ARTICLES ABOUT THE MEETING IN HANNOVER IN DIFFERENT SITES

An article about the meeting in Hannover has been published in the online newspaper "La Unión hoy" and also in the website from the Ministry of Education in Murcia.

Here you have the links to the articles:

http://www.launiondehoy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4374:el-ies-maria-cegarra-en-hannover&catid=52:noticias&Itemid=131

http://www.educarm.es/verNoticia.php?n=6704&aplicacion=NOTICIAS&zona=PROFESORES&menuSeleccionado=

A SEA OF MIRRORS: Gemasolar. Solar plant in Spain.

Gemasolar is the first commercial-scale plant in the world to apply central tower receiver and molten salt heat storage technology. The relevance of this plant lies in its technological uniqueness, since it opens up the way for new thermosolar electrical generation technology.

If you want to learn more about this solar plant, visit the following links:
 THEY ARE REALLY IMPRESSIVE!

http://youtu.be/jj5f8-b-gXk



http://youtu.be/gpsUCWgsu2E

An Inconvenient Truth - Statements by some German students 

Pierre Martin 

The film “An Inconvenient Truth” shocked me, because Al Gore shows very well how we are destroying our own planet: the earth. The pictures, statistics, diagrams and information demonstrate the consequences of our worldwide CO2-emissions.

The CO2-concentration in the air today has doubled if compared with the maximums during the last 650,000 years. As a result the temperature is rising so that the ice on the poles and glaciers is melting. The higher temperature is also the reason for more natural catastrophes and the extinction of animals, plants and sometimes also humans.

All in all we can say that humanity is destroying their own source of life and wealth in order to obtain short-term profits. But we should think of our future and the next generations.

Having seen this film I would like to stop this destruction by for example switching off the lights because I don’t find it ethically rsponsible. The responsibility to secure this unique planet and home of life is in our hands and we have to secure it.

Sophie-Charlotte Berke

“An Inconvenient Truth” - A film which gives a really good insight into the big problem of global warming by Al Gore

My opinion:

At first I was very surprised at the alarming facts that Al Gore talks about, because I thought that I knew a lot about the topic, but apparently not. I never thought that global warming is such a problem! Our earth is really in danger but most people don't know that because of too little information. However, it is so easy to change something and fight against global warming because it is not too late yet, the climate crisis can be solved, but we have to start now, because everything we need is there, except, perhaps the political will.

Background information:

After Al Gore lost the presidential election in the year 2000, he devoted himself even more to the fight against global warming.The film shows recordings of his presentation, which he introduced in many cities around the world. In this, he talked about his views on the scientific and political aspects of global warming.

With much conviction, sarcastic humor and stinging facts he ties his audience alone with his words. Al Gore is concerned that humanity, despite the size of the earth, with their exhaust gases have an enormous influence on global warming. ( => anthropogenic greenhouse effect) That is why it is so important for the earth and the people that we start to change something because it is very easy to reduce the CO2 content, for example by producing fuel-saving cars, insulation of houses and a conscious energy and commodity consumption without which the usual quality of life would decrease. For more things we can do to stop the global warming look at Al Gore's Homepage: www.algore.com

Florian Wienecke

In my opinion the film is a great opportunity to show everybody what’s going on in the world - with our world. It belongs to all of us because we can solve all the problems in the present age and in the future. So we have to change our behavior before it’s too late to save our blue planet.

Also, the flm shows great examples to me that even little changes in my behavior can be helpful for the environment and our world.

Jacqueline Pluta, Janine Heinecke, Niclaas Dettke 

Our first emotions about the film 'An Inconvenient Truth' by Al Gore were that we were very shocked, because the CO2-level is rising. It was very interesting to see what the scientists can find out in our days. The film shows that we can have a new ice age shortly. This is really frightening, because Germany will be one of many states where it could be and this is also more than inconceivable. Besides, the CO2-concentration is going to double in less than fifty years. The film is also about hurricanes, of which there will be more and more. That's an extremely scary aspect. Moreover it's strange that the arctic will be the place where the temperatures will be the highest in a few years, whereas it's the coldest place in our days. Furthermore it's frightening that many politicians don't really care about global warming and ignore that so many other states want to stop the CO2-emissions. We liked the end of the film, because the tips and suggestions are really good. Additionally we think that everyone who watches the movie 'An Inconvenient Truth' will think about the topic of global warming and CO2-emissions.

Nuclear energy in Spain by Mari Carmen Muñoz.

Nuclear energy is one of the safest energies that can be used to achieve many desired results, provided it´s used safely with due precautions. It can be used in different fields for peaceful purposes such as electricity generation, medicinal purposes, reducing pollution, etc. Here´s an elaborate explanation about its benefits.

Spain is notable for power stations uprates. It has a program to add 810 MWe (11%) to its nuclear capacity through upgrading its nine reactors by up to 13%. For instance, the Almaraz nuclear station is being boosted by more than 5% at a cost of US$ 50 million. Some 519 MWe of the overall increase is already in place.

In February 2011 parliament removed a legal provision limiting nuclear plant operating life to 40 years, and early in 2012 an industry report recommended in principle 20-year life extensions.

The Socialist government to 2011 came to power on an anti-nuclear platform, but apart from opposing the renewal of licence for the Santa Maria de Garoña station, an early BWR-3 model, it was increasingly positive about nuclear power. In 2011 the responsible minister said that nuclear plants were "essential for the supply of electricity in Spain" and that almost all nuclear power units "will be open, operating and even repowering" until 2021. Also he said that "nuclear energy will be useful as a source of electricity for cars," which the government was promoting, hoping to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2014. However, that government remained opposed to new nuclear station construction. The Socialist government's anti-nuclear policy was never taken into legislation.

