Energy Saving and Telecommunications
European Conference – Integration with the Electric Power Grid

Ministry of The Environment Lecture Theatre – Madrid, 17 October 2006

CONFERENCE BOOK

UETS/EFR PAGE

In the 21st Century, Europe has the opportunity to deploy the 'Intelligent Grid' based on UETS/EFR technology for energy saving and sustainability, able to transport both electrical power and information over a common infrastructure.

The Environment Minister, Cristina Narbona, presided over the Inaugural Session, and Maija Lahteenmaki, Ambassador of Finland, was also present to support the initiative; Finland currently holds the Presidency within the European Union (EU) and this initiative is line with the objectives of EU.  Also present was Jose Morales, promoter of the Conference, who is putting forward a radically innovative proposal for power saving and sustainability, based on UETS/EFR network technology.

The Ambassador of Finland stressed that the development of a common EU energy policy would enable us to be better prepared to address the issues of safety, energy saving, climatic change and European competitiveness.  This is why, during its presidency, Finland's energy priority is the development of policies for energetic efficiency and renewable energies.  She also indicated that the potential for energy efficiencies is considerable, making profitable the research and development in energy saving, the diversification of energy sources and the increased use of solar, wind and hydraulic renewable energies.

In her opening speech the Environment Minister indicated that the increase in energy consumption differentiates Spain from the rest of Europe, and that it will be necessary to invest strongly to expand the information and communications technologies, from preliminary studies through to realisation.  In this context she emphasized the advantages of 'telecommuting', which allows people to work without going into big cities and also avoids the abandonment of the rural environment; at present three of every four Spanish people live in big urban concentrations.  The opportunity which this presents for the rural world would have a positive affect on the environment, helping to prevent forest fires and also to improve conservation and biodiversity.

The Conference was moderated by Valeriano Ruiz, author of The energy challenge, a subject matter work of reference.  Presentations were made by Manuel Toharia, director of the Prince Felipe Museum, Xavier Garcia, director of the Green Peace report on renewable energies in Spain, Arturo Azcorra and Guillermo Ibañez, of Carlos III University of Madrid, Jose Morales, who has developed the UETS/EFR system, Angel Gomez Moreno, secretary of the Andres Laguna Foundation and Juan Luis Pla of the IDAE.

The presentations described the need for material investigations to improve process efficiency as key to an environmentally viable development.  Also demonstrated was the fact that there is enough renewable energy available to cover all of our needs, but that an 'Intelligent Network' would be essential in order to adapt to the demands of consumption

Also presented was the UETS/EFR network model as the only one capable of developing this Intelligent Network today.  The foundations of this model were explained: the convergence of the electrical and telecommunications networks, the simplification of technologies that presently form the Internet, which are unnecessarily wasteful of energy and, finally, the benefits of the system which would allow us to develop the Information Society in a sympathetic manner.

Also recognised was the importance of Spain leading the initiative and providing the proving ground for the model.  This is especially the case given that it is possible to verify its economically viability and guarantee of success.  In this respect, the Andres Laguna Foundation, which has as one of its principal objectives the promotion and recovery of rural life, showed its support by being the first Spanish institution to develop the UETS/EFR network model.

We want to do a special mention of Greenpeace Spain for his Project Renewables 2050: A Report on the Potential of Renewable Energies in Peninsular Spain, which demonstrates the possibilities of the renewable energies, as well as the need, for his correct utilization, of managing the demand by means of an Intelligent Network as the one proposed in this Conference.