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Energy is in the air

Spain's heavy reliance on fossil fuels for its energy has officials there looking for an alternative. And think they might find it in the breeze.

By DAVID ADAMS
Published September 21, 2006

[AP photo]

Cattle graze in front of windmills in Eolico Park, Spain, The country hopes wind farming will provide 20 percent of its energy soon.

SANTANDER, Spain - Flying into this attractive city on Spain's north coast, the hills are straddled by rows of huge three-bladed wind turbines.

As the world comes to grips with a global energy crisis of dwindling fossil fuel resources, Spain is at the forefront of the search for cleaner, and more efficient, alternatives.

In northern Spain, some provinces produce as much as 50 percent of their electricity from wind farming.

The United States lags behind in this regard, but the countries have enough in common that Spain can provide a useful model for United States' energy policy.

Both are so heavily dependent on oil imports (50-60 percent of domestic consumption) that weaning themselves off fossil fuels is an almost insurmountable task.

"Spain is an energy island," said Antonio Morales, a Madrid lawyer focusing on energy issues. Just as America frets about depending on oil from unstable sources, Spain and the rest of Europe rely heavily on risky sources of natural gas and oil from North Africa and Russia.

Economic growth is rising so fast that neither country's energy supply can keep pace.

Consider this: Spain this year will get 87 percent of its energy from fossil fuels, mainly petroleum, gas and coal - up 4.6 percent since 2004. As a result its "greenhouse gas" emissions are rising, not falling.

Renewable energy sources in Spain today contribute a smaller percentage of the country's total consumption, down from 7 percent in 2003 to 5.9 percent last year, according to Morales.

"Renewables are a solid option," he said, "and we have to keep on betting on them. They are clean and efficient, but they are still too small."

Speakers at a renewable energy conference in Santander last week concluded that the United States and Spain face similar challenges: meeting rising energy demand, developing new technology, and educating society about renewable alternatives and energy conservation.

Where the two countries differ most perhaps is philosophically.

"In Europe it's all about reducing demand. But the United States says, 'No, it's impossible to cut demand. That's our way of life,' " said Enrique Alonso, an international energy expert on Spain's Council of Ministers, a government advisory body.

Recent concern over high gas prices and geopolitical instability has reshaped the debate in the United States. Renewable energy is now being seen as a way of securing greater "energy independence."

While the debate in the United States centers on biofuels like ethanol, Spain has made its greatest strides in wind energy, recently becoming the world's second-largest wind power generator, close behind Germany.

Wind is projected to supply 15 percent of Spain's entire electricity-generating capacity by 2010, with the potential to reach 20 percent, the equivalent of energy currently supplied by nuclear plants.

"For the first time in Spain we have broken the idea that we are a microindustry," said Ramon Fiestas, general secretary of Spain's Wind Power Business Association. "We are now large-scale contributors to the grid."

Spain's wind industry is also going international, including new ventures in the United States. Spain's wind energy company, Gamesa, has invested in three manufacturing plants in Pennsylvania and plans to supply power to homeowners.

But the United States isn't far behind. In 2005, it led the world in wind energy installations. Florida Power & Light, South Florida's dominant utility and the nation's wind energy leader, has 47 projects in operation in 15 states, with two additional projects under construction. Next month, it is due to dedicate Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Abilene, Texas, which at 735 megawatts makes it the world's largest such facility.

However, the biggest problem facing both countries remains finding enough new energy capacity to meet growing demand.

"The sums don't add up," said Antonio Jose Sanchez, an energy law expert at the University of Seville. "Oil and (natural) gas will come to an end before the technology exists for renewables." Affordable oil supplies are likely to run out in the next half century, he said.

As a result, Spain has found itself obliged to reconsider the future of its nuclear energy industry, which supplies 20 percent of its electricity. As in the United States, Spain has not built a new nuclear plant in decades, and existing ones are reaching the end of their operating licenses.

Several Spanish nuclear power plants are seeking 20-year extensions to those permits. Industry leaders cite the U.S. example, where numerous power stations have already successfully sought license extensions.

80%

The percentage decrease in the cost of electricity from utility-scale wind systems over the past 20 years.

95%

Amount of land on a wind farm that remains available for other uses, such as farming or ranching.

71%

Percentage of electricity supply generated in the United States with coal, natural gas or oil. Nuclear power accounts for about 20 percent, and hydropower provides most of the rest.

[Last modified September 20, 2006, 23:39:13]