First Nation To Plan 100% Solar Power: It's Tuvalu!

July 21st, 2009 by Susan Kraemer

Tuvalu is the tiny nation in the Pacific that sued the Bush administration because of sea level rise that was destroying its ability to sustain itself. (Tuvalu’s flag is number three above, with the stars of the Southern Cross.)

Climate change was affecting Tuvalu early – its gorgeous islands are only 3 feet above sea level. Crops were being destroyed by encroaching seawater from rising sea levels. Plans were being made to emigrate the entire nation to New Zealand by the end of the century.

Now it appears Tuvalu’s remaining 12,000 residents have a stay put and fight back plan:

With the help of the NGO e8 and the Japanese government, Tuvalu has begun installing the first 40 KW of what is to be the first entirely solar powered nation by 2020.

But if you’re a nation with a less ambitious goal, don’t be mad that you’re not going 100% solar too.

Its easier for Tuvalu than for you: 100% solar powering the entire nation will only cost $20 million. There’s only 12,000 people in Tuvalu.

As the earliest of us to have been hit by climate change, Tuvaluans really get the true value of avoiding climate catastrophe, and want to exemplify the new way of living a zero carbon energy life in a new energy world.

Let’s hope the rest of us wake up in time too. But, good for you, Tuvalu!

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Images: e8 and Flikr users exelita and Lomi Paeniu

Via Treehugger

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Tags: e8, Japanese government, Tuvalu, Tuvalu 100% solar by 2020, Tuvalu sea levels, Tuvalu sues Bush administration

About the Author

Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, CSP-Today, PV-Insider , SmartGridUpdate, and GreenProphet. She has also been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow, and Scientific American. As a former serial entrepreneur in product design, Susan brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention, solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci-fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. Follow Susan on Twitter @dotcommodity.

Uncle B

Web page, book? Passing on their experiences for the rest of mankind would be nice!
Uncle B

Web page, book? Passing on their experiences for the rest of mankind would be nice!
Some thing

What a touching story. Good for Tuvalu.
Some thing

What a touching story. Good for Tuvalu.
Some thing

What a touching story. Good for Tuvalu.
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Gitau

I would be courious to learn, how the so called “100% solar powered nation” is going to solve their mobility issues – for example how to substitute all those fossil fuel powered fisherboats. any clue anyone?
http://dotcommodity.blogspot.com Susan Kraemer

Actually, we in the South Pacific do have very similar flags – all have the stars (as seen from down under) plus the Union Jack showing our commonwealth allegiance – look at Tuvalu’s as well as Australia’s and Zealand’s.

But this picture shows Tuvalu after Turkey, Turkmenistan, and before Uganda.
http://dotcommodity.blogspot.com Susan Kraemer

Actually, we in the South Pacific do have very similar flags – all have the stars (as seen from down under) plus the Union Jack showing our commonwealth allegiance – look at Tuvalu’s as well as Australia’s and Zealand’s.

But this picture shows Tuvalu after Turkey, Turkmenistan, and before Uganda.
http://dotcommodity.blogspot.com Susan Kraemer

Actually, we in the South Pacific do have very similar flags – all have the stars (as seen from down under) plus the Union Jack showing our commonwealth allegiance – look at Tuvalu’s as well as Australia’s and Zealand’s.

But this picture shows Tuvalu after Turkey, Turkmenistan, and before Uganda.
Paul

It’s the Australian flag that has the southern cross on it! The stars represent the nine islands which comprise Tuvalu…. easily found on Wikipedia.
Paul

It’s the Australian flag that has the southern cross on it! The stars represent the nine islands which comprise Tuvalu…. easily found on Wikipedia.
Paul

It’s the Australian flag that has the southern cross on it! The stars represent the nine islands which comprise Tuvalu…. easily found on Wikipedia.