Drowning Island pins hope for clean energy

Tuvalu, the fourth smallest country in the world, has announced its intention, which is entirely by renewable energy sources by 2020.

Located between Hawaii and Australia, the small country in the Pacific is one of the hotspots of climate change and many people believe is already the negative impact of the rise in sea level.

The altitudes of the island is only 4.5 meters (14.8 feet), and the king of the tides are always damaging in the last 10 years, the homes and threaten the livelihood of 12,000 inhabitants.

The government of Tuvalu is the cooperation with the E8, a consortium of 10 energy companies in the G8 countries, which was created after the Rio Summit in 1992 as a non-profit organization. The Tuvalu government estimates that there are around 20 million U.S. dollars of investment to achieve the objective of 100 percent clean energy by 2020.

The first phase of the project was the roof of the largest football stadium is covered by solar cells, the 5 percent of electricity is required, the capital, Funafuti.

E8 images after 14 months of operation of the site of the stadium reduced fuel supply from New Zealand of 17,000 tonnes and will save 50 tonnes of CO2 released into the atmosphere. Another advantage is the reduction of the release of diesel fuel in the coral atoll.


"It Mai also other bodies of the solar energy the largest in the world, but May not be important for our customers," said Takao Shiraishi, managing director of Kansai Electric Power Company, which has helped in the implementation of the plan.

"The fate of Tuvalu in view of the increase from the beginning is the worst consequence of climate change. For Tuvalu, after 3000 years of history, the success of the negotiations of the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen in December this year, a national survival," he said In a press release.
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The next plan is to provide a solar system of a secondary school Vaitupu, one of the islands in the outdoors.

"We thank those who have to reduce the carbon footprint Tuvalu, and so to strengthen our voice in international negotiations to come. And we look forward to the day on which our country provides an example for all - electricity only of natural resources such as solar and wind, "said Nathan Kausa, Tuvalu, minister for public services and industry.