Categories: CleanTech Bites

The week in green numbers…

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2 trillion-plus: The Euro (€) amount that the worldwide market for clean technology is worth a year, according to a study commissioned by the German government – and it’s on track to double in size by the mid 2020s.

250: The megawatt peak generating capacity that First Solar’s Agua Caliente solar PV power plant – the world’s largest in operation – achieved this week, connected to the electrical grid. The project will have a generating capacity of 290MW when completed.

40: The gigawatt amount that is China’s expected new targeted installation rate for solar PV by 2015 – a doubling of its previous 2015 target.

37: The percentage of companies who, in a survey of 405 of the biggest global companies conducted by the Carbon Disclosure Project, said they were already seeing the impact of climate change on their business — up from 10 per cent in 2010.

1079: The number of jobs that building and operating a typical (250MW) utility-scale wind farm creates over its lifetime, according to the US’ Natural Resources Defense Council Planning – 522 in construction, 432 in manufacturing, 80 for planning and development, 18 sales slots and 27 for operations.

3,800: The cubic kilometer amount of fresh water that is extracted from aquatic ecosystems around the world each year, largely as a result of global warming.

1,000: The cubic kilometer amount of water per year that global agriculture alone will require by 2015.

2: The number of Renault electric vehicle’s that are now included in Pope Benedict XVI’s personal Popemobile collection.

Alaska+Canada: Not a number, obviously, but add this (largest) US state and its north American neighbour and you have an area equal in size to the amount of ice that has disappeared from the Arctic Ocean since March this year.

98: The percentage growth of green jobs recorded in Alaska – a Republican state – between the years of 2003 and 2010. GigaOm reports that new research released on Monday has revealed that traditionally Republican and Swing American states are, ironically, showing the most growth in green jobs.

Sophie Vorrath

Sophie is editor of Renew Economy and editor of its sister site, One Step Off The Grid . She is the co-host of the Solar Insiders Podcast. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.

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