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U.S. State Arizona is one of the rare U.S. states that are making big steps towards better use of renewable energy as the whole nation attempts to fight global warming and climate change. Since Arizona is blessed with lots of sunshine throughout the whole year it is really all about using its natural advantage by using Sun's energy to gain electricity. Solar power use is constantly growing in this sunny state, and Arizona is one of very few good examples in U.S. of how to harness renewable energy sector for satisfying ever-growing energy demand. Solar energy is most often used in remote locations, but it has to be said how solar energy is also becoming popular in urban areas as well.
Arizona is still dependent on coal, oil, and other fossil fuels to satisfy majority of its energy needs but is definitely making right steps to get rid of this dependence in not so far future. One of the projects that should set the standard for Arizona’s future energy plans is definitely world's largest solar power plant called "Solana" that should become fully operational in 2011. This gigantic solar power plant requires area of 1,900 acres, and should be enough to satisfy energy needs of about 70,000 households. This solar power plant has been symbolically named Solana, which means on Spanish "a sunny place", and should have capacity at somewhere around 280 megawatts. The good news is not only that it will power 70,000 homes, but it will also provide about 1,500 new jobs, which is especially positive in times of global financial crisis like this one now.
If everything goes well with this solar power plant, and we really do not see reason why it shouldn't this could be a major leap towards better use of renewables, and should point the right way not only for the future energy projects in Arizona but also for the whole United States, because U.S. definitely needs bigger share of renewable energy sources in satisfying its energy needs to make President's Obama plan of 20 percent less CO2 emissions by 2020 well within possible reach.
Arizona - Great position.
Though this looks good from many different point of view (huge boom for renewable energy sector, better environmental protection, and lots of new jobs on local level) there is still one big problem remaining, namely renewal of clean energy bill. Renewal of expiring clean energy bill would shift about $18 billion in tax breaks from oil companies to renewable energy and without this bill Solana would really be impossible to build. Hopefully, politicians will see the benefits of this project as this project can show path to many other projects in years to come. In any case it has potential to do wonders for renewable energy sector, but sadly politics will yet again have the last word. If we should judge based on previous experiences things wouldn't be looking bright because back in 2007 the tax credit fell one vote short of passing the US Senate as part of the December 2007 energy bill, and the same thing also happened in February 2008 (in both cases is was the vote of republican John McCain).
Some energy experts believe that we could see a different scenario this time on, mainly because many people lost their jobs in past couple of months and 1,500 new jobs is something that even politicians should consider worthy in passing this new bill. Another thing that brings optimism is global world efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions where U.S. and President Obama should play the main role. Allowing such major renewable energy project could give world even more evidence that America this time means business in fight against climate change and global warming which is something that many countries, especially some countries in EU are still taking hard to believe.
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