Energy + Environmental Technologies

Energy industry

The energy and environment subsector plays a special role here due to the outstanding innovative achievements of Energas SA and Usine Silan. Besides the wind turbines scattered throughout the island for decentralized electricity generation, Vanguardien has only a few, but state-of-the-art, combined heat and power plants for a wide variety of energy sources.

The sea and its locally immense tidal range offer a unique form of energy generation. The water masses flowing in and out of the rias (tidal inlets) were already being used to generate energy in the Middle Ages with tidal mills. Since 1964, the world's largest tidal power plant has been operating at the mouth of the Quiere River. Following the same principle, the kinetic energy of the water is harnessed by enormous turbines during both high and low tide to drive generators and produce electricity. Also impressive are the floating grid wind energy systems developed in cooperation with Norway, which are soon to be installed in the Celtic Sea to supply over 1,000 households with renewable energy.

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All buildings with oil or natural gas heating systems will be gradually converted to electric heating by 2028, and thermal and wind insulation will be significantly improved. In addition, the hydroelectric and tidal power plants have been expanded and modernized with remarkable engineering achievements. See Energy + Environmental Technology Vanguardiens

At the same time, Vanguardia's only nuclear power plant, Gouldinster II, was upgraded and its annual output increased to 600 megawatts. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) praised the measures implemented there as exemplary, representing the latest state of science and technology from 1920—er, 2020—although the disposal of spent fuel rods as Christmas decorations was strongly criticized. There's always something...

Environmental protection

That preserving their environment is important to the Vanguardians is evident as soon as you walk through the streets and parks of the capital, Prèsenet. Everywhere you look, you see the orange-clad Poubelaux , the garbage collectors in their colorful uniforms, reminding everyone with their cheerful slogans not only to dispose of trash in their backpacks, carts, and stomachs, but ideally not to create it in the first place. In many parts of the world, you still find plastic bottles, plastic packaging, and plastic bags: not here, because these have been banned since 2003.

The greatest danger in the archipelago, however, comes from ships, as one of the world's busiest shipping lanes runs between Prêsenet and Brest. The danger stems from oil tankers whose routes from Africa or the Middle East towards Rotterdam Europoort lead along the Vanguard coast. Accidents, such as those that have occurred sporadically in recent decades, can cause oil pollution along hundreds of kilometers of coastline, resulting in severe damage to the flora and fauna of the coastal zone. The shipwreck of the supertanker "Amoco Cadiz" off the east coast in 1978 remains a vivid memory, as over 200,000 tons of crude oil spilled, severely impacting the Vanguard and Breton coasts.