The Climatic Situation With Current Data

The climatic situation with current data

It is undeniable that the environment is a hot topic today, being the emissions of CO2 the greatest threats to the planet. In 2015, only 6.8% increased in Spain, which explains the new objectives of the European Union stipulating that the country should use renewable energy, a clean and sustainable alternative, to achieve a supply of 20% of its energy needs by 2020 for 2020, and 27% even 2030. However, if Spain does not begin to take advantage of its natural resources, it is not likely to provide its energy demands with renewables or meet these objectives.

To begin with, despite the fact that the renewable energy industry grew, in recent years its use has stagnated with only an increase of 0.01% between 2014 and 2015 according to Eurostat. Spain is also one of the 11 countries that has not yet achieved its EU objectives by 2020 and, what is more worrying, its dependence on fossil fuels is increased. 

In fact, it is clear that Spain’s dependence on fossil fuels hinders its ability to meet their energy needs with clean and sustainable sources. In 2016, most of the energy consumed there was produced by fossil fuels, more specifically 43.2% of oil, 8.5% of coal and 10.3% of the gas. Currently, the total amount of energy generated by these types of harmful and unsustainable products is 74%, which is unacceptable for a country that aims to create its energy completely from renewable sources. The worst thing is that between January and October 2017, the Government invested more than 33,000 million euros in the importation of fossil fuels, which makes Spain totally depends totally on other countries to produce its energy (when it could be self-sufficient) butwhich also increases the production of CO2 emissions.

As a consequence, it seriously affects the environment, as well as its ability to carry out the EU objectives.

Likewise, the nuclear option must be considered, very prominent in Spain with 5 reactors in operation, providing 12.4% of its energy. (2) It is essential to keep in mind that in 2013 it held the 12th position worldwide in nuclear energy production. After all, it cannot be denied that it costs Spain to meet its demands with energy derived exclusively from renewable sources. 

On the other hand, not everything is negative for Spain, whose ambition is to boost its production of renewable energy with plans to use it to obtain up to 70% of its electricity by 2030 and depend completely on it by 2050 – that is, the supply to 100% of the energy of its natural resources such as solar, wind and geothermal. 

To continue, to date there are more than 1,000 wind farms containing around 20,000 mins in total, saving 400 million euros in 2017, therefore, it is clear why the Spanish wind sector positively sees the goal of getting 35%of renewable energy production before 2030. There is no reason to believe that they will not achieve this goal, since they generated a third of their power using only renewable energies in 2017, although it is not enough, it is a promising beginning. 

In addition, 2018 has been a fantastic year for the country in terms of solar energy, since the government recently eliminated the sun tax, in which photovoltaic energy users charged extra money by discouraging those who wanted a cheaper option,Clean and self-sufficient. It is a pity that only 5% of its electricity is produced through solar energy, considering the vast natural resources that Spain has, being one of the countries of Europe with the largest number with total solar coverage. This is especially the case of Andalusia, which has the largest solar radiation in the continent so it would not be an arduous task for Spain to make the most of this to supply its energy demands. In 2008, Spain was the world leader in the generation of solar energy, and taking into account these recent developments in the sector, it is not exaggerated to think that this position can be achieved once again. 

To conclude, it is evident that there is a lot to do. In the first place, Spain will have to drastically reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear energy, replacing them with cleaner and more sustainable alternatives, which will be easy considering the variety of natural resources that it already has. According to Paner, to the current rhythm, the country may exceed EU’s objectives by 2020 in 0.8% while not neglecting renewable energy in the years that come. The government has already taken important steps towards the achievement of these goals, and although it may not be for a predictable future, with sufficient planning, investment and dedication, it will be completely possible for Spain to supply its energy demands using renewables.