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Kick-off for recharge.green project: connecting energy and nature

Jan 17, 2013 / alpMedia
Concrete dams, wind turbines, tree plantations: there is often a conflict between energy production and nature conservation. The recharge.green project, now being implemented throughout the Alps, intends to give landscapes a value. A solution to the dilemma?
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The recharge.green project involves 16 partners who are developing strategies to ensure the compatibility of the production of energy from renewable sources with nature conservation.
With forests, rivers, mountains and plenty of sunshine, the Alpine countries possess the right conditions for the production of energy from renewable sources, thus helping to reduce greenhouse gases. The Alpine space is at the same time a unique habitat for plants and animals. There are 2,000 to 3,000 plant species per one hundred square kilometres - twice as many as are found in the Central European lowlands. The economic benefits of renewable energy production can be measured in figures: not so, however, the effects on the ecology and society of using natural resources.
The "recharge.green - balancing Alpine energy and nature" project wishes to work to resolve this conflict. Believing that both biodiversity and renewable energy production are important for a high quality of life in the Alps, 16 partners have come together from different sectors. CIPRA is also involved.
The project partners will produce strategies in the coming three years, develop models to assess the costs and benefits of the production of renewable energies and test the implementation of tools for determining the value of landscapes in terms of energy, ecology and society in Slovenia and the regions of Vorarlberg (Austria), Bavaria (Germany) and Piedmont (Italy).
recharge.green is largely being financed by the European Regional Development Fundin the context of the Alpine Space Programme.

Source and further information: www.recharge-green.eu, www.cipra.org/en/biodiversity-and-landscape