When soccer fans in the town of Drenovci, Croatia lost access to electricity due to severe flooding, they faced a whole raft of problems. Not least of which was this: how to join the rest of the world in the 2014 World Cup festivities.
Thankfully, a group of Greenpeace activists came up a bright solution to the power shortage: solar panels. Together they mounted a new solar system on the roof of a local school. As a result, soccer lovers were able to watch the game of Brazil vs Croatia from an outdoor projection powered entirely by the sun.
This wasn’t just another sporting event in Croatia. Local papers called it the “biggest match in Croatia’s history”. As sociologist Suncica Bartoluci said:
“For small nations such as ours, these sports events provide an opportunity to show ourselves off to the world. We still remember the famous 1998 tournament when we showed that we can win against a mighty country like Germany.”
So it’s clear this initiative made the locals very happy.
The great thing is, with the panels in place the system will continue to supply electricity to the school’s IT Department, giving students and teachers access to reliable, clean energy now and into the future.
Drenovci has been severely impacted by flooding. While reconstruction takes place, Greenpeace is asking authorities to rebuild the town with energy efficiency in mind. In fact, 90 percent of Croatians think the country should use more renewable energy.
