ANDREW LEONARD, How the World Works at Salon.com, June 6, 2008
Portugal lacks oil and gas resources, has no nuclear power expertise, but has abundant wind, wave and solar energy. Making a commitment to turn from expensive, polluting fossil fuel to abundant renewable power, Portugal’s leaders foresaw tightening energy markets and made huge investments to develop renewable power.
Says Manuel Pinho, Portugal’s Economics Minister about Portugal’s renewable energy program, “When you have a program like this there is no need for nuclear power. Wind and water are our nuclear power. The relative price of renewables is now much lower, so the incentives are there to invest. My advice to countries like the U.K. is to move as fast as they can to renewables. With climate change and the increase in oil prices, renewables will become more and more important.”
Portugal’s goal is to produce 30% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Here’s a handy listing of how selected European countries are currently faring on their environmental goals provided by The Guardian.
The Top Performers:
- Sweden 2005 39.8%, target by 2020 48%
- Latvia 34.9%, target 42%
- Finland 28.5%, target 38%
- Austria 23.3%, target 34%
- Portugal 20.5%, target 31%
The Bottom Dwellers:
- Cyprus 2.9%, target by 2020 13%
- Netherlands 2.4%, target 14%
- Ireland 3.1%, target 16%
- Netherlands 2.4%, target 14%
- Belgium 2.2%, target 13%
- UK 1.3%, target 15%
For comparison purposes, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration statistics for the year 2006, the U.S. gets about 7 percent of its power from renewable energy generation.
