Spain Requires Solar/ Sweden Tops list

Spain requires new buildings use solar power

Solar panels are now compulsory on all new and renovated buildings in Spain as part of the country’s efforts to bring its building rules up to date and curb growing demand for energy, ministers said on Monday.

Until now Spain’s building standards have dated from the 1970s and have done little in seeking to improve energy efficiency.

“We have to make up the time we have lost,” Environment Minister Cristina Narbona said, inaugurating a seminar on the new technical building code.

The code will come into force fully next March but the energy saving element was implemented on Sept. 29.

This means new homes have to be equipped with solar panels to provide between 30 and 70 percent of their hot water, depending on where the building is located and on its expected water usage.

New non-residential buildings, such as shopping centers and hospitals, now have to have photovoltaic panels to generate a proportion of their electricity.

Solar power has not yet taken off in Spain, largely because subsidies have been directed at wind energy, and it provided a negligible amount of the country’s electricity in 2005.

Other measures in the new building code enforce the use of better insulation, improve the maintenance of heating and cooling systems and increase the use of natural light.

“The new standards will bring energy savings of 30 to 40 percent for each building and a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy consumption of 40 to 55 percent,” the Environment and Housing Ministries said in a joint statement.

Also:

Sweden doing most to fight global warming, Saudi Arabia the least

Sweden, Britain and Denmark top the list of countries doing the most to address global warming, while the United States, China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia rank as doing the least according to a new report released by environmental groups. Still, warns the report, even the best ranking countries are not doing enough to stave off climate change.

"If climate change protection were an Olympic Discipline, no country would make it to the medal ranks", said Matthias Duwe, Director of Climate Action Europe, one of the groups behind the 2007 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI).

The index, which ranks 56 countries that were part of a 1992 climate treaty or contribute at least 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, took into account emissions trends, emissions levels and climate policy...

The countries making up the index are responsible for 90 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. According to the Germanwatch, the environmental group that made the calculations for the index, the United States, the world's largest carbon dioxide polluter, emits 21.8 percent of global CO2 despite only having 4.6 percent of the world's population. The second largest CO2 emitter, China, has 17.9% of the world's share of carbon dioxide emissions but 20.5 percent of the population.