Renewable Energy in The Mediterranean Region

It is becoming increasingly obvious that our world is facing an energy crisis that is combined with an environmental and climatic problem. The key challenge for this century and beyond consists therefore in developing new energy technologies that allow the generation of power in a sustainable, affordable, accessible, flexible, and environmentally-friendly manner. Renewable energy sources are having and increased contribution to the energy portfolio of many regions around the world. This paper will try to analyze the following issues: First, how sustainable are the current technologies that allow the harvesting of various renewable energy sources? In other words, how much land and water are required to generate electricity from renewable energy sources? Second, what is the cost of power generation from renewable sources? And third, what is the environmental footprint of renewable energy sources? This paper will also focus on solar energy technologies and highlight their advantages for Mediterranean region. We will review and discuss the opportunities and challenges for solar energy harvesting in the Mediterranean Region, and precisely in Spain. Key Words: Renewable Energies, Costs, Solar Energy, Mediterranean Region, Spain.