windmills

Bacardi Goes Green for Earth Day

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spirits, Green

Two new tourist attractions opened in Puerto Rico for Earth Day. Bacardi Rum unveiled the first ever industrial scale wind project on the island, two wind turbines which can be seen from miles away. The turbines are expected to generate enough electricity to power tourism related activities at the Casa Bacardi Visitor Center at their distillery outside of San Juan. Now the quarter of a million visitors who come to the Center each year can truly learn about and enjoy rum guilt-free.

Bacardi is no stranger to corporate responsibility and environmental leadership. "Here in Puerto Rico, Bacardi pioneered and patented the anaerobic treatment of distillery wastewater now used by other companies around the world," said Jon Grey, vice president of global operations for Bacardi. "We use this anaerobic digester technology to treat wastewater which derives energy. In that process, micro-organisms naturally degrade waste materials, creating biogas, or methane, in the process." These natural biogas are fed into boilers which help power the distillery. The process saves roughly half of the energy required to run them, reducing the need for imported gas or oil.

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Billionaire Plans Windmill Project For Hawaiian Island

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Green

Billionaire David Murdock has owned most of Hawaii's Lanai Island since 1985 and his decisions to add luxury hotels and high-end real estate have caused controversy in the past changing what was once a pineapple plantation into a tourist destination. But as Bloomberg reports, his newest vision for Lanai is generating a lot of concern.

He is planning a $750 million power project that calls for 200 wind turbines to be placed next to Polihua Beach, an idyllic stretch of white sand. Castle & Cooke, Murdock's company, will send the windmill-generated electricity to Honolulu through underwater cables. The project will generate revenue for Murdock who has lost money on Lanai in recent months as real estate and tourism have faded.

Like the windmill project that is planned for Nantucket Sound in the Atlantic, this one has angered those who fear that windmills will take away from the area's natural beauty. The project is currently pending government approvals, including environmental clearance. It is expected that the approvals could be in places by late 2011 and could help Hawaii reach its goal of being 70 percent green by 2030.

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