The Vatican Goes Green

In the article Vatican Unveils Ambitious Solar Energy Plans, Philip Pullella reports the Vatican’s renewable energy plans. Recently, the Vatican was the recipient of a donation from the German companies SolarWorld and SMA Solar Technology of a 1.6 million dollar solar energy system. Solar panels were placed on the roof of Nervi Hall. The new solar system has been test over the past few weeks and they were finally put into full usage for what the Vatican called, “the first ecological general audience in the Vatican.” This solar system produces 3000 megawatt hours of clean energy a year to power Nervi Hall. The Vatican’s new investments in technology will “allow the 108-acre city-state to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by about 225 tons and save the equivalent of 80 tons of oil each year.
After taking on this new initiative, the Vatican has more plans to develop a solar energy system on the 740 acres of land North of Rome where Vatican Radio is transmitted. This system would produce six times the amount of energy necessary to power the radio station’s transmission towers. The remaining energy would be put into the Italian national grid to power other areas outside the Vatican. While these plans are still in the development stages, the Vatican hopes to be ready for the proposal of the European Union to power 20% of the city-state with renewable energy.
While people might comment that they are behind the times, the Church has set an example for world on addressing the environmental crisis we are facing. Duncan Kennedy from BBC News calls Pope Benedict XVI “a keen environmentalist." After hosting a conference to discuss global warming and climate change, the Pope called on people to “listen to the voice of the earth or risk destroying the planet.” When thinking of issues that religious organizations are concerned with, environmental issues are not the first that come to mind for many. However, I think it is great that the Vatican has taken on such an ambitious plan to be up to the same standards the rest of the European Union are taking on. The issues the world faces with the environment are not ones that should be ignored and it is reassuring to see that religious leaders are taking the reigns on these advancements. Hopefully, the Vatican's recent achievements will be an example to other religious organization and political states to address the current environmental issues.


http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AP50M20081127?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/11/081126_vatican_green.shtml