Green Ski Resorts?
Caught an interesting article this morning about the impact that global warming seems to be having on ski resorts around the world, and the steps some of them are taking so as to reduce their environmental impact.
I’m not a downhill skier myself (went once when I was a kid and DID enjoy it immensely though!), but given the fact that it is a pretty popular sport and one that likely sucks up a lot of power and fuel, I’m certainly glad to hear of some improvements.
Here is an exerpt:
However, with climate change becoming regarded as a direct economic threat to the industry, there is a growing movement among skiing resorts to provide sustainable solutions to the problem. Aspen in Colorado, US, normally seen as a playground for the rich and powerful, may seem an unlikely hotbed of environmentally aware activity, but the resort’s managers believe they have no choice. “In a moderate case scenario, which includes emissions reduction by 2050 skiing in Aspen will be severely hampered, perhaps even gone,” says Pat O’Donnell, chief executive of the Aspen Skiing Company. “I won’t even discuss what happens under a ‘business as usual strategy’.”
Among the green projects Aspen is therefore undertaking, the resort’s snow cats are now fuelled with biodiesel, its “Cirque” lift operates entirely on wind power and its highland patrol headquarters has a 2.3 kilowatt solar power system. Aspen was the first resort to join the Chicago Climate Exchange policy, binding itself to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. It was also the first resort to offset 100 per cent of its electricity use by purchasing renewable energy certificates from wind farms.
It’s unfortunate that it often comes down to seeing evidence first-hand before people actually start taking action - but I guess that’s just the nature of most humans!
Check out the original article here: Going green on the white stuff
Technorati Tags: ski, downhill, ski lift, skiing, wind power, turbine, solar, global warming, renewable energy, green energy, aspen
Written by Bentley on December 20th, 2006 with
no comments.
Read more articles on Green Business and Green Energy.
- [+] Digg: Feature this article
- [+] Del.icio.us: Bookmark this article
- [+] Furl: Bookmark this article
