Belgium powers ahead with renewable energy

While it's certainly not the sunniest of nations, Belgium is currently well ahead of, for example, sun-drenched Australia when it comes to solar power capacity per capita. According to Belgian renewable energy association APERe, the country now boasts enough installed solar panels to provide 14% of the country's household consumption. This makes Belgium's solar power capacity, in a country with a population of just 11 million, comparable to that of Australia, which has a population of around 23 million. And it's not just solar power where Belgium excels; earlier this year it was recorded that wind power provided 12% of the country's electricity consumption. This news came around the same time as Belgium announced plans to construct an artificial island in order to store energy from its offshore wind farms. Belgium's government has set a goal to generate 13% of its energy from sustainable sources by 2020.