Reduced Carbon Emission Strategy at Soneva Fushi Resort in the Maldives

Six Senses Resorts & Spas' flagship resort - Soneva Fushi, in the Maldives - is the first of the group’s properties to take part in a programme to offset its guests’ flight emissions, as an initial step in becoming carbon neutral by 2010.

The resort has joined with The CarbonNeutral Company in an initiative which helps neutralise the effects of carbon dioxide (CO²). For every one tonne of CO² produced by a flight, CarbonNeutral arranges for the equivalent amount to be saved through community-based projects such as replacing fossil fuel energy for solar panels in developing countries, and establishing and supplementing forests in which trees soak up CO², producing oxygen, plus sustainable timber sources.

In addition to developing climate-sympathetic accommodations, which use local materials, as well as reducing some food transportation energy by growing fresh produce in its own organic gardens, the resort has gone one step further in its commitment to the environment. It engaged the British environmental engineering and design consultancy XCO2 in early 2005, to move towards powering the entire property from zero-carbon energy.

The ultimate goal of the Six Senses Zero Emissions Objective is to achieve a 60% reduction in greenhouse gasses by 2008 and to use no fossil fuel derived energy sources by 2010.

An initial feasibility study resulted in a three-stage strategy for reducing diesel consumption for cooling, lighting and water efficiency. For example, by initially adding energy recovery systems as well as reducing wastage and loss, up to 30% of the current energy used is expected to be saved.

One of the main components of this initial approach is the installation of a heat recovery system in the generators and incinerator. By establishing a heat recovery connection, this heat can be used for hot water and laundry drying and would provide for all of the resort’s heating needs. The employment of absorption chillers and district cooling are other opportunities for increasing the reuse of waste heat. In addition, a pressure recovery system on the desalination plant would help improve the plant’s efficiency by up to 50% and substantially reduce the cost of desalinated water. It would consist of a work exchanger, which recuperates the pressure from the brine solution rejected by the reverse osmosis plant and utilise it for the incoming seawater. Additionally, the use of biodiesel (essentially vegetable oil) is being considered as an alternative to diesel fuel imports for back-up and residual electricity needs at the resort.

Besides these options, both XCO2 and Six Senses put emphasis on the gradual replacement of finite energy carriers such as diesel, with renewable energy sources, e.g.: solar, wind and tidal power, in their quest for integrated and sustainable energy management. Wind and tidal power are the two technologies that seem to be the best options at present. With these devices, a large amount of the electricity and most of the hot water needs of the resort could be provided for. XCO2 proposed the use of their innovative small-scale turbines, which are being installed in the UK and are already getting very positive reviews.

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