Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
installation of solar systems in residential communities. Initially, the Japanese
government provided a subsidy covering 50 percent of the cost of installing a
residential solar system. This percentage subsequently dropped to 33 percent and
eventually became a fixed amount as the 10-year project matured. As a result of
the project, over 253,000 homes installed solar systems that collectively generate
over 931 megawatts of power. Even though the government subsidy decreased,
the number of systems installed increased considerably year by year, as the
installation price decreased. According to a solar manufacturer, the cost of
installing a solar system dropped from about $16,000 per kilowatt in 1994 to
about $6,000 per kilowatt when the project ended. Due to the successful
transformation of the photovoltaic market, Japanese homeowners continue to buy
and install solar systems without the government subsidy.
The 10-year residential solar project has also helped create a Japanese solar
industry that has become a world leader in the photovoltaic market. According to
the European Commission, Japanese manufacturers' share of the world
photovoltaic market is now greater than 40 percent. The residential solar project
also enables the Japanese government to fulfill its commitment to increase its
share of renewables in its energy portfolio to about 3 percent by 2010 and reduce
its greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.
Spain Began Operating an IGCC Coal Gasification Plant in 1997
In the early 1990s, the European Union and the Spanish government
collaborated to construct the world's largest coal-based IGCC plant in
Puertollano, Spain, to improve the efficiency, cost, and environmental profile of
coal-based power plants. The 320-megawatt IGCC plant, which began generating
electricity from coal in 1998, is operated by a consortium of eight utilities from
France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom as part of a
European Union program to demonstrate energy technologies that promote clean
coal and reduce the European Union's dependency on natural gas.
The European Union and the Spanish government supported the construction
of the Puertollano plant by subsidizing about 8.5 percent of its nearly $900
million cost. European consortium members noted that, in comparison, DOE can
fund up to 50 percent of the cost of commercial IGCC demonstration projects. In
2000, the Puertollano plant produced nearly 1 million megawatts of electricity
using synthetic gas. The Puertollano plant is expected to operate at over 45
percent efficiency and eliminate 99.9 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions. DOE
plans to achieve efficiencies and emissions levels comparable to the Puertollano
plant by 2010—currently, U.S. IGCC plants are about 40-percent efficient and
eliminate 98 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions.
