UN claims solar success
A SOLAR power project in India supplying electricity to 100,000 people will be widened to other developing nations after showing that clean energy can be cheaper than fossil fuels, a UN report says.
The $US1.5 million ($1.82 million) UN-backed project would be extended to China, Indonesia, Mexico and Algeria and several other nations to help people in rural areas break dependence on kerosene lamps or unreliable grid-supplied electricity.
"We are addressing the notion that renewable energy is irrelevant to poor countries and the poorer communities," head of the UN Environment Program Achim Steiner said.
Renewable energy sources such as water, wind or solar power avoid the health damage from fumes released by kerosene lamps widely used in developing nations and emit none of the greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels that are widely blamed for global warming.
