Energy in Europa

Energy in Europa forms a large part of its economy.

History
By 1955, when the Kingdom of Europa was formed there were many regions, especially in the east that were in need of energy sources for their homes and industries. Oil, gas and hydroelectric resources were quickly being consumed and the government in the 1960s feared going down this path of unsustainability. Europa began in the late 1960s by looking into alternative energy sources and is now a global leader in green energy and fuel. Europa is one of the leading innovators in wind, solar and geothermal energy and other alternate fuel sources.

Geothermal power
In the 20th century, demand for electricity led to the consideration of geothermal power as a generating source. Prince Piero Ginori Conti tested the first geothermal power generator on 4 July 1904 in Larderello, in the province of Pisa. Later, in 1911, the world's first commercial geothermal power plant was built there. Europa (and Italy before it) was the world's only industrial producer of geothermal electricity until 1958.

Geothermal power accounts for about 4.6-% of the total electric energy production in Europa. Europa is the fifth country by geothermal installed capacity. There are 33 active geothermal plants, most of them located in Toscana Province. Geothermal energy now accounts for 40% of the energy used in heating and powering homes in Toscana. But, as geothermal energy is only concentrated in this province it has not had much success in others throughout the country.

Solar power
Europa is the world’s second largest producer of solar power with an installed nameplate capacity of MW and 269,594 plants in operation in 18 August 2011. Due to the large amount of sunlight falling on the country's southern half the development of this technology. Ecosol (a Europan-Spanish venture) is the world's largest producer of solar panels.

The government of Europa began to exploit sunlight in the 1980s with the setting up of experimental arrays to test out the technology. Finding largely positive results, the government began further testing of this technology and encouraged private initiatives as well. A large incentive to its growth was the 1 panel per house program of 1994 which attempted by 2004 that every house be equipped with at least one solar panel to supplement their traditional energy sources. The government would subsidize production for the first six years and offered incentives to do so. They led the way in 1996 by equipping most government offices with solar panels on the roofs (and the Department of Energy building is now powered completely by solar panels). 2004 came and not every house had panels, but the 1 panel program had large success as 72% of homes were equipped by then and in 2010 92% of homes were at least partially powered by solar energy.

Biogasoline
Biogasoline, or BG100 is one the most important fuel sources in Europa. It is gasoline produced from biomass such as algae; BG100, or 100% biogasoline, can immediately be used as a drop-in substitute for petroleum gasoline in any conventional gasoline engine, and can be distributed in the same fueling infrastructure, as the properties match traditional gasoline from petroleum.

BG100 began development in the early 2000s in Europa. Biogasoline was bolstered with the passing of the Vehicle Emissions Reduction Act in 1997 (which called for manufacturers to eliminate gas and diesel-powered cars within 10 years) and the Green Vehicles Act in 2007. BG100 was the preferred alternate fuel source for motor vehicles as it did not require replacing engines and could use the network of gas stations in existance. BG100 displaced gasoline as a fuel source and now it used in all Europan vehicles. It has also found usage in aerial, maritime and even space travel. As of 2010, Europa produces about 25% of the world's biogasoline. While the United Emirates is the largest producer of it (about 60%) Europan companies are the largest owners and investors in this fuel source.

Fuel cells
The vast majority of fuel cell technology in Europa come from Euskadi. These are mostly used to power large buildings and public facilities. Europa has developed its own kind, often using algae fuel (or BG100) to power some vehicles, missiles and other specialized applications. As part of the European Economic and Trade Alliance, Europa aims to work closely with Euskadi in order to supply the country with sufficient fuel cells to power.