The Eco-Tourism resort planned near Anza, California will be 100 percent off-grid.  The Ramona Band of the Cahuilla Indian Tribe is planning this resort as an environmentally sustainable project that can be used as a model by other Indian Tribes.  The first phase of the resort is expected to be ready by August of 2009.

The Tribe has received additional funding from the Department of Energy, the US Department of Agriculture and multiple other Federal agencies.  The Ramona Tribe has partnered with Catalyx Nanotechnology Inc.(CNI) to provide the technology for renewable energy and waste water technology. The resort will use various forms of renewable energy not only to power the resort but also to run a waste treatment facility.  The resort plans on recycling sewage, biogas, and restaurant food waste, some of which will also provide energy on the Reservation.

The two primary forms of energy will come from windmills and solar installations.  The solar power will not only power the resort cabins but will also run the water treatment plant that provides potable water to the cabins.   The first phase of the project will see 13 KWp generated from PV panels to send electricity to the cabins, storage batteries and inverters.

Solar thermal power will be used to heat water for the cabins and pool. It will also be used to heat the cabins and other facilities when needed as well as run “the thermal solar powered small-scale absorption chillers for air conditioning and refrigeration.”

Wind power will be used to generate electricity and run the waste water treatment plant.  This treatment plant will be contracted out to Bio-Shaft Water Technology.  Bio-Shaft will provide a waste water treatment plant that recycles the water for irrigation and doesn’t produce sludge like other waste water plants do.

Ten to 15 KW of power will be generated from the wind.  The windmills will provide immediate electricity like the solar panels and will recharge or store energy in battery packs similar to the batteries used with the solar PV systems.

Further energy will be derived from energy crops and restaurant waste.  Crops will be planted as feed stock both for a diesel generator and as feedstock for a fuel cell micro power plant.  Some of the crops will be high in oil content for use along with used restaurant oil in the diesel generator.  Other restaurant waste will be recycled or used as feedstock whenever possible.

Other crops and crop waste will be used as feedstock in the micro power plant.  This feedstock will be used to create ethanol or methanol which in turn can be used to generate hydrogen.  The hydrogen will then power the fuel cell micro power plant which will generate 5 KW of energy.

Other environmental steps will be the use of electric vehicles on site and LEDs in all of the lighting fixtures from streetlights to cabin lights.  The vehicles will be charged using power generated on site.

Besides providing renewable energy for the tribe and the resort, this project is also expected to be used as a model for other tribes to follow.  This model can also be used a blue print for remote areas in other parts of the world to obtain energy off-grid.  This would save governments a lot of time and money because power lines and other infrastructure would not be built in remote areas.

The Ramona Tribe is creating a self-sustaining reservation and resort where all energy is generated on site and the majority of waste is recycled.  This could be a model not just for other tribes but for other cities as well.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 3:09 pm under Green Technology.

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