Green Options

SOLARIG, a company based in Spain that incorporated about four years ago, just began construction of eight photovoltaic parks in Italy this month. The parks will provide 8 MW of energy in total. Over the next few months, it plans to construct photovoltaic projects producing 30 MW throughout different regions of Italy.

But this is just the beginning. SOLARIG has a more global vision.

Naked bicyclists, folding bikes, balloon bikes, and more — enjoy this bicycle photo tour of Barcelona.

The third B in a row, Barcelona is next on this list of great bicycle cities (right ahead of Basel, Switzerland and Bogota, Columbia). As a dense city with a wonderful climate, Barcelona is naturally a wonderful place for bicyclists. However, a lot has been done to make it more so. The biggest carrot encouraging bicycling, by far, is Barcelona’s relatively new bike sharing program — Bicing. This is perhaps the best or second best bike sharing program in the world. It is one of a new generation of sophisticated, smart bike sharing programs. Read more about it on page 2.

Beyond Bicing, the city is also working on creating new bicycling routes and bike parking and it hosts fun Bike Week celebrations every year in May. Also, it has been creating better infrastructure for bicyclists due to so many more people bicycling within the past few years. It is transforming itself into a truly world-leading bicycle city.

The Mediterranean diet is not only good for its more well-known reasons — protecting against heart disease and cancer. According to a new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, the Mediterranean diet, rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, nuts, and fish, may decrease risk of depression.

Falco, the Iberian lynx cub born in captivity earlier this year, has died.  Raised with his mother and siblings, the small cub suffered a seizure about a month ago.  No other episodes of seizures occurred until the morning of Sunday, October 4th.   Falco underwent emergency surgery but did not survive.  A necropsy was performed on Monday. Results are pending.

The Iberian lynx, at risk of extinction, may be reintroduced into the wild on low-production olive groves soon.

A study by Spanish scientists says this may be the most appropriate place for the cat.

The Toro de la Vega festival is an annual event held each year in Tordesillas, Spain.  Like many festivals, crowds of people look forward to the event and line the streets.  But unlike many fests held around the world, this event is known for one particular tradition.

A sad discovery in Huelva province: The body of a female Iberian lynx was found on the road between Almonte and El Rocío.

This is unfortunately the third Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) killed in Andalucía this year - and the second in just two weeks. In March, a female - pregnant with two kittens - was run over in Doñana. She had also been shot.

Hail – the Return of the Sun

There’s been a lot of negativity around the solar space in recent weeks because it has been hard going for some companies. And I don’t want to belittle their pain – manufacturers have big stockpiles and if they’re publically listed their share price is down; project developers can’t get bank finance or government cash fast enough, despite the stimulus; and installers may be seeing some consumer sentiment dropping in places.

But please don’t think that’s all she wrote. The future of photovoltaics is bright as the sun!

Just for one example of how serious a contender PV is becoming, consider Spain. Right now that beautiful country is copping a lot of blame because of changes in the incentive structure that have led to a major drop in solar sales there, large and small. Indeed, little old Spain is being held responsible for most of the oversupply currently being experienced by the PV manufacturing industry, which I think could be seen differently…

Conservationists suspect EU regulations on dead animal removal have caused the griffon vulture population in Spain’s Hoces del Río Riaza National Park to plummet.

In an effort to curtail the spread of mad cow disease, the EU passed legislation in 2003 requiring the “prompt” removal of animal carcasses by farmers. Unfortunately, this has had a disastrous effect on the griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) residing in Hoces del Río Riaza National Park.

The European Union got strongly admonished this month by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) after the release of a report that is more than a decade late and comes to disheartening conclusions. The EU is giving only 0.1% of its budget to nature protection, with drastic consequences. Due to the miniscule investment in protecting wildlife, more than half of European habitats and species are under threat of extinction.

Ever wonder who leads the world in global warming emissions? And by how much? A report released this month by the New Zealand government gives us this information.