70: The percentage of the world’s cumulative installed solar PV capacity that the European Union accounted for at the end of 2011, according to a new EU report (via GreenTech Media). That’s 51GW of the 70GW installed globally.
10: The factor by which the European Commission says the world could have multiplied its installed solar capacity if fossil fuel subsidies were removed from the equation, according to a new report.
7.5 trillion: The estimated US-dollar amount that was spent on combustibles, fuels and electricity from 2007 to 2010. Of this, the level of direct consumption subsidies and tax break to fossil fuels amounted to $1.8 trillion, according to the same joint report compiled by the IEA, OPEC, the OECD, and the World Bank.
109 billion: The US-dollar amount that Saudi Arabia is looking to attract in investment for solar, according to media reports, to go towards its goal of meeting a third of its power needs from solar.
100: The megawatt amount of solar power capacity that the Islamic holy city of Mecca is planning to build – following a reverse auction at the beginning of next year – in the form of Saudi Arabia’s frst utility-scale solar power plant, according to Mayor Osama al-Bar.
1.8 billion: The US-dollar amount that a new Pike Research report estimates that the US military’s spend on renewable energy programs, including conservation measures, will increase to by 2025, according to PV Magazine.
20 billion: The US-dollar amount the US Department of Defense is currently estimated to spend, annually, directly on energy – 75 per cent for fuel and 25 per cent for facilities and infrastructure.
1.2 trillion: The annual amount (in US dollars) it is estimated that climate change and carbon-dioxide emissions are reducing the world’s gross domestic product by – 1.6 per cent – a year, according to the latest “Climate Vulnerable” report released this week.
700,000: The number of climate-related deaths the above report estimates are already occurring annually, almost 80 per cent of them occurring among children in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The “carbon economy” is estimated to claim an additional 4.5 million-plus lives.
19: The median number of months that a drought event lasts for on the tiny island nation of Nauru – where they occur, on average, once every five years, according to a report in The Global Mail.
30: The percentage of Nauru’s annual energy supply that is needed to power its two functioning water desalination plants at full capacity.
10: The factor by which Nauru’s desalination plants are going to have to increase their output (as at current levels) during the next drought, to meet the population’s needs.
1500: The number of asylum seekers Australia has confirmed (unconfirmed reports say 3,000) it is sending to Nauru – the world’s smallest independent nation, with a population of almost 10,000.
