Students from Alcedar are greening their school

"We have seen that in the European Union, for example - in Germany, there are communities that generate their own energy from renewable sources and they sell the surplus to other consumers. I am convinced that this is also possible in our country, where we do not have our own gas and coal, but we have a huge potential for biomass, alongside with sunlight and enough wind", says 14-years-old Elena Mereuta. Elena presented a project for a school building that uses exclusively green energy.

The students provided arguments for the use of renewable energy and of the models of green energy systems developed by them, with help from their teachers.

The public lesson was moderated by Aurelia Svet, a member of the team of authors of the teacher's guide and of the manual on "Renewable Energy Sources".

"According to the data of the International Energy Agency, the global energy consumption will continue to grow on average by 2% per year. Thus, the energy consumption will double every 35 years. That is why it is important that the educational system is evolving in step with the constantly changing realities. The renewable energy means the future of the planet, and, in order to be competitive, the children need knowledge and skills relevant for the current context and for the adult life", noted Aurelia Svet.

The optional course was developed at the initiative of the Energy and Biomass Project and it was initially tested in the 127 schools that switched to biomass heating throughout the period 2011-2014. Then, 370 other schools joined the initiative and, as a result, over 21,000 students studied the "Renewable Energy Sources" course.

"We initiated this optional course, because sustainable energy will play an important, if not dominant, role in future technological developments. For us it is important to offer young people with an opportunity to gain knowledge of social, environmental and technological issues related to the sustainable supply of energy. This will better equip them for future challenges ", said Lina Acalugaritei, Moldova Energy and Biomass Project’s capacity development specialist.

At the initiative of the Energy and Biomass Project, the "Renewable Energy Sources" course was included in the list of the optional subjects for students of V-IX grades, as provided by the Ordinance no. 679 of 07.07.2013 of the Ministry of Education, and in 2015 the course was included in the National Curriculum for the optional courses.

The Energy and Biomass Project, the second stage, is a three-year project implemented throughout the period 2015-2017. The Project has a total budget of 9,41 million Euros allocated by the European Union and it is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme. It follows up the first stage of the project, implemented in 2011-2014, with a total budget of 14,56 million Euros, provided by the European Union (14 million Euros) and the UNDP (560,000 Euros).

For more information about the Energy and Biomass Project, see www.biomasa.md website or the Energie din Biomasă Facebook profile.