Courtesy of: Aruba Daily
Oranjestad – Aruba plans to be fully sustainable by the year 2020 and in order to achieve this national goal, many systems still need to be put in place. The Aruban Government, under the leadership of PM Mike Eman, has launched a large-scale campaign called ‘Green Aruba – Our road to 2020′. KLM Innovations, whom carry similar goals, joined in Aruba’s drive by launching the Green Aruba Challenge, where companies and individuals were invited to submit an idea to help Aruba reach its milestones.
Dutchman Jan Tijs Nijssen was the absolute winner in the KLM Green Aruba Challenge with the solution for cultivating plants and vegetables in a warm and dry climate. Nijssen presented this project called “Land Life Box” not for business interest only, but also for the people of Aruba who are interested in cultivating their own fruits and vegetables in their own yard. Nijssen received a standing ovation at the end of his presentation with his headline: “Sustainable Tomato Supply.”
The Green Aruba Challenge represents a perfect match between KLM and Aruba, because of their similar 2020 ambitions. The open competition received over 50 submissions and the top 5 were invited to fly on the inaugural Biofuel Flight from Amsterdam to Aruba last Friday. On Saturday, May 17th, the top contenders presented their green solutions to a panel of judges consisting of Aruba’ Prime Minister Mike Eman, KLM CEO Camiel Eurlings, several CEO’s and high-level local experts at the Dr. Edward Cheung Aruba Center for Innovation.
Although all 5 of the ideas are relevant stepping stones and solutions for Aruba, only one could be the winner. “Land Life Box” will be given the opportunities to realize its concept right here on Aruba sponsored by KLM for a quick implementation of the business concept.
The other 4 presentations were made by:
Maarten von Winning made a strong presentation for the windy island with “miniPower”, which is a project to recycle / reuse wind turbines that are still in good condition, but aren’t being used anymore, thus drastically reducing the costs of expanding Aruba’s Wind Park in its current location. This concept reduces the investment by 50% compared to wind farm with new wind turbines. ‘miniPower’ has already been successfully implemented in other countries with the same sustainable goals. “miniPower” is a great solution for Aruba and the rest of the world.
Chintan Shah presented ”Tvilight” showing Aruba’s government how much money can be saved by reducing street lighting. This project evolves around sensors that detect nighttime traffic to turn on and off the lighting as traffic comes and goes in the night.
Lara van Druten pitched ”Waste Transformers” which is the concept of decentralized green waste-to-energy. This consists of the installation of special container in which biodegradable waste goes in one side and electricity comes out the other. This not only saves on waste transportation, but it reduces the emission of CO2.
Hompe Heijmerink demonstrated that ”Evening Breeze” creates a comfortable climate for sleeping without having to cool the entire room, therefore a great financial saving for both the private and public sector of the island. The people of the island can feel the savings directly, which goes hand in hand with Aruban PM Mike Eman’s personal goal of the island maintaining “Sustainable Happiness”.
