Environmental

Biggest cylindrical mirror facility opens in Portugal

Thursday, 30 July 2009 15:46

Covilis, a Portuguese company in the multinational Saint-Gobain Group, has inaugurated the world's largest parabolic mirror plant for solar energy production, an investment project of around 20 million euros. The new facility will build industrial production capacity of a highly innovative kind of glass developed by the Saint-Gobain Group, namely curved high performance mirror for the thermo solar market (CSP - Concentrate Solar Power). The unit is located in Póvoa de Santa Iria, Vila Franca de Xira, and is the first and only unit to produce this kind of glass in the world. About 90% of production is for export. This product is targeting the emergent market of renewable energies which has an estimated growth of 29%/year. The new factory is the biggest cylindrical mirror facility in the world with a capacity of more than 5 solar fields. The project will also involve increasing the production capacity of toughened glass for thermal and photovoltaic panels. The high performance curved mirrors are characterized by great mechanical resistance and high performance resulting from the use of a manufacturing technology that makes more effective use of sunlight.

International Green Summit comes to Moura this November

Friday, 03 July 2009 14:44

The International Green Summit (IGS) has chosen Moura, as the site of its first conference and expo November 9-14, 2009. The Portuguese government has welcomed and is supporting this event in ongoing efforts to be environmentally sustainable. The opening reception will take place at the Castle of Moura on Monday evening, with festivities including diverse cultural events and a gala dinner. IGS is implementing environmentally friendly best practices at its annual event. These green initiatives include online registration and electronic cards with information, coupons, and games for the event. IGS will feature live on-line webcasts of the event via websites, for classrooms around the world. www.igsonline2009.com 

From the bottle and back: Green Cork recycling program

Wednesday, 01 July 2009 19:29

Green Cork has launched the Portugal’s first recycling program for cork stoppers aimed at preserving both the environment and the country’s important cork forests. In its first six months, Green Cork collected 12 tons of used cork stoppers from more than 3 million bottles. The revenue raised from recycling this cork is being used to finance nature recovery and conservation programs, including planting indigenous trees and cork oak. Portugal is the world’s top producers of cork and there are approximately 2,700 square miles of cork forest under cultivation.The Green Cork program is also using existing distribution networks to transport the old stoppers, which result in a zero increase of CO2 at no additional costs. This ensures 100 percent of revenue is returned to conservation programs.

Birds of the Algarve

Saturday, 27 June 2009 17:50

South Portugal’s Algarve region is known for its bustling cities and luxury beach resorts, but a trip to the regions’ western coast reveals protected and pristine lands perfect for quiet walks and bird watching. Situated within close range of the best birding spots and scenic areas Aldeia de Pedralva is the perfect home-base for a walking tour or birding vacation in the Algarve. The coastal land preserve was named a “Special Area of Conservation” of the European Natura 2000 network and an “Important Bird Area” by Birdlife International. The southwestern coast has an impressive, rugged coastline, marked by remote, sandy beaches cut within the steep cliffs. Small estuaries and rolling dunes head from the sea into the countryside, where nature lovers will find flowering scrubland, small lagoons and lush pine and cork oak woodlands. This variety of habitats, as well as the mild, dry winters and warm, breezy summers, make the Algarve’s West Coast a prime spot for casual outdoor activities all year long. Flowers start to bloom as soon as February and come to a spectacular peak in the spring. The floral scenery is complemented by the region’s lovely churches and chapels, old forts and the nearby historic towns of Lagos and Sagres. Bird enthusiasts will find the various habitats draw a highly diversified bird population and more than 40 bird species found here are considered rare finds in Northern Europe. Resident birds include little egrets, hoopoes, Sardinian warblers and winter dwellers such as crag martins, alpine accentors and black-shouldered kites.