Green projects

GREEN PROJECTS

• AUSTRIA

Windpark Parndorf

A windpark in Austria generating 27,2 million kWh per year: enough to supply around 8,300 homes. It saves 15.500 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Web: http://www.greenpeace-energy.de/kraftwerke_wind_parndorf2.php
http://www.oekostrom.at
Email: info@planet-energy.de , office@oekostrom.at

• BELGIUM

Cambio carsharing

Cambio is a carsharing initiative active in Germany, Belgium and Ireland. It works like a bike rental service, only with cars. You book a car by phone or online and pick it up in one of the many stations throughout your city. The price is calculated on the time and kilometres you drive. Basically, you pay what you use, and return the car to a nearby station. The stations are located in urban centres and Brussels' public transit system, the STIB, plans to integrate Cambio services in its transport offers.

Web: http://www.cambio.be

Renewable Energy House - Brussels

The Renewable Energy House in Brussels houses all the major actors in the field of renewable energy in Europe. The 2,800 m2 building supplies 100% renewable energy for heating, cooling and electricity. Is a showcase for integration of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in a 120 year-old building.

Web: www.erec.org/reh
Tel: 00 32 2 400 10 71
Email: vanguers@erec.org

• DENMARK

Samsø Renewable Energy Island

A small island off the Danish mainland, Samsø was entirely dependent on oil and coal imports for its energy use. In 1997, the island won a government competition to become a model community for renewable energy. Today, 100% of its electricity comes from wind power (19 land-based and offshore turbines). Homes are heated by solar collectors and heating stations which burn woodchips and straw produced by local farmers, whose tractors run on rapeseed oil, which they produce themselves. Although many houses on the island are too far to be connected to the four heating plants, the owners themselves have invested in heat pumps, solar systems, wood burners or biomass boilers. Citizen's involvement and support for the island's renewable energy plan was a key ingredient to its success.

The energy island project proposed an ownership scheme which allowed residents to invest in wind turbines. So, on top of eradicating their carbon footprint, Samsø residents have created a money-making business, selling their energy surplus to the mainland.

If the Samsø Energy Project was so successful, it is largely due to the broad public support it received. This is why a special emphasis is put on education. The Samsø Energy Academy acts a showcase laboratory where children and older students learn about the different forms of renewable energy and, more importantly, about each individual's role in global energy relationships.

More information:

Web: http://www.energiakademiet.dk/default_uk.asp

Horns Rev Wind farm

With 80 turbines of 2MW capacity each, Horns Rev is the largest offshore wind farm in Denmark. Its annual electricity production is enough to power the equivalent of 150,000 households. It is the first phase of a much larger wind farm project. According to the Danish government's plan, wind turbines with a capacity of 4000 MW should be installed by 2030.

Web: http://www.hornsrev.dk/Engelsk/default_ie.htm

• FRANCE

Geothermal drilling energy

This geothermal project to supply the Orly (Paris region) heating network generates 45000 MWh per year - enough to power 5,000 homes - and saves 15,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. People in the oil drilling industry could easily reconvert to geothermal drilling as skills, technique and material are the same, according to the project developers.

Web: http://www.antea-ingenierie.fr/
Email: jy.ausseur@antea-ingenierie.fr

• GERMANY

Waldpolenz Solar Park

Built on a former military airfield near Leipzig, Waldpolenz Solar Park, near Leipzig, is the world's largest photovoltaic power system. It is the size of about 200 football fields put together. Due to be finished at the end of 2009, it should count more than half a million thin-film PV modules and produce an estimated 40,000 MW per year.

Web: http://www.green-planet-solar-energy.com/waldpolenz.html

Freiburg - Solar City

Home to around 200,000 people, the city of Freiburg in Southern Germany counts more solar panels than the whole of the UK. With Germany's feed-in-tariffs policy, power companies buy electricity produced by houses at up to three times the price that a household normally pays the electricity company. According to local law, all new buildings in Freiburg must comply with low energy specifications. Two of the city's districts, Vauban and Rieselfeld, were built in the mid-90s on a sustainable model. Many buildings are "passive" - they produce (with PV panels, solar collectors, combined heat and power stations, etc) at least as much energy as they use.

Web: http://solarpanelspower.net/solar-panels/freiburg-germany-solar-panels

Solar Photovoltaic Dasing project

This project was the biggest of its kind in Bavaria in 2006, with 31,000 m2 of roof covered. It generates 1,5 MWh per year - electricity supply for 450 households and saves 835 tonnes of CO2 a year.

Web: http://www.planet-energy.de/projekte_sonne_dasing.php
Tel: +49 40 808 110 770
Email: info@planet-energy.de

Solar Photovoltaic Project Schaebisch Hall

This project uses Germany's feedin-tarifs policies. It generates 97,000 kWh per year - enough for nearly 30 households, with a saving of 52 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Web: http://www.greenpeace-energy.de/kraftwerke_solar_schwaebischhall.php  
Tel: +49- 40 808 110 600
Email: info@greenpeace-energy.de

Windfarm Soltau

Three high capacity wind turbines produce 5,400 MWh annually - electricity for 1,500 homes, saving 2,860 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Web: www.planet-energy.de
Tel: +49 40 808 110 770
Email: info@planet-energy.de

Bremerhaven

In the past few years, the German port of Bremerhaven has gone from a region of high-employment to becoming a major hub in offshore wind power. Around 185 companies have set up their business in the area, assembling wind turbine, manufacturing rotor blades, producing heavy-cast components and exporting turbines. In addition, wind industry hardware suppliers and R&D companies has also either established or expanded their business in Bremerhaven. These companies have already created some 700 jobs in the pas three years - a number expected to rise considering the constant demand for engineers and specialists.

Web: http://www.windenergie-agentur.de/english/

• PORTUGAL

Aguçadoura Wave Park

Aguçadoura Wave Park off the cost of Portugal is the world's first commercial wave energy project. The park consists of three giant snake-like devices, measuring 150 meters long and 3,5 meters in diameter. The articulated structure, made up of four sections, oscillates with the waves and power converters inside the tubes transform this movement into electricity, which is then channelled to the local power grid. Today, the three machines generate enough electricity to power 1,500 homes. Two other projects using the technology are underway in the UK and Scotland.

Web: http://www.pelamiswave.com/content.php?id=159

• SPAIN

Concentrated Solar Power projects

This technique uses mirrors, all aiming sunrays at a single point: a solar receiver on a 40-story tower. A steam turbine in the tower converts the heat into electricity. Another technique is photovoltaic (PV) concentration. Here, PV panels follow the sun's rotation and collect the rays, which are then converted into electricity and directly transferred to the power grid. The two largest solar plants in Europe are located near Seville, Spain.

Web: http://www.abengoasolar.com/sites/solar/en/our_projects/solucar/index.html