There is a small island off the coast of Scotland that can be seen as a true model of sustainability and off-grid living. There is no electricity grid connected to the mainland, at the Isle of Eigg energy is generated using water, wind and the sun.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThere is a small one island off the coast of Scotland which can be considered a true model of sustainability and off-grid life. There is no electricity network connected to the mainland, to theIsle of Eigg theenergy is generated using water, wind and the sun.
It wasn't always like that. Fossil sources have also been used on this island for decades. And then in 2008 the inhabitants officially voted to switch to renewables, becoming the first community to rely on a off-grid electrical system.
The transition to renewables
This island is just over 31 square kilometers in size and live there 105 residents. Everyone gets the energy they need thanks to the presence of a series of combined systems that exploit renewable sources: hydroelectric generators, wind turbines, solar panels and batteries. Two 80kW diesel generators are activated in days or moments in which it is not possible to rely on these sources, thus bypassing the problem of intermittence. In all cases "with this arrangement we can power the island during the day without problems and recharge the batteries to have energy even at night", in the words of John Booth, former director of the Eigg Electric, the island utility, owned by the community.
The benefits of responsible consumption
Before the complete switch to renewables, the island depended precisely on noisy and expensive diesel generators, not to mention that they could only run for a few hours a day. With the shift towards clean energies, on the other hand, you have energy 24 hours a day. Not only that, on certain days a surplus of energy is generated, especially when the wind blows very strongly or it rains a lot, and in this case the heating is automatically switched on in the church or in the multipurpose hall of the community, all common areas to be kept warm during the winter.
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And all the inhabitants are encouraged to use energy responsibly. Each house has a maximum limit of 5kW at a time, which in any case turns out to be enough so that for example a washing machine and a kettle can be turned on together, or 50 100w bulbs. Companies have a limit of 10kW instead. Take one sanction if someone exceeds the limit, but there is a meter that helps to keep consumption under control.
Anna Tita Gallo
