2014 World Cup is the greenest ever

The sun will be one of the biggest stars of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, generating more renewable energy than any other World Cup in its 85 year old history.  Although perhaps we shouldn’t expect anything less than the greenest World Cup, given that one of its sponsors just so happens to be one of the biggest solar panel manufacturers in the world, Yingli Solar.

But the revelations don’t end there. According to the Practical Action organisation, the World Cup in Brazil will produce more solar power than many of the competing countries. The ‘Poor Peoples’ Energy Outlook report, which shows what is needed to end energy poverty, claims that out of the 32 competing countries, 11 of them produce the same amount of solar energy as Brazil’s national stadium, Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, which produces 2.5MW of solar energy. In comparison, the likes of Croatia, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Bosnia-Herzegovina, produce the same amount of solar power or less.

In keeping with its mission to be the greenest ever World Cup, a number of other stadiums are also getting in on the act. The iconic Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janiero, where the final match of the FIFA World Cup takes place, features a 500kW solar panel system; Mineirão in Belo Horizonte produces 1.4MW, and Arena Pernambuco in Recife is powered by clean energy from a 1MW ground mounted solar panel installation which comprises of more than 3,650 Yingli Solar panels. Between them, Brazil's World Cup stadia will produce an impressive 5.4 MW of solar power.

“The organisers and FIFA are to be congratulated for making a considerable financial investment and making this the greenest World Cup in history,” said Practical Action’s CEO Simon Trace.

However Mr Trace said it was “absurd that there has been a greater investment into renewable energy for a single sporting event than in 11 of the countries competing in it.”

“Currently more than one billion people live without access to reliable sources of energy. Without that, people cannot develop and there will always be a substantial proportion of the world's population living in poverty.”

The 2014 FIFA World Cup starts on Thursday 12th June. In the meantime, see what solar energy can do for you by reading about the costs, savings and benefits of solar panels.