{"id":4545,"date":"2012-11-12T16:20:46","date_gmt":"2012-11-12T14:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/?p=4545"},"modified":"2012-11-09T22:23:07","modified_gmt":"2012-11-09T20:23:07","slug":"tokelau-islands-shift-to-solar-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/science\/tokelau-islands-shift-to-solar-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokelau islands shift to solar energy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tokelau has become the first territory able to meet all its electricity needs with solar power, officials say.<\/em><\/p>\n

\nThe South Pacific territory – comprising the three atolls of Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo – had been dependent on diesel to generate electricity.
\n\"\"<\/a>New Zealand, which administers Tokelau, funded a $7m (\u00a34.3m) solar project.
\nSolar grids were constructed on the three atolls, with the last completed earlier this week.<\/p>\n

“The Tokelau Renewable Energy Project is a world first. Tokelau’s three main atolls now have enough solar capacity, on average, to meet electricity needs,” New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“Until now, Tokelau has been 100% dependent upon diesel for electricity generation, with heavy economic and environmental costs,” he added.<\/p>\n

Project co-ordinator, and PowerSmart MD, Mike Basset-Smith said that the move represented a “milestone of huge importance” for Tokelau, as it would now be able to spend more on social welfare.<\/p>\n

The remote islands of Tokelau lie between New Zealand and Hawaii.<\/p>\n

Most of the 1,500 islanders live by subsistence farming, with thousands of others choosing to settle in New Zealand or neighbouring Samoa.\n<\/p>\n

\nSource and more: www.bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tokelau has become the first territory able to meet all its electricity needs with solar power, officials say. The South Pacific territory – comprising the three atolls of Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo – had been dependent on diesel to generate electricity. New Zealand, which administers Tokelau, funded a $7m (\u00a34.3m) solar project. Solar grids were constructed on the three atolls, with the last completed earlier this week. “The Tokelau Renewable Energy Project is a world first. Tokelau’s three main atolls now have enough solar capacity,…<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,41,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","category-technology","category-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t