GORBIE & GLOBAL GREEN GRADE THE SOLAR WORLD

Mikhail Gorbachev sings in the solar choir
Greg Harman, March 30, 2009 (San Antonio Current)
and
Gorbachev pushes for solar energy in San Antonio
March 30, 2009 (AP via Dallas Morning News)
and
President Gorbachev Calls For Dramatic Boost To Solar Energy To Revitalize Economy, Fight Climate Change & Energy Poverty; Solar Report Card Highlights Potential for Governments to Spur Robust Solar Markets. US receives a C+ Grade, UK D-, Germany A-, China D-, Russia F
March 30, 2009 (Global Green)

SUMMARY
Global Green USA’s 2008 Global Solar Report Card, authored by Alexandra Kravetz and released at the UN climate change conference in Poznan, Poland, in December, so impressed international affiliate Green Cross International (GCI) that the Mikhail Gorbachev-founded nonprofit adopted the report card and committed GCI to backing it as an ongoing annual study.

Gorbachev formally reintroduced the report card at the International Petrochemical Association meeting as a joint undertaking of the Green Cross International solar initiative and Global Green USA.

In his remarks presenting the report card, Gorbachev stressed the urgency of moving to emissions-free energy sources and the enormous value to the world’s 2 billion people who now live without electricity of off-grid solar photovoltaic panels .

click to enlarge

The Solar Report Card is an analysis of progress in solar energy deployment and policies in 16 countries and the state of California. Its 100-point grading system gives up to 30 points for installed capacity and 70 points for policies that will drive growth (financial incentives, 56 points, regulatory incentives, 12 points, and educational/advocacy efforts, 2 points).

The report found all the countries studied to be in early phases of development. The highest grade, an A-, went to Germany, which leads the world in installed capacity. Switzerland, Russia and Poland got Fs. The only B went to California. The U.S., France, Spain and Italy got C+s.

The Solar Report Card fits well with the Green Cross International solar initiative, which aims to increase awareness of solar energy’s potential and promote investment in developed and developing solar markets. Through its network of 31 affiliate organizations, GCI will promote the solar initiative, as well as a solar fund. The fund will be an investment vehicle for public and private capital. Gorbachev and GCI see this work as a crucial part of the fight against climate change and energy poverty.

Global Green USA has championed solar power for 15 years. It has been a leader in pushing state and federal legislation to support solar growth. It has particularly focused on the value of green building and solar energy to low-income families and communities. Global Green is building the Holy Cross Project, the first solar powered, net-zero energy housing development in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, with lead funding from the Home Depot Foundation. It is also sponsoring the first U.S. Residential Buildings Zero Net Energy Bill in California and assisting with Solara, Community Housing Works’ first solar powered net-zero affordable housing complex in California.

click to enlarge

COMMENTARY
From before the fall of The Wall until after the fall of Wall Street, the world has known and continues to know the incredible gift of solar energy and yet has failed and continues to fail to fully turn to it and turn away from the toxic spew of burning things it finds in the ground.

click to enlarge

The purpose of the report card is to get governments to realize what a great resource they are allowing to go to waste and to spur solar development.

Implicit in the Solar Report card's emphasis on policies and incentives in its grading system is a dialogue comparing competing ideas about how best to drive solar energy's growth. The high grade given to Germany is for more than its world-leading installed capacity. Germany has roughly the same sun (insolation) as Anchorage, Alaska. The difference is that Germany developed and then improved a feed-in tariff (FiT) to drive solar energy installations. Part of the U.S. failure is its limited incentive structure.

click to enlarge

Spain’s installed capacity is the second biggest in the world, significantly ahead of California’s installed capacity. Japan’s installed capacity is the world’s third biggest. Yet Spain got the same grade (C+) as California, and Japan got a C, because Spain’s FiT was poorly designed (until 2009) and Japan let its once-world standard incentive program fall apart (until 2009).

QUOTES
- Mikhail Gorbachev, founder, Green Cross International, on presenting the Global Green 2008 Global Solar Report Card: “Moving toward a low-carbon economy is an urgent task, both political and economic…The leaders of a number of countries have already taken steps to make the economy less carbon dependent…If we act late now, all of us will be the losers … If we do not take this opportunity, this will be a big mistake.”
- Gorbachev, presenting the report card at the International Petrochemical Association conference: “The oil industry is a key stakeholder. Their commitment is essential to turn the tide against the massive accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere…This economic crisis must mark the beginning of a new sustainable development path that has been long overdue. Solar power needs big investments to expand and create significant effects. For the 2 billion people currently living without electricity, the sun is the best hope.”

click to enlarge

- Alexander Likhotal, President, Green Cross International: “The challenge today is to embed Green Economic policy in national economies worldwide - leadership by one country or region is not enough…Latest estimates by the International Energy Agency show renewable sources account for only $10 billion of the $250-300 billion allocated to annual energy subsidies worldwide. If we are to deal with the current crises and the ones just around the corner, then every dollar, euro, or yen is going to have to work smarter and harder.”