Articles

Use of Sustainable Energies in European Hotels: The DETOCS Project

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Hotel buildings consume large amounts of energy compared to other commercial buildings. However, in the coming years they should try to minimize the use of conventional fuels increasing the use of sustainable energies in order to zero their net-carbon emissions. During the implementation of DETOCS project a survey in several EU regions has been conducted, investigating the use of several sustainable energy technologies in nineteen tourism entities. The results indicated that many sustainable, low- and zero-carbon emission energy technologies have been used in hotels and other tourism entities in European regions. They included, energy saving technologies, renewable energy technologies and low-carbon energy technologies which are mature, reliable and cost-efficient. Among renewable energies solar energy, biomass and geothermal energy are the most popular in tourism entities. The use of these sustainable energy technologies can be transferred in hotels located not only in the regions participating in DETOCS project but also in other EU regions. During the survey tourism entities that were using carbon offsetting schemes to reduce their carbon emissions were not identified. The findings indicate that several, technically feasible and economically attractive, sustainable energy technologies can be used in European tourism industry assisting its decarbonization in accordance with the target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The results could be useful to all stakeholders of the tourism industry in all European regions.

Vermitechnology: A Sustainable Approach to Manage Organic Waste in Urban Areas

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Vermicomposting is the natural process of compost formation by converting organic wastes into organic fertiliser utilising earth worms and cow dung. It is being widely used for solid waste management. Many species of earthworms are utilised in this process such as Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae, Eisenia andrei, Lampito rubellus and Drawida willis. They feed on the organic waste to produce vermicompost, vermiwash and more earthworms as resultant products. Composting process with this technique takes around 28-120 days and it depends upon the type of worms and organic waste used. Kirori Mal College of the University of Delhi is pioneer in adopting the vermicomposting on a large scale. It has put 15 beds in place in its nursery. This set of fifteen composting beds is able to utilise about 1.7 tons of dry leaves in a single cycle and converts them into very nutritious fertilizer. As we could run four such cycles in a year, the Kirori Mal College has the potential of consuming about seven tons of dry leaves annually and put it to a better use, which otherwise, would have been a responsibility of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Along with the vermicompost, the process also produces vermiwash, a concentrated liquid fertilizer, which is stored and is being utilized after dilution. The vermicomposting also leads to rapid multiplication of earthworms, which can be sold in the market and the spare ones can be utilised for the next cycle. Vermicomposting for the disposal of the dry organic waste is very cost effective and energy efficient.