and 1,400 Euros (1,430 to 1,820 U.S. dollars) per house, with a working life of 25 years. Annually, this would save about 100 Euros, which means the panel would be paid off in 10 to 12 years.

The government is planning to facilitate access to low-cost credits specifically for the panels, to help meet the goal of installation of 4.5 million square metres of solar panels by 2010.

Another measure will make it obligatory to install in all residential buildings double water connections for washing machines and dish washers, enabling these home appliances to make use of the hot water from the solar energy system, which will reduce electricity consumption by 80 to 85 percent.

Jiménez Beltrán deems the announced measures highly necessary and useful, but believes that others need to be adopted as well in order to get to the roots of the problem.

Firstly, he points out that the high and growing consumption of non-renewable energies, apart from causing pollution, leads to the squandering of raw materials that are necessary today and in the future for the construction, petrochemical, textile and pharmaceutical industries.

It will be inevitable to raise taxes on fuel to reduce demand, he said.

Furthermore, the member countries of the EU should reach an agreement to enforce common energy policies, "benefiting the health of the people, the economy and the future of the planet," he adds.

Within the EU, Germany is the nation that produces the most solar energy, followed by Greece, Austria, France and Spain.

Spain has ten times fewer plants than Germany, despite the fact that its geographic location gives it the advantage of more hours of sunshine a day, making the plants more cost-effective.

María Novo, chairholder of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) chair in Environmental Education, told IPS that the measures announced by the Spanish government are positive and should be supported.

But she also said it was necessary to act with greater consideration of the future, while observing the rest of the world.

In her view, it is important to explore renewable energy sources such as biomass, which produces fuel using agricultural waste products, like rice and wheat straw, olive pits and almond shells.

She complained, however, that the industrialised countries of the North pay very low prices for primary products from the developing world, like fossil fuels, while selling poor countries their technological products at extremely high prices.

"We don’t need to speak so much about energy efficiency, but about social equity. Those in the North should give up taking those raw materials just to squander them."

According to Novo, the societies of the industrialised North should rethink their lifestyle, "since here everyone has two or three houses with an abundance of home and electronic appliances, as well as two or three cars, while in the South large parts of the population lack proper housing and can’t even dream about buying a car."