Tuesday, June 25, 2013

"Eco-efficient tourism" proves eco-friendly technologies to be profitable



A training seminar "Eco-efficient technologies in tourism" was held in Sortavala on May, 30 as a part of project KA358. The participants of the Seminar were presented the experience and best Russian and foreign practices of establishment and development of tourism stopovers along popular tourist routes. 



The target group of the Seminar included specialists of District and Settlement Administrations, local entrepreneurs, experts and community leaders developing tourist services in the District, as well as students of Sortavala college who will implement eco-efficient technologies in practice in the near future. 

The keynote of all presentations and vivid discussions was an idea that the introduction of eco-efficient technologies is inevitable despite of all challenges and limitations that exist in Russia. Ultimately, every ruble spent on increase in eco-efficiency leads enormous benefits through the decrease of costs and increase in profit. However we should remember that tourists pay for a beautiful view from the window of his cottage, but not for the energy efficient heat pump installed there. This is why it's extremely important to find a balance between the introduction of eco-friendly technologies and natural beauty of leisure areas. 





For more information - eet-northcentre.ru

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

AQUAREL heads to White Sea



World-level Arctic ocean research, cultivation of high-value seafood for the top restaurants in St Petersburg and beyond, compounds for ecological cosmetics and a total disconnection from the hectic urban life, staged in the midst of amazingly rich bio- and geodiversities at one side of the coin – extensive challenges posed by logistics, energy production and the Arctic climate on the other. These are some of the main discoveries made by the nine “AQUAREL - Aquatic Resources for Green Energy Realisation” (KA397) project’s Finnish and Russian representatives on the project’s White Sea trip 3rd-6th June 2013.

The trip was initiated and hosted by Mr Alexander Pozin from the AQUAREL partner “Mariproduct” JSC. Mariproduct produces mussels, fish and other marine-based products like cosmetics ingredients and offers also services for tourists. The company runs the Marine Farm “Sonostrov” on the island of Tonisoar which is located in the Louhi Region, about 70 km south-east from the village of Chupa. Although accessible from mainland by foot, the distance to the island has to be covered by boats from Chupa due to the lack of roads to more proximate locations. 




Mr Alexander Pozin, director of “Mariproduct” JSC

The main goal of the AQUAREL trip was to deepen the project partners’ understanding on the offerings, circumstances, challenges and possibilities provided by the White Sea and this particular remote location. Corresponding with the project’s main theme, of a special interest for the consortium were the challenges that such isolated, peripheral locations face with energy production and modern solutions for them. The solutions that are applied should enable both electricity and heat production by maximizing the use of local, easy-to-access and environmentally-friendly resources in a sustainable manner. Now having the very practical insight into the conditions and resources available, AQUAREL experts will continue studying the potential embedded in the utilization of, amongst others, storm-cast algae found on the White Sea shores in large quantities. Also the project’s investigations for other innovative biomaterial based solutions applicable to decentralized energy production at peripheral locations will be continued in Finnish-Russian research and business collaboration.






Mussels harvesting at Tonisoar


The AQUAREL project is a collaborative initiative of 3 Finnish and 5 Russian organisations. It focuses on developing energy production from fish waste and aquatic biomaterials, thus reducing the load on ecosystem and providing novel possibilities for creating energy and additional income for fish farms and fish processors in the Republic of Karelia and in Finland. The project started in October 2012 and will last for 20 months.

The project’s main outcomes reached in the project by June 2013 are:
- Increased interest towards fish waste utilisation amongst fish farmers and fish processors
- Report on fish waste production locations and quantities in the Republic of Karelia
- Study on the equipment applicable to fish waste processing in Karelia
- Active collaboration and contacts with fish farms and fish processing plants in Karelia
- Started: Study on White Sea algae utilisation and energy production possibilities
- Studies on the energy potential of different biobased materials available in the Republic of Karelia
- Active collaboration between the project partners, including plans for novel collaboration initiatives and partnerships



The AQUAREL crew


More information about the project: www.culmentor.com/aquarel

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Biking and walking the world greener



Congested highways, plenty of time wasted on the roads between point A and B, deteriorating quality of air – these are issues, which plague not only the metropoleis of the global world. The general trend is that the number of cars is increasing regardless if the city is located in east, west, north or south. As ordinary people became more wealthy in the latter part of the 20th century, and still continue to do so, this wealth manifested itself in increased number of private cars. In the 1960’s less than 20 percent of all the trips taken in the city of Oulu were made by car. This is not the case anymore in the new millennium - more than half of the trips are made by private cars. The modal split between different means of transportations has changed significantly in the past 50 years in Oulu, and similar trends can be found around the world. In the city of Dubna, which is located about 100 km north of Moscow, the amount of cars per population has become almost ten times higher in the last 30 years. The problems of this avalanche of cars are visible, as the streets have been designed for much less traffic. The growth rates vary greatly by country and by region, but clearly something has to be done. Maybe it would make sense to turn the wheel back a little – at least with a few years? 

Back in the 1960’s walking and cycling were mass movers of people also in Oulu. Cars were still expensive, the city was smaller and the distances within the city were shorter. Even though cycling and walking are not the main movers in Oulu anymore, the city has profiled itself as a bicycle-friendly city, with a vast and comprehensive bike road network. Cycling and its role in the making of our cities more environmental friendly was the topic, which was discussed in Green Ways seminar, which was organized as part of the Greensettle project (KA192) at the University Oulu on May 14th. The problems of heavy private car use are quite clear also in Oulu, and there does not seem to be any instant relief to the long hours spent on the road, to the increases of harmful emissions of the exhaust fumes nor to the high economic costs in the form of fuel and car prices. Or is there? 

Over 40 percent of all car trips made in Finland are less than 5 kilometers long. Surely trips of that length could be made by a bike, couldn’t they? Have we just become too lazy and self-indulgent? Biking or walking is not only beneficial for your wallet, but it also improves your health and actually increases your expected lifetime by years. A short car trip can last longer during the rush hour than one taken by bike. Naturally, the investments in biking infrastructure are not free, but neither are those in highways. However, investments in bicycle roads pay back many times in the form of positive impacts of cycling. More can be done and should be done to increase walking, biking and public transportation and reduce private car use. This challenge has to be taken seriously also in planning of new cities and new city districts, as has been done in Oulu. The new Hiukkavaara district, which will be a home for 20000 people in future, will be a green city once it has been completed, also from the point of view of traffic and transportation. Sharing the experiences and know-how cross the border helps us to make our cities more pleasant for everyone. The challenges are the same, but solutions are available, if we want to take this problem seriously. 

More information about Hiukkavaara, Oulu in general, Dubna, and all the other presentations of the Green Ways seminar, can be found from here: http://nortech.oulu.fi/GREENSETTLE/GreenWaysseminar.html Let’s all think twice whether we need to take the car for that short trip to work/supermarket/somewhere else, right?

The website of the Greensettle project is at http://nortech.oulu.fi/GREENSETTLE/ The annual Oulu bicycling week takes place on 16.6.-20.6.2013.

Niko Hänninen