Paris March 2019
Report realized by the group environment and energy after the interwiews at Landvern and geothermical power plant
Some links : https://reneweconomy.com.au/iceland-a-100-renewables-example-in-the-modern-era-56428/https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/oecd-environmental-performance-reviews-iceland-2014_9789264214200-en#page1http://landvernd.is/en/Main-topics/TourismVisit to SADECO
Related to the activities within the area of Sustainable Development, the visit to the offices and the didactic classroom of SADECO (a company dedicated to the sanitation and waste management of the city of Córdoba), was coordinated by the persons responsible for the a r e a o f communication of the municipal company.
The dynamics, in which slides were projected explaining both the structure, operation, areas and responsibilities of this company, was enlivened with questions on the part of the responsible ones and the students and to clarify doubts on the matter, it was supplemented also by a simultaneous translation.
The information showed in the visit, which was contextualized within the existing differences between the different neighborhoods of Cordoba, focused on street cleaning and its procedures, manual and mechanical.
Likewise, the solid waste collection was highlighted, betting on the renovation of containers, as well as the innovative Eco-Points in the historic center of our city. Along w i t h t h e Pest control (pigeons, rats, mosquitoes, cockroaches, termites, etc.) and the management of animal control, the cleaning of schools and public buildings was highlighted, as well as urban maintenance, being essential the collaboration and citizen awareness for the correct state of our streets and buildings.
Lastly, and before the healthy breakfast we were given, they explained the work of COMO. valorization and elimination of the urban waste that Sadeco carries out in two of its facilities: the Environmental Complex of Córdoba and the Inert Waste Reception Center. Due to all this activity and continuous process of innovation, Sadeco obtained international prizes, emphasizing the recognition in the Interregional Environmental Integration of Waste Management in European Heritage Cities.
Guillermo Contreras is member of Ecologist in Action, an organization in a national scale. They have 300 groups in Spain and they developed different areas such as sustainable development, urban projects and animal abuse, although he specially works on sustainable development and climate change. For example, in Córdoba the organization was fighting against the cement factory “Cosmos” in order to put a filter to obtain a cleaner air in the zone that surround the company. The effects of this type of pollution are affected in considerably to human health and cause physical damage to homes, vehicles and facilities.
In addition, pupils asked Guillermo for the problems of Córdoba. He gave us some advices to improve the air of the city. He recommended us to use the bicycle and the public transport. It is important to mention that the electric cars are not an alternative because the origin of this kind of energies is a 70% produced by derivatives of the petrol. Four major issues were addressed below: local trade as a tool to reduce pollution.
In this way, Guillermo said that several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally-owned business, rather than a nationally-owned businesses, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms - continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community and reducing environmental impact.;
Next, we talked about the present and the future of green areas in Cordoba with Guillermo highlighting the importance of developing an ecological gardening, To get it, said Guillermo, “we should use native trees and reduce water consumption. In addition, we think that to ensure a sustainable future for our green zones we need to create, develop and implement a social orchards network of ecological products”; Our energy model and its alternatives was the third key topic to discuss. Guillermo said that all around
Europe, Smart Cities take seriously the pollution eduction with programmes which ensure quality standards of clean air. A lot of work still has to be done in this area. For long, politicians and population have desired a clean atmosphere by strengthen some measures related to our energy model. Electricity supply must be based on renewable energies, motivating the installation of those to production and self-consumption. To do this, we must modify the current legislation to provide users with the means to achieve self-consumption. Finally, a modern concept, t h e circular economy applied to waste management, especifically related to Sadeco, which have explained to EU institutions their plan for reusing and recycling the waste. In this sense, the concept of circular economy explains the second use of any object even when its function is completely different. Has your heating broken down? Don´t worry, Sadeco is going to put in march a Repair School in order to encourage a new life for our household appliances. An excellent initiative.
To close the event, we were talking about the illegal urbanization in the mountains of Córdoba too. People are doing illegal individual houses where a few years ago these lands had been used to farming. He answered that is true, although Córdoba is creating a “Green Belt” in order to purify the air of the capital and get the other one, cleaner of course, of the countryside.
The organization founded in 1998. There are 300 groups all over Spain. The subjects that they work are:nature,feminism,education,climatic change, pollution. They fight the pollution that the factory " Cosmos" creates. People and Junta de Andalucia pushed the factory to use filters but the major problem is that the factory burns plastic ( it started in 2007) in order to reach the temperatures in the oven. Now the factory has 40 workers.
In Cordoba there aren't many factories. The main pollution is from the traffic. If we want to reduce the pollution we have to limit traffic by :
encouraging the public transportation
encouraging people to go to work on foot
Electrical cars aren't the solution because electricity creates pollution. 30 % of electricity is "clean". The organization tries with the Eco-feminism to give a solution. It is named like that because women always take care of the children and sick people...
Solutions:
Cordoba is a city that can grow trees at north, south, and east because of the big surfaces, so it's important that the inhabitants grow trees in the city.
Cordoba needs the construction of new houses, buildings and the creation of green places.
The Public and the government have to take action.The buildings that are near the river are illegal. The main abuse in Cordoba is bull fighting. We have to take strong measures to avoid this situation.
The cement factory was built in 1929 and started to produce clinker and cement in 1931, in 2012 the factory was bought by Votorantim.It has about 80 employees , 250 people in total indirectly and transport 500 directly. It consists of 5 multinational companies and 7 cement factories in Spain.
The material when still raw, is put in a special oven to “bake” at 2000 degrees (Celsius) and then it gets cold quickly and forms the clinker (small grey balls used to make cement) To make the cement they mix clinker and different materials
On 2007 the profits of the factory were 56.000.000 € and in 2015 the incomes dropped about 80% , they earned 11.000.000 €. They made investments worth of 201 million € and the staff was reduced by 26%
Sustainable Development
1. Economy ( taxes , money, employment, activity) 2.Social 3. Environmental
Corporate social responsibility
1. Volunteer 2. Talk to stake holders 3. Distribute
Consume (use waste, give it value): Energy resources ,patrol , coal in Andalusia 60% of waste goes to wastelands. In general in Spain 55. The impact of the factory on the environment are emissions of CO2 , NO,SO , noise and other. They try to be efficient , they have job advisors, and recycle the rough materialswith waste:
The main thing is the security of people and of the environment
Benefits: Reduce greenhouse effect gases, raw materials and fuels
Alternative: Ecologic, economic treatment of residues