Home: Renewable Energy News: Thursday 16 July, 2009

Renewable Energy News

THURSDAY 16 JULY, 2009 |

32,000 Solar Schools In Japan By 2020

Japan solar schools
The Japanese government recently announced it will install solar power systems of all its 32,000 public elementary and middle schools by 2020.

According to a report on Business Green, as much as AUD $1.2 billion in funding will be allocated to achieve the ambitious goal and municipalities will only have to contribute 2.5 percent of the cost for the systems.

Schools will be supplied with 20kW grid connected rooftop solar systems and according to the Japanese Education Ministry, this will provide enough power to light up to 10 classrooms on a daily basis.

There are currently 1,200 solar schools in Japan and the government aims to increase that number to 12,000 by 2012, then to the 32,000 target by 2020. Once the project is completed, the amount of electricity generated each year by the rooftop solar power systems will be equivalent to the power needed to for 200,000 Japanese homes.

Closer to home, Australia's National Solar Schools Program (NSSP) is still in operation and according to government figures, 4814 schools around Australia have now registered for the NSSP. The program provides schools with grants of up to $50,000 (ex. GST) to install solar power and other renewable energy systems. Dual campuses can receive as much as $100,000 (ex. GST). The systems usually don't require any major changes to a school's existing electrical infrastructure.

The benefit to schools from installing solar power systems isn't confined to reducing electricity bills. The systems can also act as a revenue raiser during weekends and holidays through feed in tariff arrangements.

The installations provide education opportunities, becoming a tool to help students learn about renewable energy, energy efficiency and the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Solar powered schools also help spark interest in students to perhaps pursue a renewable energy career and provide an important example to the community where the school is located in regards to environmental stewardship.

Renewable Energy Costs And FUD

renewable energy costs
FUD is a term that stands for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. According to Wikipedia, "FUD is generally a strategic attempt to influence public perception by disseminating negative information designed to undermine the credibility of their beliefs."

Renewable energy options such as solar power have certainly captured the public's imagination, with many more people around the world now demanding a clean and sustainable energy future.

However, there's a lot at stake in the current energy status quo and for parties wishing to discredit renewable energy, the most effective way to do so during these tough financial times is to exaggerate the costs to be borne by consumers.

Over the last few weeks there's been an increasing number of stories in the news about how much extra consumers will need to pay as the result of an increasing amount of renewable energy being introduced into the mains grid. For example, in the UK, the estimates have varied wildly - anything from £92 annually (approximately AUD $188) to a massive £320 per year quoted by some news outlets.

There's something very important that's missing from some of these stories, aside from the questionable accuracy of their claims. Whichever way the world chooses to go, whether with filthy fossil fuel or clean energy from wind, tide, geothermal and sun; it is going to hit the hip pockets of all - but a business as usual approach to energy generation will cost even more.

Most consumers don't realise that the fossil fuel industry is very heavily subsidised already. People are paying more than what is stated on their utility bill indirectly through income and consumption taxes.

There's also the issue of peak oil - new oil reserves are becoming harder to find and what is available is becoming more difficult and costly to extract. There's also the issue increased environmental damage being wrought through these extraction processes; such as in the case of Canada's tar sands.

While coal is still plentiful, it's undeniably a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions; a major driver behind global warming and climate change. The coal industry has been trying to beat the drum for "clean coal"; but the reality is that even if the concept were commercially viable, it would require vast amounts of extra coal to be mined in order to provide the energy needed to create "clean coal" power. The expectation is that the cost increase for clean coal technology will be in the order of 50 to 75% of current power generation costs.

Along with costs of various subsidies and sanitising strategies for dirty power, marginal price increases due to developing renewable technologies need to be weighed against the potential costs across economies of fossil fuel related health issues, frequent extreme weather events, droughts, fires, floods, ocean warming, acidification and level rise; plus the failure to create new industries.

For example, a recent study from the West Virginia University Institute for Health Policy Research found the costs of illness and premature deaths in Appalachia related to coal mining far outweigh economic benefits the industry brings to the region. While coal mining contributed USD $8 billion to Appalachia in 2005, the costs of shortened life spans associated with coal operations ranged from $16.979 billion to $84.544 billion, the study found.

The Stern Review of 2006, commissioned by the British Government, put the global projected cost of global warming and its effects at $A9 trillion - more than the combined cost of the two world wars and the Great Depression. It also represents 20% of the global economy.

Nuclear power has also enjoyed new-found favour, but the cost of electricity generated by new nuclear reactors would be far higher than increased energy efficiency and renewable energy sourced power. New nuclear reactors now cost seven times as much as the cost projection for the first reactors of the Great Bandwagon Market.

Yes, renewable energy will cost more - but even an extra 50 cents a day to source our electricity via clean, renewable means seems a very small price to pay as insurance against even higher costs involved by continuing with our fossil fuel addiction; or even pursuing nuclear power.