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During the last years natural disasters like thunderstorms, floods and droughts became more frequent. Many scientists contribute these catastrophes to the climate change, which is mainly caused by the use of fossil fuels. However, mankind strongly relates on these sources of energy and at the moment there are only few alternative resources. The Comenius project "Alternative resources of energy and the environment (AREE)” addresses these issues. It focuses on energy production and its distribution within the EU as well as on environmental problems, which are caused by the use of these resources. Furthermore, it is intended to show up and model possible solutions for the mentioned energy problem, with a focus on renewable energies and other environmentally friendly technologies. This Comenius project consists of seven different secondary schools from six different countries in Europe: Germany, Italy, France, Lithuania, Spain and Norway. This wiki will be our trans-european Newspaper were different activities from the project will be presented by pupls and teachers. The projectperiod is from September 2011 until June 2013
 * [[image:logo_comenius_2011-13.jpg width="287" height="225" align="left"]]Alternative resources of energy and the environment (AREE)**

Comeniusmeeting in Sandnes, Norway
The first meeting in 2013 was in Sandnes, Norway. The participants has endured the last remains of Winter and joined in a program visiting points of interest in the are among others a micro Hydro Electric plant. The students main task during the meeting is to make models of Energy plus/ low energy houses. The Meeting has shown that the good spirit of the previous Meetings continues.



Comenius meeting in Prienai, Lithuania
The third meeting with pupils took place in Prienai, Lithuania. Just as the previous meetings it has been a great success. The pupils connected very well with each other and had the chance to experience a country that was entirely new to everybody. Also the project proceeded well. The pupils conducted experiments using lichens and fungus as bio indicators for measuring air pollution. In addition to that experiments in a university laboratory in the city of Kaunas were also carried out for the same purpose. The outcome of these experiments is shown on this wiki.

[[image:Group_picture.jpg width="669" height="378" align="left"]]Comenius meeting in Langon, France 2012
The second meeting with students has been in Langon, France from the 3rd to the 9th of May 2012. Four pupils and two to four teachers from all the partners in the project met and worked together to make small working models using alternative energy. There were groups working with solar energy, water, thermal and wind energy. There were also a group that experimented with different kinds of energies. The students were living in host families, there were excursions to Bordeaux, to a positive energy school under constructions outside Bordeaux, and we visited the "dunes du Pilar". The last day the pupils had the opportunity to go canoeing in a small river. Some of the work and models that the pupils have been working on will soon be published on this wiki. This meeting did as also the previous meeting in Borja connect the pupils and many friendships were made. There were many tears when the pupils parted on the final day. Reslults of the students work during the meeting is available here

[[image:2012-03-06_12.43.47.jpg width="682" height="386" align="left" caption="Meeting in Borja, Spain"]]Comenius meeting in Borja, Spain 2012
The first meeting with students has been in Borja, Spain from the 5th to the 11th of March 2012. Four students and two or three teachers from all the partners in the project were working together searching knowledge and information on how we produce energy in our countries. The students lived in host families, there were excursions to learn more about history, culture and sources of energy in the area. We had also a visit to the technology center Walqa in Huesqa to see how they made Hydrogen from renewable energy.

The work that the student made during the week is now published on the this wiki under Project meeting in Borja, Awareness and information and Production of renwable energies these pages are regulary updated for more information.

The final result of the meeting was a letter from the students to the European commissioner of Energy, were they explain their difficulties finding correct and comparable information on energy in Europe. They ask for the EU to make an official web-page were all information on cost and production of different types of energy is available for everyone to compare, they also offer suggestions on how to reduce CO2 emmision producing energy.

The objectives of the project are to:
1) Show how renewable energies can be produced and how they can be used. 2) Show how the environment is affected by using fossil fuels and what can be done to minimize negative effects on the environment. 3) Increase the awareness of our use of energy. 4) Demonstrate how resources can be saved in private houses by using energy efficient technologies and construction methods.

During the project we will address these objectives by several means:

 * Investigating the European energy system: How is energy produced and how much does it cost?
 * What investments are necessary to change to renewable energies?
 * Construction of small-scale power plants (e.g. windmills, watermills, solar panels)
 * Investigating the degree of pollution that is caused by the use of fossil fuels through analytical methods.
 * Constructing models of energy-efficient houses: What technologies can be used to reduce energy consumption in private housing?