Hawaii's Thirty Meter Telescope could be moved to the Canary Islands

2016-12-01T12:40:00-05:00

The Thirty Meter Telescope’s International Observatory Board decided late last month that if they cannot move forward with building the telescope in Hawaii, they will instead choose La Palma, one of Spain’s Canary Islands...The nonprofit group that’s building the Thirty Meter Telescope began scoping out other sites for the $1.4 billion telescope this fall—including mountains in Chile, India, China, and Mexico...

Previous news about the TMT:

Hawaii protesters block construction of giant telescope on sacred mountain Mauna Kea

The $1.5B 30m telescope (TMT) will be the biggest ever

Tiny Spanish Island to be First Energy Self-Sufficient Island

2014-10-01T11:32:00-04:00

El Hierro, the most remote of Spain's Canary Islands, is now billing itself as the world's first energy self-sufficient island that has never been hooked up to a power grid [...] This past summer, El Hierro inaugurated the Gorona del Viento power plant, a $110 million wind and water turbine farm. By the end of this year, the plant will generate all of the island's energy needs of up to 48 gigawatt hours per year.

Not only will El Hierro be the first energy self-sufficient island, it's will also exclusively make use of renewable energy sources, a mix of wind and hydro-power. Previously, the island – the most remote of the Canary Islands – couldn't hook up to the Spanish grid and had to barge in about 40,000 barrels of oil a year. Meanwhile, the island is also planning to have only electric cars by 2020, NPR reports. This little rocky island is a good model for the rest of the world; though with a population of just over 10,000, it has a bit of an advantage.

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Hawaii's Thirty Meter Telescope could be moved to the Canary Islands

Tiny Spanish Island to be First Energy Self-Sufficient Island