The sea can become the XXI century’s new oil, with the advantage of supplying a clean and renewable energy. In Messina, a UNIDO Conference, United Nation’s Agency, which has the mission of supporting industrial growth in developing countries, underlined on the brilliant results of an all Italian technology.
A vertical-axis turbine Kobold, patented by the President of Ponte di Archimede SpA, Elio Matacena, which extracts electricity from marine currents. It's such an efficient technology that it's become the cardinal point of a UNIDO project.
The project aims to spread the turbine in the Archipelagos of the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia and the Philippines, where strong marine currents exist.
In order to optimize research on the sea’s energy, UNIDO intends to create in Messina an international Center of Excellence with academic and research resources coming from Italy, China, Indonesia and Philippines.
They will cooperate in synergy to find optimal solutions for the exploitation of the sea seen as an efficient alternative compared to traditional energy sources. The main intention, through this project, is that of coping with the impoverishment of the oil and natural gas reserves.
“It consists in an unpublished alliance – Elio Matacena stated – among a developed Nation and three Asiatic Countries which want to demonstrate that also in this way they can comply the Kyoto Protocol rules. Besides the turbine’s potentials have peculiar social aspects. The inhabitants of the island in the three Asiatic Countries have been slaves until now of expensive and polluting gasoline generators, because they are not able to connect to any national electricity grid.”
The supporting financial effort to spread this kind of “sea-power stations”, will be provided by joint participation of the interested Governments and also through cooperation funds as for instance those of the EU as well as of the Asiatic Bank and the World Bank funds.
Specifically for Indonesia, the Minister for Research and Technology, Bambang Setiadi wrote a letter giving evidence of its Government’s interest in participating to the diffusion of the Kobold turbine.
In this letter he localizes pilot areas where “Kobold Farms” can be installed. Among those hit by the Tsunami, last 26th December, there are the Nias and Gorontalo Islands.
A program of great social and symbolic value, for the emancipation of those territories from energy dependence, that is to say from the absence of energy and consequently the impossibility of reaching any form of primary development.
This concept has been pointed out by the Italian President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi with a warm welcome letter sent to all the Conference’s participants. Amongst them there were many diplomatic, governmental and academic representatives of the three Asian Countries, many personalities of the Italian research and cooperation sector, like the Plenipotentiary Minister Eugenio Campo.
“Today more than ever, the promotion of a sustainable and fair development – the President Ciampi wrote – passes through the use of renewable and clean energy sources. International cooperation in scientific and technology research is the most appropriate tool to revolutionize the way of producing energy.”
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