VATICAN TO BUILD BIG SUN

Pope to Pursue Heavenly Power in Europe’s Biggest Solar Plant
Flavia Krause-Jackson and Flavia Rotondi, April 17, 2009 (Bloomberg News)

"The world’s smallest state now intends to build the biggest solar plant in Europe for 500 million euros ($660 million)…near the medieval village of Santa Maria di Galeria, project engineer Mauro Villarini said…Advised by German solar-panel maker Solarworld AG, the Holy See is running counter to many governments that say harnessing sunlight on a grand scale is too costly to help curb global warming, especially in the deepest recession since World War II…

"European nations, daunted by spending needed to stimulate their economies, find it harder to invest in clean power generation…Italy is balking…By contrast, the Roman Catholic city-state is going greener. Advantaged by its small size, the pope will also count on revenue and solar aid from Italy after 2014. That’s when the new plant is scheduled to turn the Vatican into an electricity exporter to the nation that surrounds it…"

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"The 100 megawatts unleashed by the station will supply about 40,000 households. That will far outstrip demand by Pope Benedict XVI and the 900 inhabitants of the 0.2 square-mile country nestled across Rome’s Tiber River…

"The Vatican hasn’t decided how much to rely on photovoltaic panels, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, and on thermal devices that heat water for generators, Solarworld Chief Executive Officer Frank Asbeck…The Bonn-based company in 2008 may have gained an inside track for a future contract by donating $1.5 million of panels for a 6,300-seat dome used for the pope’s weekly audiences to the world’s Roman Catholics…A public tender for suppliers and builders is likely…Including installation costs and products from other suppliers as a “turn-key project,” a 100-megawatt plant would cost 350 million euros to 400 million euros to build if it only used Solarworld modules…"

On this earth, the lord's work is our own. (click to enlarge)

"The Germany-born Benedict has been outspoken on environmental issues since becoming pope in 2005…The Vatican listed pollution as one of seven “social” sins in an effort last year to update the cardinal vices that date to the 6th century…

"The 5,000-square-meter roof of the Paul VI auditorium -- built in 1971 by Pier Luigi Nervi, the architect who designed Milan’s Pirelli Tower -- was covered with 2,400 solar panels to produce 300 kilowatt hours of energy a year…The Vatican’s 300-seat cafeteria for staff will be decked out this summer with a solar-heating system to provide air conditioning and heating for the whole building…The pope’s own Castel Gandolfo summer residence, a 17th- century palace south of Rome in the Alban hills, may be the site of a renewable-energy project to break down biodegradable waste material to produce methane and gas…"