A solar Kit

Click on PLAY and you will be able to see the work done by the pupils at the IES La Minilla.

El Hierro: A new way,...

For more information: http://www.insula-elhierro.com/english.htm

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE CANARY ISLANDS

Researching methods to reduce energy use has long been a focus of the Canary Islands Institute of Technology (ITC), a research facility supported by the regional government of the Canary Islands. Scientists there are taking this one step further: they are investigating how to produce freshwater from saltwater without using fossil fuels at all.

The Canary Islands have a great deal of sun, wind, and seawater. It is an excellent place to develop systems. It is also an ideal place to simulate conditions in many developing countries.

The engineering involved in using renewable energy to power a desalination plant can be relatively simple: solar or wind generators can be hooked up to an existing utility grid, which then offsets the power demands of the desalination plant.

The challenge, however, in coupling desalination directly with renewable energy such as solar or wind power lies in the variability of renewable energy. The membranes used in reverse osmosis need to be kept wet, and the systems that make up a desalination plant have been developed to handle a steady stream of water. Solar energy is plentiful when the sun shines and wind power only when the wind blows.

Researchers in the Canary Islands have spent the past decade developing stand-alone small plants that could provide water for approximately 100 to 300 families, about the size of a small village in a developing country. ITC projects are also carried out in conjunction with other international research institutes or companies.
On one Canary Island test site, photo-voltaic panels are hooked up to a battery, which feeds a steady supply of electricity to a small desalination plant. But batteries not the best solution because you have to replace them after five or 10 years, and then you have to dispose of them as well. It’s better to develop a system that needs no batteries in the first place.

Other solutions tested at the Canary Islands site make use of wind power. In one, a small wind-energy converter powers a seawater RO plant designed to operate even with the stops and starts of wind power. In another, a small wind farm creates a small stand-alone electricity grid that then feeds electricity to the desalination plant.

The Canary island of El Hierro, which has 10,000 inhabitants, hopes to model the future of island living. ITC is involved in a project there in which eventually 100 percent of the island’s energy needs will be served by renewable energy; that energy, through a grid, will also power desalination plants that supply all the island’s drinking water and irrigation needs.

The ITC research group is one of only a handful focusing on developing and testing plants in which wind turbines directly power the desalination process without going through any grid.

Though all of these systems could be used in industrialized countries, the main goal of the ITC is to develop plants that could theoretically supply water to even a fraction of the billion people around the world in need of clean drinking water. Many of these people live in areas that have abundant renewable energy resources and yet no electricity grid, and they may never be connected to a grid. This is the philosophy behind these researches.

ITC research on coupling desalination with renewable energy is already being tested in the world outside the Canary Islands. The ITC has placed four small desalination plants among a population of African fishermen living within the boundaries of a national park in Mauritania. In 2006, the diesel-run desalination plants are being converted to run using a hybrid of wind, solar, and diesel power. Wind–solar RO plants are being installed in Morocco, and a solar plant is destined for Tunisia.

Still, these types of applications have many hurdles to overcome. These types of systems need maintenance. If you install such plants in such a remote place, and if the plants break down, it could take months until someone can be sent there to fix them.

There are applications for these types of stand-alone plants in industrialized countries as well. The ITC is in discussion with the engineering companies about combining the technology of offshore desalination plants powered by wind.

EARTH HOUR: Vote Earth (Your light switch is your vote)

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background had the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

Earth Hour 2009 has been the largest climate event in history. This year, the goals for Earth Hour are bigger because the stakes are higher. Already 250 cities in 74 countries have agreed to take part including Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Nashville with more signing up every day. Around the world cities like Moscow, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai and Mexico City will turn out their lights in support.

In several cities in Spain, like Las Palmas G. C., the lights also went off like a rolling wave on landmarks structures and buildings around the world. More than eighty cities in Spain joined the blackout around the world promoted by the environmental organization WWF / Adena to raise awareness among citizens and governments on climate change.

In Madrid, the fountain of Cibeles, the Congress of Deputies, the Puerta de Alcalá, the Palace of Post and Telecommunications and the Royal Palace were in darkness. In the rest of Spain, Barcelona, Seville, Segovia, Granada, Zaragoza and Bilbao, turned off the lights on their major attractions.

Along with the cities, dozens of companies (Telefónica, Caixa Catalunya, Prisa, Orange or Unicaja, among many others), political parties (PP and PSOE), consumer organizations, social forums, and public figures such as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, or the Nobel Peace Prize Desmund Tutu, announced their endorsement of the initiative.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. This is a call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations. A global event created to symbolize that each one of us, working together, can make a positive impact on climate change. This is the perfect opportunity for individuals, governments, schools, businesses and communities around the world to unite for a common purpose, in response to a global issue that affects us all.

8:30 – 9,30 p.m. local time, wherever you live on planet earth.
Saturday 28 March 2009

Water is gold!!,...

As we become more and more aware that we may be using water at an unsustainable pace, the idea of water footprints—the amount of water an individual uses—is becoming more common. Water footprints can be hard to calculate, depending on how far up the chain of production you go, since everything you eat and buy used some water to produce (to feed cows for beef, for example, or to use in the factory that made your cell phone). With this transparency, we give you some examples of how much water is used in some of your daily activities, so that you can begin calculate your footprint and try to reduce your gallons.

To help put things in perspective, think about this: your standard trash barrel holds 32 gallons and a mid-sized passenger car—if pumped full of water—has room for a little more than 800 gallons. So, the difference in the amount of water it takes to produce a pound of chicken and a pound of beef is enough to fill almost two whole cars.

Solar energy has come to a halt in Gran Canaria

The first factory in Gran Canaria producing photovoltaic modules (TSKAN) was opened in Agüimes, last February. The factory has a production capacity of 25 megawatts per year in monocrystalline and polycrystalline PV modules. This leads to a reduction of 35,000 tons in the release of Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which will benefit the environment and at the same time will generate new energy and bring wealth to the island.

TSKAN sells their products to Italy, Portugal and Africa and they hope to double its production as well as the number of workers in a year. The mayor of Agüimes pledges his firm commitment to renewable energies and is very pleased with the creation of this kind of industry in the south east of the island.

However, the new Decree of Renewable Energies (September, 2008) limits and hampers the setting up and use of this kind of energy on the island. In order to eliminate the negative repercussions of the Decree and promote solar energy among the investors, it would be necessary to get rid of the bureaucracy, build stations to transport the obtained energy and subsidise those who want to install a photovoltaic system.