Australia, The United States, and Britain. Who is winning the renewable energy race? Who is doing more to secure green energy in their country? The answer is Germany. They have installed and are achieving 38301 MWp (Mega Watt peak) with photovoltaic devices. They have strategies in place to ensure that their country could run fully renewable energy by 2030. However, how close are the other superpowers and forward thinking countries? Those aforementioned countries that are considered to be big players in the renewable energy game. Let's take a look.
Australia's Labor Government has established a Strategic Industries Taskforce to further the renewable energy conversation in the country. The taskforce wants to set up a Strategic Industries Reserve Fund that would see AUD $300 million to encourage renewable energy in "emissions intensive industries". This would include modernizing companies that are still operating with a big carbon footprint. The money will also be funneled into research in STEM fields to further investigate ways of making Australia's energy reach its renewable energy goals.
Bill Shorten, the Opposition Leader for the Labor Party, spoke to media recently, saying: "Renewable energy is not just a fringe industry anymore. It is a key strategy in delivering jobs in Australia delivering investment into Australian industry. That is why we are prioritising our goal of 50 percent of our energy mix by 2030 will be derived from renewable energy sources such as these remarkable solar farms [referring to the Royalla Solar Farms]."
The United States are set to commit to a new clean power goal at a summit being held in Ottawa this week. Countries set to co-sign the bill are Canada and Mexico as well. They're calling it...and wait for it, it's worth it...The Three Amigos Summit. The summit will see the three countries agreeing to power their country through renewable means by up to 50% by the year 2025. A senior advisor in Barack Obama's camp said that the goals are aggressive but they are certain the three countries will be able to do it, making it a continent-wide agreement. According to The Guardian, a third of America's power is already being produced from renewable energy sources. Interestingly, Canada already produces 81% of its energy through renewable means.
And now for the inevitable news. Britain has been told that the exit from the European Union will amount to less renewable energy technology making its way into the country. The offshore wind industry is rumored to be impacted by the Brexit as well. After the Brexit results were unveiled, Siemens halted wind power investment in the UK due to uncertainty in the market. Dong Energy is also one of the bigger investors in UK offshore wind. Their spokesperson told the Guardian: "We will await clarity over the implications of the vote to leave the European Union. However, we don't believe that UK energy policy is dependent on EU membership." Therefore, the UK should say a collective, "Whew!" What is apparent, however, is that time will tell what the Brexit's impact on British energy policies is. Hopefully, for the engineers who work in the industry's sake, everything will be fine. It depends on the change in leadership and what those leaders have in mind for renewable energy in the UK, a country who was tipped to be the dark horse in the renewable energy game before the Brexit.
Source: Renew Economy / The Guardian
