Energy project monitors kitchen appliance use, weather

Appliances that consume most electricity are those in the kitchen, and there is a very close relationship between the use of energy and the weather. These were some of the preliminary findings of students from the University's Junior College and education institutions in Germany, Hungary, Poland and Turkey that are taking part of the Comenius school project 'Saving Energy... Saving our Future'.

By monitoring their use of electricity, gas and water, the students are seeking to establish simple ways to minimise consumption and disseminate the findings to the wider community to decrease the use of energy resources for the benefit of the environment.

As part of the project, the Maltese students have been monitoring their use of energy resources on a weekly basis since December, and the Malta Meteorological Office at Malta International Airport is providing them with weather-related data.

The students involved in the project, accompanied by their lecturers recently met in Hungary to share and exchange findings. They also visited the production lines of one of the biggest producers of energy-saving lamps in Europe, General Electric Hungary, the waste management site of Saubermacher-Pannonia Garbage Collecting Ltd and, the Zsigmondy-Szechenyi secondary school which offers an environmental protection course.

The project is being funded by Lifelong Learning programme of the European Commission.