Photovoltaic Central in Serpa

It's the biggest photovoltaic central in the world, and it's installed in Portugal, more precisely in Serpa, a town located in the south of Portugal. It has a longevity programmed to 15 years, during which it will extract long hours of sun power to produce 'clean' energy (11 megawatts of capacity), to be introduced in the country's electrical network.

This investment is worth 61 million euros and it's was designed by the portuguese company Catavento. It's main holder is General Electric and it's mantained by Powerlight.

The PV Central owns 52 thousand solar panels, which cover the 'modest' area of 32 hectares! (the total area of the central is 50 hectares)

The unit responsible in Alentejo was the first to obtain the license of establishment by the Ministry of Economy and Inovation and aims at the goal drawn by the Government to produce 150 megawatts of electricity using the sun. It's one of the most desirable goals 'per capita' in Europe. The main objective is to reach 2010 with 39% of Portugal's electricity coming from renewable energies.

From my point of view this is a place where in the hands of the right people it can be very used in the good meaning of the word, that is, it can be used to relieve Portugal of it's enourmous electrical dependence and also from the dependence of fossil fuels, of course always inside the customary standards.



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Field Trip

On the past 4th, 5th and 6th of March my class and the 11thD class went on a field trip to a lot of enchanting and interesting places in several regions of Portugal:

• On the first day we firstly went to the IGC, Instituto Gulbenkian para a Ciência, where we were presented with the work of the scientists there, who briefly talked to us about subjects like the cytoskeleton, antibiotics and their influence on several species and even evolution. In the research center they study several subjects that vary and go from cell biology, through genetics of complex diseases and theoretical and computacional biology.

In the afternoon, we did the Queirosiano Tour, a tour in Sintra, through places present, described and lived in 'Os Maias', a romance written by one of the most influencial writers in portuguese history. We saw Paço da Vila (Palácio Nacional de Sintra), Hotel Nunes, Hotel Victor, Hotel Lawrence´s, some very beautiful waterfalls, Palácio e Quinta da Regaleira and Palácio de Seteais. It really made us understand the book better.

And to really finish in style, and indeed it was quite an ending, we all went to see a play in Teatro da Trindade, 'Os Maias', about the same book, all dressed up for the occasion...

• On the second day, early in the morning, we went to see an ammonia factory in Lisbon, AP (Amoníaco de Portugal). There we were presented with a guided tour through the entire compound, made of several different factories that build different substances. Unfortunately, the factories are faced with the influences of time.

In the afternoon we went to a display about Charles Darwin, a visionary, who created a very important theory about the evolution species. It was very important to see the diversity of one man's work during a lifetime. The display was prepared to celebrate his 200th anniversary and the 150th anniversary of his most famous book, 'The Origin of Species'.

• On the last day, the 3rd one, in the morning we went to a photovoltaic powerplant located in Serpa, the largest in the world. It is a very peculiar place with lot's to learn about.

In the afternoon we stoped in Alqueva to see the famous dam that caused so many different opinions about it being built or not.


All in all, it was a very good journey, very interesting and filled with teaching material. Of course it was fun, after all, it was planned with love and mutual interest. I would like to thank all of the teachers involved, that provided us with gratuitous amounts of fun and times to remember.

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My E-Portfolio - Video Format

This is a video I made early in the school year were I show a summary of my life, my interests and my journey in English.
Enjoy!
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Introduction

Welcome to my English E-Portfolio.
I will try to include in this blog aspects of my work with English, being those related or not to classes.
This is a place were evolution will be displayed, work ethics and commitment will be shown and were interests will be introduced to people who want to know me and my work better.
Enough said, let's get on to business.
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