Monday, October 01, 2012

Spain the model: "Green" power generation working out so well that the electricity system only needs a $32 billion bailout

Spain Adds $32 Billion Power-System Bailout to Bank Rescue - Bloomberg
After Spain’s rescue of its banks and cash-strapped regions, the 2013 budget reveals a bailout of the power industry to cover 25 billion euros ($32 billion) of debt accumulated by the electricity system.
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“Politicians have failed to keep an appropriate distance from the industries they are supposed to regulate and when you look at the budget you see the impact,” Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, head of the Madrid office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said in a telephone interview. “The government is taking on a whole series of debts and the power industry is a prime example.”
2009: Spain's Answer to Unemployment: Go Greener
Green jobs have become a mantra for many governments, including that of the United States. But few nations are better positioned -- or motivated -- to fuse the fight against recession and global warming than Spain. The country is already a leader in renewable fuels through $30 billion in public support and has been cited by the Obama administration as a model for the creation of a green economy. Spain generates about 24.5 percent of its electricity through renewable sources, compared with about 7 percent in the United States.

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