Thailand, start tapping the sun's energy
It's always fashionable to knock the US, much as it probably was 2,000 years ago for people elsewhere around the Mediterranean to knock Rome. Much of that US-knocking regards the gross amount of energy used and carbon emissions attributed to Americans.
With the US’s 237th year just past, let’s see if there are some silver linings. Regarding emissions, the US is no longer deemed the world’s most polluting country. That mantle now rests squarely on China’s shoulders, with Russia and India running third and fourth.
Even so, the US is the world leader in virtually every kind of renewable energy, except solar. It produces 37 per cent of the world’s biofuel, 27 per cent of geothermal, 36 per cent of wind energy and 24 per cent of hydro power (Canada tops that list at 27 per cent hydro).
Germany leads the solar pack by producing 21 per cent of all solar energy in the world. Israel comes a respectable second, at 11 per cent.
The world leader, in percentage of energy it gets from renewable sources, is Iceland, at 98 per cent. It’s no surprise that the Scandinavian countries routinely score in the top five, regarding their embrace of renewable sources.
How does Thailand stack up? It hovers at around 10 per cent use of renewable sources. That could be improved, particularly by implementing concentrated solar, if there were an awareness and willingness by society’s leaders to do so. That’s a big “if”.
Ken Albertsen
Chiang Rai
