Spain’s Energy Transition
Last month, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez unveiled his plans to boost the economy following the COVID-19 crisis.
As part of this, Spain wants to use 37% of the grants received from the EU coronavirus recovery fund for green investments and the ecological transition to enable the country to grow in a sustainable way. However, some business leaders have expressed concerns about the risk that the recovery funds will fail to produce the desired effect if projects are not well chosen and run. Whilst we wait for details of how Spain will implement the plan to transition to Green Energy to be released, we don’t have to wait to start using the most abundant Renewable Energy source available today – Solar.
Solar Energy
As we have mentioned in previous articles, Solar Energy is any type of energy generated by the sun. It is considered a Renewable Energy as scientists believe that the sun is only about halfway through its life and has about 5 billion years left. You have probably used Solar Energy already without thinking about it to dry your washing outside. However, there are various technologies to capture the sun’s energy and these can be used in a variety of different ways. Previously we have looked at the differences between Solar Photovoltaic Systems which enable the generation of electricity and Solar Thermal which can be used for domestic water heating systems and Solar swimming pool heating systems.
Solar Architecture
In addition to actively capturing and converting Solar Energy into another form of energy, it is also possible to make use of Passive Solar technologies which, for example, take advantage of the natural climate to heat structures during the winter and reflect heat during the summer. It is common nowadays for architects to design and build homes to make use of the natural heating and cooling process to distribute heat efficiently through the building, or to reflect the sun’s radiation instead of absorbing it and reduce the amount of heat that reaches the interior of the building.
Towns and cities can also be planned to work with the natural climate and to reduce non-renewable energy usage.
In Murcia City this year some 24,000m. of a new kind of ‘cooling’ asphalt was laid which reflects the heat and reduces the air temperature by 1.5°C and the surface temperature by 10°C, compared with traditional asphalt. This should deliver a 7% energy saving from refrigeration units, such as air conditioners.
Perhaps the government’s plans will come to fruition and the transition to Green Energy will not only help us to reduce our electricity bills and the effects of global warming, but will also contribute to Spain’s economic recovery.
For more information on Renewable Energy and how it can help improve your life, contact Free-Sol Solar at admin@free-sol.com or visit www. free-sol.com