Dear Editor,
A European plan to generate solar-thermal energy in North Africa for export to Europe shows that some people are thinking big when it comes to clean energy and climate change. Potentially, there are 300,000 megawatts of solar-thermal energy available in North Africa for export to Europe. That’s enough clean, renewable energy to replace 300 coal-fired electricity plants.
We need to start thinking big like that here in North America. And as it happens, many of North America’s best renewable energy resources are located right here in British Columbia. These could replace coal-fired electricity in Alberta and Saskatchewan and even as far south as California.
People have been exporting energy from one place to another practically since the beginning of time, either as lumps of coal, cords of firewood or more recently as gallons of crude oil. But now, as the world turns increasingly to clean energy, we have an unprecedented opportunity to replace non-renewable energy exports with clean, renewable energy and do it in a very big way.
Mike Taylor, Port Moody BC