Port Lligat, Spain — Salvador Dali extrudes from a rocky outcrop in front of a house that painted some of his most famous Surrealist paintings, and at dawn Moises Tibau rides on his little wooden boat. I climbed.
Chibau, one of the two remaining fishermen in this spot in the Mediterranean town about 100 miles north of Barcelona, wanted to carry red shrimp, red shrimp and scorpion fish. But as he slowly drove into an empty bay, Tibau was fascinated by the looming threat of modernization.
Government officials will approve the construction of a huge floating wind power plant offshore, and international energy companies have already taken advantage of the volatile northerly winds in the area known as La Tramontana. I’m kidding.
This push is coming as the deadly summer heat waves exacerbated by climate change can break UK temperature records and cause wildfires in France, Spain, Portugal and Greece.
Dozens of turbines will soon march across the horizon, providing urgently needed renewable energy to Catalonia, part of Spain. Catalonia still relies heavily on fossil fuels, but it is fundamentally changing the character of the region, which has remained largely unchanged since Dali walked. hill.
Controversial projects along the Spanish coast are sought by authorities to reduce global warming emissions by phased out fossil fuels and rapidly build commercial-scale renewable energy projects. Being in a hurry symbolizes push-and-pull throughout Europe. The war in Ukraine has added urgency to its efforts as European policy makers are trying to break Russia’s dependence on oil and gas.
However, efforts to deploy large-scale wind, solar and hydropower projects from the Spanish coast to the Albania river are facing obstacles such as NIMBYism, environmentalist concerns and bureaucracy that hinders rapid action. ..
Complicating the matter is the fact that large wind and solar projects require significant space. In Europe, you can also fight thousands of years of cultural history and relics.
The rush to take advantage of Ratla Montana has emerged as the latest flash point for growing debate over where to place new renewable energy projects across Europe.In addition to confusing the views depicted in masterpieces like “The Persistence of Memory” Residents of this sleepy corner of Spain, offshore wind farms also ruin the view from Cap de Creus Nature Park, dangerously near one of Europe’s largest marine reserves, and tourists It confuses their idyllic way of life, which says it will forever prevent guests from visiting the scenic town of Cadaques.
“As a local, I’m mostly worried about fishing,” said Tibau, 59, who has been working in the waters for decades and is opposed to the project. .. “But also about the cultural spirit of Cadaques, the landscape that influenced Dali.”
Similar stories are unfolding around the continent.In northern France, scallop fishermen last year Fired flares and blocked the boat It worked to install one of the country’s first offshore wind farms, and in Sweden Resistance to the plan Build a wind farm in a pristine area of the wilderness.
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Greek islanders are fiercely protesting major wind farms that locals say they are destroying old growing forests and disrupting tourism, but in Italy there is a complicated permitting process. Interfere with ability The number of companies building wind projects that have already been approved.
Other parts of Spain, residents Oppose the plan They say that Andalusia’s huge solar power plant destroys archaeologically sensitive areas.And in Eastern Europe, when the Albanian government recently won a big victory, activists Agreed not to install a dam On the Vjosa river for hydropower.
Viktor Katona, an energy analyst at research firm Kpler, said: “NIMBYism is definitely there, but it’s also a fear of the unknown, it’s about how to live.”
The Majority Many Europeans, including Portrigato and its surroundings, support ambitious efforts to increase renewable energy.
“I was supportive when I first saw it,” said Josep Lloret, a prominent marine biologist who teaches at the nearby University of Girona. “We need a solution to mitigate climate change.”
But when Ryolet began to look into the details and consider the impact on the ecosystem, he suffered from the project.
“This is one of the most important regions of the Mediterranean,” he said, pointing out that the European Union has recently designated many of its nearby areas as marine protected areas, with nearby bird reserves on the coast. .. “It’s a biodiversity hotspot.”
Other scientists are also concerned about the proposed wind farm. At the corner of the fish market in the nearby town of Elport de la Selva, two marine biologists Patricia Baena and Claudia Traboni, who work for the Spanish government, are rehabilitating a kind of soft coral that is often caught in fishing nets. rice field.
They say that fishing in this area damages corals known as Gorgonia, but the effects of wind farms are due to the large underwater cables that secure turbines to the seabed disrupting mud and destroying fragile ecosystems. Under the waves that says it can get worse.
“They are like trees in the forest,” Baena said. “When they disappear, all the biodiversity associated with them disappears.”
Commercial fishermen are also opposed to wind power projects, fearing that their construction and equipment, including transmission lines, will push precious red shrimp further into the sea.
Guillermo Francisco Cornejo, 46, head of the fishing guild at Elport de la Selva, said wind farms could make already lean livelihoods unsustainable due to the already high fishing costs. ..
“They are raising the price of gasoline, raising the price of electricity, and we are trapped,” he said.
“We have to sacrifice part of the ocean,” said marine biologist Ryolet. “But you need to find the place with the least damage.”
Companies wanting to build a wind farm say their project won’t do much to the environment.
“There is a climate emergency and this kind of solution is very important,” said Carlos Martin, CEO of BlueFloat Energy, a Spanish company that plans to bid on the project later this year.
The BlueFloat project will include 35 turbines, each towering 856 feet above the surface of the water and producing approximately 500 megawatts of energy. This is enough to power about half of the energy needs of local governments with a population of about 750,000. Other companies are also preparing bids, some of which may include more turbines. Government officials and companies working on the project say that the location right next to Port Lligat is the best place for offshore wind because of the strong winds in Tramontane.
Martin argues that the fact that wind turbines are floating rather than fixed to the seabed will reduce their long-term consequences. And while the environmental impact is unavoidable, he said building a new source of clean energy outweighs such concerns.
“Change can always be seen as a threat,” Martin said. “But change is an opportunity, and the opportunity here is great.”
As the war in Ukraine prolongs, European leaders have pledged to move to reduce Russia’s oil and gas imports and accelerate the development of new renewable energy projects.
Renewable energy in 2020 22.1% of energy Compared to what was consumed in the European Union Only 12.2% In the United States. In May, the European Commission announced plans to double the use of renewable energy by 2030.
But as the war pushes energy prices around the world, European leaders set aside climate goals, began to focus on reducing energy costs, overturned plans to stop burning coal, and new. We are investing billions of dollars in natural gas infrastructure.
And there is already a big gap between approved and under construction, as slow permits, protests and environmental reviews lead to delays, even when the government is competing to turn a new project into a green light. .. Throughout Europe, the government approves about four times as much wind power as it actually builds, according to research firm Energy Monitor.
“People don’t like coal, oil and gas, but they don’t want other options,” said energy analyst Katna. “Government policy areas are still chaotic and it will be very difficult to find a solution.”
When Tibau went out to check out the nets he had set up two days ago, at dawn the full moon was still behind him, on the rocky peninsula that influenced artists such as Picasso, Man Ray and Rrose Sélavy. Passed. At the top of the hill stood the lighthouse, which was the setting for the 1971 Kirk Douglas movie “Light at the Edge of the World.”
Finally, he arrived at the buoy and stopped the boat.
Tibau worked alone, lifting hundreds of meters of nets by hand and throwing back protected sea cucumbers and small crustaceans. After 30 minutes of work, he earned a good catch. One big red shrimp, one scorpion fish, and a dozen red shrimp.
Later that day, a chef from a nearby restaurant came to a shaded area where Mr. Tibau repaired the nets and bought his morning prey for about $ 175.
This is an arrangement that hasn’t changed much for half a century when previous generation fishermen taught Tibau how to work in this small area.
“If Dali was still alive today, he would have the power to put an end to this project,” Tibau said.