Ai Stratis to be the first green island

The small island of Ai Stratis or Agios Efstratios, as it is also known, close to Lemnos, will be turned into the first green island in Greece, as announced by the Minister of Development, Mr Hatzidakis. Works will start and finish within 2009 and the aim is to cover the total energy needs of the 300 permanent inhabitants with recoverable resources. As the government stressed out, this action is also symbolic, as the island, which was used as a communist exile land in the past, will not be connected to the transit of the country into a new era. The researches for this work will be done by the Polytechnical School of Athens, the Aegean University and the Public Company for Electricity. This will be a pioneer project not only for Greece but for the global standards, too, as only three islands in the world (Samsoe in Danemark, Utsira in Norway and King Island in Australia) are solely based on renewable resources for their energy needs.