Puerto Rico's solar-powered energy oasis

Puerto Rico’s solar-powered energy oasis

Thanks to solar, this nonprofit’s lights stayed on after Maria. Now it’s urging Puerto Rico to rebuild with renewables.

Arturo Massol Deya is president of Casa Pueblo, an environmental nonprofit and community center.

http://casapueblo.org/
Arturo Massol Deya is president of , an environmental nonprofit and community center.
Casa Pueblo is a community self-management project that is committed to the appreciation and protection of natural, cultural and human resources. It was born in 1980 when the government of Puerto Rico wanted to start a mining operation in 17 silver, gold and copper deposits. The mining would have caused an ecological and social catastrophe in 36,000 acres of land in the municipalities of Adjuntas, Utuado, Lares and Jayuya. Among the founding members who started this struggle and who still remain are Mrs. Tinti Deyá Díaz and Ing. Alexis Massol González, together with an exemplary body of volunteers.
http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/07/02/hurricane-maria-solar-energy-puerto-rico
 
Since Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, Puerto Rico has struggled to restore power. But in one building in the mountain town of Adjuntas, the lights never went out.
Massol: “Casa Pueblo had been running with solar power for almost 20 years.”
After Maria, Casa Pueblo became an energy oasis, where people could charge phones and power medical devices.
The group also distributed nearly 10,000 solar lamps to local residents, and installed emergency solar systems to power home health care equipment.
Solar power has the potential light up a big part of Puerto Rico nearly 10 months after Hurricane Maria, says @casapuebloorg’s Arturo Massol:
http://casapueblo.org/index.php/reserva-puertorriquena-de-la-biosfera-en-tierras-adjuntas/
Casa Pueblo wanted to help people in need after Hurricane Maria struck.
Massol says Casa Pueblo wanted to help people in need after the storm, and the group is urging Puerto Rico to rebuild its electrical grid using solar.
Massol: “A study conducted at the University of Puerto Rico established that 65 percent of all the roof areas in Puerto Rico was enough to produce 100 percent of the energy demand of Puerto Rico.”
Massol says even a fraction of that could lower the island’s dependence on fossil fuels and help communities recover faster from natural disasters.
https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2018/04/puerto-ricos-solar-powered-energy-oasis/
Reporting credit: Mark Knapp/ChavoBart Digital Media.