The State of California just adopted a renewable energy program that will increase solar energy production in a big way, as reported here. The program calls for installing 3,000 megawatts over the next 11 years, to be accomplished through rebates funded by a surcharge on utility bills. This initiative will draw upon $3.2 billion from the surcharge fund to pay for the solar panels.
An even more exciting development is taking place in Portugal, as reported here. The Portugese government is aiming to increase the share of electricity produced from renewable sources to 39 percent, and they are going to spend 2.5 billion Euros (approx $3 billion USD) to do it. Most of the expanded renewable production will come from wind, but they are also installing wave-powered turbines manufactured by the Scottish firm Ocean Power Delivery. Some estimates put the potential for wave power at 20% of Portugal's annual needs. On a per-capita basis, this investment by the Portugese is much larger than California's, considering the entire nation of Portugal has less than 1/3 the population of the state of California (just over 10 million and around 34 million, respectively).
Nevertheless, these are both extremely encouraging stories and it would be great if more states/provinces/countries would get with the program.
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