Ecuador President Backs Wind-Energy Park

[AlphaCentauri]

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador's President Rafael Correa toured a new wind-energy park in the Galapagos Islands on Monday, promoting an initiative to break the pristine archipelago's dependence on diesel fuel for electricity.

The three new 800-kilowatt wind turbines will cut diesel fuel imports to the islands by half and mitigate the risk of oil spills in the fragile ecosystem, project manager Jim Tolin said by telephone.

In January 2001, a diesel tanker struck a reef off the coast of the Galapagos' eastern San Cristobal island, dumping thousands of gallons of oil into the area and threatening precious plant and animal species endemic to the islands.

While favorable winds and ocean currents helped to avert an ecological disaster, the oil spill galvanized international support to break the Galapagos' dependence on fossil fuels.

"We're going to fight to conserve the level of conservation of the ecosystems and biodiversity," Correa said, according to a statement from the presidential palace.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5552158.html