Archive for Spain
Water and Energy Savings Campaign in Gijon’s Hotels
Posted by: | CommentsThe aim of the Water and Energy Savings Campaign is reducing water and energy consumption in Hotels. As a result, the City of Gijón aims to reduce consumption of fossil fuel energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas and at the same time optimize their usage and contribute to the protection of the environment.
The awareness campaign is composed of three elements. A folder with general recommendations for saving water and energy; a notice recommending the reutilization of towels; and a card to avoid the daily washing of bed linen, in the case of a guest staying for several days. These 3 elements have been distributed among all city’s hotels and are ought to be placed in each of their rooms.
A guide to energy saving and efficiency will shortly be made available containing solutions that are simple, easy to implement in which their investments costs are immediately recovered. These solutions for energy and water saving will allow energy saving campaigns to be very well welcome and quickly implemented in the city’s hotels.
Tranvimur – Planning the new tramway lines for the city of Murcia.
Posted by: | CommentsMurcia 21st century is the seventh city in Spain as far as demographic growth with a GDP above the national average. It’s sustainable growth, based on the strategic development of infrastructures, has concentrated the residential areas, large business areas and commercial areas in the city suburbs and districts. Thus, what is referred to as the four large strategic axes (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST AND WEST) were formed.
Now, the challenge was devised to link these large strategic axes through public transport that would be fast, ecological, safe and economical. THE SOLUTION: THE TRAMWAY.
The project is being planned in phases: the first to be built would be the Avenida Juan Carlos I, which is called Section 0 of Line 1 and which has been authorized to the UTE (temporary business union) Acciona Infraestructuras, a civic group. The conditions for said authorization were:
– The construction of an experimental section measuring 2,2000 kilometres in a period of 6 months and a half.
– The operation of said section for the 30 months following its inauguration.
A service that is free of charge for the 30 months of operation is authorized to the UTE.
Cañada Hermosa Urban Solid Waste (USW) and Sludge Plant
Posted by: | CommentsThe Cañada Hermosa Urban Solid Waste Treatment Centre, which is managed by Cespa and is owned by the City of Murcia, prevented the emission of 60,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere last year. According to the American EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), this amount equals the emissions 11,000 cars produce each year or those that are generated to supply electricity to 8,000 homes over a period of a year.
The City of Murcia sludge plant, located in Cañada Hermosa and managed by Cepsa, receives 9,000 tons of mire a month from water treatment plants in the Region. This means that 108,000 tons of sludge enter the plant every year.
The mire that arrives at the plant, which is located in the Murcian district of Cañada Hermosa, is mixed with green waste (from gardens) and with the organic part of the urban waste and after a process, it is converted to compost which is used in farming and the fight against desertification. 534 hectares could be fertilized every month with the compost that is produced in the plant.
University of Murcia Micro-Wind Energy Park
Posted by: | CommentsPart of the Sustainable Campus project was to study a possible project that would place wind generators in the junction at the Murcia-Molina dividing line. Based on this, the idea was devised for a Wind Energy Park with 20 wind generators, 5 kW each. The first phase included 9 wind generators.
There are basically three objectives sought: information through a demonstration programme in real time for elementary schools, secondary schools, etc., and the community in general; research and studies on how these turbines operate and their electrical production through University research groups; training university students interested in the topic.
More than 360,000 Euros have been invested in installing the nine Vento 5000 wind mill generators built by WINDECO, with which energy power is obtained even with low intensity winds.
Photovoltaic Pergolas in Schools and the Museum of Science and Water
Posted by: | CommentsThe solar photovoltaic installations – each with 1.5 kWp, and all of them together generating 20,200 Kw/year- cost an estimated 120,000 euros, which was financed equally by the City of Murcia and the Murcia Regional Energy Management Agency. The 10 installations subject to this agreement will have an estimated useful life of 20 years. The economic benefits they generate – are approximately 1,000 euros each – will be completely used to acquire school materials related to renewable energies, the efficient use of energy and the environment, and will be delivered to these educational centres.
Bio diesel buses with reduced CO2 emissions
Posted by: | CommentsUrban bus line number 4, which is one of the most used and has one of the longest routes, has reduced CO2 emissions by 13.4 tons per year. The public transport bio diesel (B-10) use pilot project, which is part of the European Bio-Nett project, has thus been implemented.
In the first period, three vehicles will use liquid bio fuel in one of the most used urban lines (320,000 passengers a year) which has one of the longest routes (135,000 kilometres a year), as it travels through El Carmen, Infante Don Juan Manuel, Primero de Mayo, Vistabella, La Paz, La Flota, Santa María de Gracia and Gran Vía. Current fuel consumption is at 60,750 litres of diesel oil a year.
CEMACAM –TORREGUIL. Bioclimatic Building
Posted by: | CommentsThis is a building that is integrated into the environment. It is equipped with thermal insulation throughout the building foundation and to the passive air capture, cooling and penetration systems which minimizes the consumption of energy for climate control.
The air, which is pre-cooled several degrees below the outside temperature, provides constant flow, exchange and renovation as it heats. The type of arch structure and the roof-top air shafts enable the air to evacuate and the circulation of the new fresh air that enters.
The main lighting system is natural light that penetrates the buildings by reflecting on its walls through the skylights, which are equipped with automatic light regulation systems. When the natural light descends, it is progressively compensated with artificial light, thereby obtaining the same light threshold both day and night.
Bicycle Strategic Planning Murcia
Posted by: | CommentsThe mayor of Murcia, Miguel Ángel Cámara presented the BICYCLE USE STRATEGIC PLAN in Murcia on 6-11-2007. The plan is aimed for completion by the year 2001, when Murcia will have integrated the bicycle as another means of transport.
The objectives include promoting the use of the bicycle for sports and free time, and what is more, raising public awareness about the benefits of the use of this means of transport. Another objective is to promote bicycles as an element of mobility, leisure and health.
The use of the bicycle in Murcia could be an enormous step towards the city’s main objective: To link the historic city centre to the two university campuses, the UMU in Espinardo and the Catholic University (UCAM) in Guadalupe.
The paths:
- Palacio Almudí-UCAM 6.3 km.
- Plaza Circular-Campus de Espinardo 4.8 km.
- UMU-UCAM 3 km.
Murcia Sewage Biogas Cleaning and Transformation Plant
Posted by: | CommentsAguas de Murcia (Emuasa) designed and built a plant in which biogas is cleaned and later transformed into an ecological automotive fuel which Murcia East Sewage Plant decided to call Biogás de Depuradora (Bioedar), for use by company vehicles.
Biogas, which is a mix of gases from the anaerobic digestion of organic materials, can be used as a renewable energy source and therefore, the Aguas de Murcia plant has a process in which the biogas is taken through several stages to eliminate possible harmful substances.
The plant separates the main biogas components in the final stage to produce methane and carbon dioxide in two separate entities. To monitor the different compounds, the engineering personnel developed specific analytic methods to qualify and quantify the composition of the biogas.
