The Hawaiian bill prohibits issuing building permits for new houses that do not have solar water heaters. The island has a natural lack of fossil fuel resources and relies on 90% of its energy from outside sources.
When State Senator Gary Hooser first introduced the bill some five years ago it encountered some resistance. But with oil prices more than trebling since then, implementing the new bill became urgent. "It's abundantly clear that we need to take some serious action to protect Hawaii because we're so dependent on oil," Hooser said.
Similar moves have been made in Europe, where a Commission proposal for a new EU directive on renewable energies, published on 23 January (EurActiv 24/01/08), mandates each member state to increase its share of renewable energies - such as solar, wind or hydro - in an effort to boost the EU's share from 8.5% today to 20% by 2020.
To achieve these objectives, every nation in the 27-member bloc is required to increase its share of renewables by a minimum of 5.5% from 2005 levels. Additional increases are then calculated for each country on the basis of per capita gross domestic product (GDP).
Despite large national variations, some cities and regions in Europe have pushed forward with measures requiring the use of solar water heaters, much like in Hawaii. Barcelona notably passed a law, which came into effect in 2000, making it mandatory for all new buildings to supply 60% of hot water through solar energy. The law had a quick knock-on effect throughout the rest of Spain, with a further 55 municipalities adopting similar legislation.
And only two weeks ago, Marburg, a town in western Germany, adopted a law requiring solar panels to be installed on all new buildings. This follows the adoption of a new law by the southern state of Baden-Württemberg, which calls for all new houses built to draw 20% of their energy from renewables.
Making solar use mandatory in the EU would be a "good proposal to include in the 2020 targets," said Oliver Schäfer, Policy Director at the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC). "But we will have to wait and see what the shape of the final proposal is after the Parliament has finished discussing it," he added.
The Commission’s original draft does include proposals to make the use of renewable energies obligatory in certain new or refurbished buildings although it allows for numerous exemptions. MEP Claude Turmes, Parliament's rapporteur on the Commission's renewables proposals, is however pushing for the deletion of these exemptions in a bid to reduce the energy consumption of buildings, which currently represents 40% of total energy demand in Europe.
Parliament's Industry Committee (ITRE) will vote on 16 July on a report by Turmes, with the plenary vote scheduled for September. It is hoped the proposals will become legislation before the end of the current Parliament's term in early 2009.
