1 Million Electric Cars on Spain’s Roads by 2014
Once again boosting their reputation as a country intent on helping the environment, Spain has announced that they intend to put 1 million electric cars on their roads by 2014. This will be part of the Zapatero government’s plan to reduce their use of energy and increase the countries overall energy efficiency.
Spain’s minister of industry, business and tourism Miguel Sebastian said Tuesday that the plan should gain approval from Spain’s Council of Ministers on Friday, and should then be carried out this year and on through to 2011.
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“Electric vehicles are the future and the driver of the industrial revolution,” Sebastian said in testimony to a congressional panel. “Every time we ease off the accelerator, we boost national income and employment.”
The plan will cost some 245 million euros, and is made up of a total of 31 separate measures. In enacting this plan though, Spain is set to save between 5.8 and 6.4 million tons of oil over the three-year period, this according to industry estimates.
According to Sebastian, Spain has been trying for awhile to cut oil imports. Over the past year alone, Sebastian noted that the country had spent 17 billion euros on oil imports.
credit: James Gordon at Flickr under a Creative Commons license
The ballast effect of charging electric car batteries when the power is available, ether from solar or wind sources, is necessary for these varying sources of power to be successful! We all know that the sun doesn’t shine all the time, and the wind only blows when it wants to! Charging batteries when we can, and using them when we want to is a perfect solution to the problem. Remember, you can have more than one battery charging at any given time, so any excess generation will be put to good use! Bravo Spain and Portugal, may you share technology with the Anmerican South West, and both benefit from it!
The U.S. is politically tied to oil, to the detriment of the populace. A few greedy characters are making the rest of us suffer. Fortunately, not all nations are in the same boat. Just think of a country with millions of electric vehicles: quiet, non-polluting, smaller and a contribution to humanity. That’s progress! — Vic Shayne, PhD, nutritionresearchcenter.org
Great idea, but can we believe in?
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