2008 GLOBAL SOLAR REPORT CARD – GLOBAL GREEN GRADES THE WORLD

New Energy is the answer to the climate and energy crises facing today’s world. And solar energy – though not yet cost competitive – is the key New Energy. Scientists who run the numbers (see, for example, Powering The Planet from Professor Nathan Lewis of the California Institute of Technology) repeatedly affirm this THEORETICAL conclusion.

How is the world ACTUALLY doing? There was no conclusive answer until now. Global Green USA has released its long anticipated 2008 Global Solar Report Card, rating 16 leading nations and the state of California for their progress in developing solar energy.

The Solar Report Card (SRC) opening sentence: “The time has come to harness the sun.”

The SRC grades governments for how much capacity they have developed in comparison to their natural resources and how successfully they have developed policy to support manufacturing and production capacity.

Conclusions? The document is too thorough, comprehensive and well-documented to treat with a quick, easy summary.

And NewEnergyNews is NOT going to give up the final grades at the top of the page. Click here and check out this informative, visually-rich, user-friendly, excellently-documented study.

A few teasers from the SRC:

With present solar technology, the world’s solar resources can provide at least 4 times the world’s yearly energy demand.

The global solar energy industry is growing at 40-to-50%/year.

Uniquely, solar energy development offers a cost-effective solution to reaching the 2 billion people in the world who are off all electricity grids.

Germany got the highest grade for its combination of installed capacity and policies that will promote future growth. California finished 2nd for its big rebate program.

Spain took 3rd place away from the U.S. with a jump in installed capacity and a new feed-in tariff.

The U.S. held on to a high place with recent passage of a long-term tax incentive but falls far short of its potential.

Italy, France and Greece are lagging in installed capacity but earned points for good policies.

Australia’s policies are disappointing and its performance lags far from its potential.

Japan’s world leadership was lost when it discontinued policies it is now, finally, re-instituting.

China’s progressive policies and goals belie its up-to-now poor performance.

There is little to be said for the UK, Russia and Poland.

The report is filled with maps and charts showing each country’s potential and capacities. It is one of the most complete and useful pieces of work yet produced in the New Energy field, all the more important because it was not produced by any of the energy industries’ advocacy groups.

So, how is the world ACTUALLY doing? There could be no more convincing evidence than the 2008 Solar Report Card that, indeed, the time has come to harness the sun.

From the 2008 Global Solar Report Card. (click to enlarge)

Green Cross International and American Affiliate Global Green USA Find Grossly Inadequate Investment in Solar Technologies to Fight Climate Change and Create Sustainable Energy Future; First of its kind Solar Report Card Released at Poznan…Leaders and Laggards
Alexandra Kravetz and Ruben Aronin, December 2, 2008 (Global Green USA)

WHO
Green Cross International (Mikhail Gorbachev, founder); U.S. affiliate Global Green USA (Matt Petersen, President/CEO and Alexandra Kravetz, Energy Program Coordinator/Solar Report Card author-researcher); International Energy Agency (IEA)

From the 2008 Global Solar Report Card. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Global Green’s 2008 Global Solar Report Card details and rates the world’s nations’ efforts to develop solar energy.

WHEN
Released December 2, 2008

From the 2008 Global Solar Report Card. (click to enlarge)

WHERE
- The Solar Report Card details the performance of 16 countries – Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, UK, U.S. (and the state of California) – in developing solar energy capacity.
- Released in Poznan, Poland, at the

WHY
- The report highlights the policies with the most promise to develop solar energy.
- The report looks at manufacturing and deployment of solar capacity.
- Grading considers the countries’ commitment to foster solar energy growth.
- Most recent IEA estimate: $250 to 300 billion/year energy subsidies worldwide, $10 billion/year New Energy subsidies.
- Grading scheme:
(1) 30% of the grade comes from progress to date and includes (a) cumulative installed PV, 12%, (b) cumulative installed PV/GDP, 5%, (c) cumulative installed PV/capita, 5%, (d) emissions avoided with PV, 8%;
(2) 70% comes from drivers for future development which include (a) financial incentives, 56% [feed-in tariff or rebates and grants, 25%, tax credit, 15%, subsidized loans, 8%, & national financial incentive, 8%], (b) regulatory incentives, 12% [renewable electricity standards, 7%, interconnection, 3%, net metering, 2%], (c) indirect support via education and outreach, 2% .

From the 2008 Global Solar Report Card. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Matt Petersen, President/CEO, Global Green: “Solar power has a tremendous potential to deliver substantial amounts of clean electricity while reducing electricity bills and creating new jobs in manufacturing and solar installation…Solar power will only become ubiquitously competitive once government incentives and policies help advance the markets, something that could easily be achieved by eliminating subsidies for polluting fossil fuels and investing them in solar.”
- From the Report Card: “…[S]olar is a source of power which is not only clean but versatile; it can serve power providers’ grids as well as 2 billion people, most of whom live in rural areas not connected to the grid and rely on expensive, dirty sources of energy.”