A jump to Norway, Trondheim, where project director and Inuit WindSled designer, Mr. Larramendi, was invited to the ‘Ocean Week 2019: Oceans in Change’ Congress, organized in Trondheim by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and with participating worldwide ocean experts.
“The ultimate diagnosis on the situation of the seas is catastrophic. Numerous studies ranging on microplastics, noise and impacts were presented. Overall expectations are quite negative, ” affirms Larramendi, who was invited to this forum to explain about the WindSled project, as an alternative and clean manner of navigating the ice.
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The positive notes were the unstoppable future of renewable based energies, just as eco-vehicle, WindSled driven only by Eolian power:
“The impulse of offshore wind turbines, is unstoppable. Apparently, 2018 was the first year in which they have been installed without any subsidies, being at market price already. At the level of marine ecosystems, there has been a positive evaluation as, in the immediacy of these towers, fishing is prohibited. Therefore, important marine reserves are being created. In addition, at present, floating offshore wind turbines are being developed. Not to forget this country has great aquaculture development and lives largely on oil extraction, with offshore platforms, “he recalls.
He was also pleasantly surprised by the presence of King Harald of Norway in a debate, in which he showed his clear interest in innovation and science, to the point of being one more participant of the table in question.
There is no doubt that in Scandinavia, the turn to electric transport is becoming a reality.
In parallel, he acknowledged during his last trip to Arctic Greenland, that in just a few months electric cars had taken over the cities. While airborne, he was surprised by the level of thaw at the beginning of May (similar to 2017, when he performed the Greenland Ice River Expedition, and upon landing he realized that in the Arctic they are aware that a considerable change must come from transportation. “I realized that almost everyone in Nuuk now has electric cars, that there are many charging sites, as occurs throughout Scandinavia. These vehicles no longer pay taxes, which are still high for conventional cars. This has facilitated an increase in demand and sales. In Nuuk´s case, almost all the electrical power comes from a hydroelectric source, a waterfall, quite renewable. It is clear that the electrical revolution is a fact.”
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Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, with no snow at the beginning of May 2019