The November 2011 election brought about a change of government which revised the decision to close Garoña, potentially allowing operation to 2019.

Power reactors operating in Spain

Reactors	Type	Net MWe	First power	Commercial operation	Owner (%); operator	Licence expires
Almaraz 1	PWR	947 (1015)	1981	1981	Iberdrola 53%, Endesa 36%, Union Fenosa 11%; CNAT	6/2020
Almaraz 2	PWR	956	1983	1984		6/2020
Asco 1	PWR	996	1983	1984	Endesa (100%); ANAV	10/2021
Asco 2	PWR	992	1985	1986	Endesa (85%); ANAV	10/2021
Cofrentes	BWR	1063	1984	1985	Iberdrola (100%); Iberdrola	3/2021
Trillo 1	PWR	1003	1988	1988	Iberdrola (48%); CNAT	11/2014
Vandellos 2	PWR	1045	1987	1988	Endesa (78%); ANAV	7/2020
Total (8)		7002 MWe

The Program of Advanced Nuclear Stations is working on the development of Westinghouse AP 600 and GE Advanced Boiling Water Reactors. Spain is also participating in the development of European Utility Requirements (EUR) in relation to advanced nuclear technology and is part of the International Atomic Energy Agency's INPRO project

Currently operating in Spain 8 nuclear reactors. They are usually classified into three stages according to their time of construction and other relevant criteria. Garoña belongs to the first stage, along with the already closed Vandellós I (closed in 1989) and José Cabrera closed in 2006. These plants were built in the second half of the 60s.
To the second stage belong the Almaraz (which has two reactors), Ascó (also with two reactors) and Cofrentes, networked between 1983 and 1986. National participation was around 60 per 100 between civil works and equipment, with important effects on the Spanish industry drivers.
To the third stage belong Trillo and Vandellós II, after twelve years of political uncertainty plagued construction. The Spanish nuclear industry was consolidated at this stage, with the construction of factories both equipment and fuel, the implementation of a number of specialized service companies and the creation of the National Radioactive Waste (ENRESA).
All this activity involved a major effort to assimilate technology and training technicians and specialists, which resulted in a high quality nuclear fleet, teams of highly skilled operation and very high figures of national participation in the construction of nuclear power plants , from 43% of total first generation plants to 75% in the second and 85% in the third.
Nuclear plants were built today are a very important asset in the electricity generation market. Technology has proven to be able to keep operating and to include in them the technical improvements that have been developed, enabling a continuous and safe operation, allowing extend life.

Advantages:

·       Almost 0 emissions (very low greenhouse gas emissions).

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·       They can be sited almost anywhere unlike oil which is mostly imported.

·       The stations almost never experience problems if not from human error, which almost never happens anyway because the plant only needs about 10 people to operate it.

·       A small amount of matter creates a large amount of energy.

·       A lot of energy is generated from a single power station.

·       A truckload of Uranium is equivalent in energy to 10,000+ truckloads of coal. (Assuming the Uranium is fully utilized.)

·       A nuclear aircraft carrier can circle the globe continuously for 30 years on its original fuel while a diesel fueled carrier has a range of only about 3000 miles before having to refuel.

·       Modern reactors have two to ten times more efficiency than the old generation reactors currently in use.

·       New reactor types have been designed to make it physically impossible to melt down. As the core gets hotter the reaction gets slower, hence a run-away reaction leading to a melt-down is not possible.

·       Theoretical reactors (traveling wave) are proposed to completely eliminate any long-lived nuclear waste created from the process.

·       Breeder reactors create more usable fuel than they use.

Disadvantages:

·       Nuclear plants are more expensive to build and maintain.

·       Proliferation concerns - breeder reactors yield products that could potentially be stolen and turned into an atomic weapon.

·       Waste products are dangerous and need to be carefully stored for long periods of time. The spent fuel is highly radioactive and has to be carefully stored for many years or decades after use. This adds to the costs.

·       Early nuclear research and experimentation has created massive contamination problems that are still uncontained.

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·       Nuclear power plants can be dangerous to its surroundings and employees. It would cost a lot to clean in case of spillages.

·       There exist safety concerns if the station is not operated correctly or conditions arise that were unforeseen when the plant was developed, as happened at the Fukushima plant in Japan; the core melted down following an earthquake and tsunami the station was not designed to handle despite the world's strongest earthquake codes.

An Inconvenient Truth by Gabriel Martín, Spain

Technical Sheet

Original title: An inconvenient truth

Director: Davis Guggenheim

Country: United States

Year: 2006

Duration: 100 min.

Genre: Documentary

The impact

It is the third highest box-office success documentary in history.

Gore also has published a book under the same title, which has been featured in the film, as if It were a documentary graphical presentation.

Coinciding with the release of the film, the May 13, 2006, Gore took the opportunity to

promote themselves in the "reality show" America's best-known TV show, ‘Saturday Night Live’, where he played the hilarious role of the President of  the United States, after having won the 2000 elections, in an imaginary world parallel to the real one.

In 2007 it received an Oscar for best documentary.

Summary. Personal Opinion

Most of Sun’s radiation is absorbed by the Earth and warm it. Some energy is radiated back into space by the earth in the form of infrared waves. Some of this bouncing infrared radiation is trapped by the earth’s atmosphere and warms it.

The CO2 layer prevents that most of these rays can go back to the space.

In my opinion, human beings could collaborate and avoid the global warming, to save the Earth.

What could we do?

As we know, pollution is one the main factors we should avoid. Therefore we should:

-save energy

-use the car only when it is necessary

-buy appliances that save energy

-use compact lights

-plant trees and save water

-recycle

-take care of the environment, etc

If everybody collaborates, we can save the planet and avoid its destruction.