By Vera Costa, Enercon
In celebration of Global Wind Day, Enercon will hold a photo exhibition in Viana do Castelo – a historic and beautiful town in the north of Portugal.
During the month of May we invited keen photographers to take iconic pictures of wind turbines and we are now looking forward to displaying the results! The photo exhibition will be open from 15 June (Global Wind Day) until 19 June, and the winner can expect to receive a €500 prize. We will also present a second and third prize for the next most eye-catching pictures.
On Global Wind Day we will host many educational events for children about wind energy. Children are our future and we believe it is very important to teach them ways our society can become more sustainable and climate-friendly, and wind energy is a vital part of this!
For more information on our event, zoom in on Portugal on this map, or send us an email: [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you in Viana do Castelo!
The question of electricity cost is tricky. Most of us know oil prices go up and down – and are currently at record highs – which in turn affects the power price. And we know that not only to the costs of importing such fuels change constantly, they also – unlike renewables – produce carbon, which has to be paid for.
But while more and more people are saying onshore wind energy is at “competitive” price levels, others still insist that renewables are expensive and impractical.
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With Global Wind Day just around the corner, it is high time to tell you all about events in Brussels that will be taking place as part of our annual celebration of wind energy.
On 15 June we’ll be right at the heart of EU decision-making – at Place du Luxembourg in front of the European Parliament. Come and join us to watch a lively, colourful wind-inspired parade, get your free ‘seeded leaflet’ (yes, a piece of paper you can plant, wait a while and watch your seedlings grow into flowers) and chat to EWEA about the benefits of wind energy. We’ll be at Place du Luxembourg as you arrive to work, during your lunch break, and as you finish work.
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Bereft of any conventional energy sources, Portugal turned to its winds and rivers. Today, it gets more of its electricity from wind energy (14.8%) than anywhere except Denmark.
At the end of 2010, there were 3,898 MW of wind energy capacity installed in Portugal – all onshore, and mostly in the mountainous, sparsely populated north-east.
Fuel imports once made up around half of Portugal’s trade deficit. From around 2000, the country decided to focus more on indigenous, renewable sources of energy to reduce that deficit.
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In a startling setback to the goal of limiting global temperature increase to 2°C, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Monday that carbon dioxide emissions last year were the highest in history.
An IEA press release noted that after a dip in 2009 caused by the global financial crisis, emissions are estimated to have climbed to a record 30.6 Gigatonnes (Gt), a 5% jump from the previous record year in 2008, when levels reached 29.3 Gt.
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