Mgarr an Eco-Friendly Village
Mgarr is a very eco-friendly village built in the middle of a valley surrounded by cultivated lands. In Mgarr we find a lot of farms that are powered by green energy.
Figure 1: a view of Mgarr from above
If you look at figure 1 carefully, on the right hand side, one can see a swine and bovine farm powered by wind energy. The farmer installed a wind turbine in the Santa Marija farm last year (as seen in figure 2). This project was co-financed by the European Union under Measure 121. The financial aim is provided by the Paying Agency within the Ministry of Resource and Rural Affairs. The measure mentioned helps farmers who want to invest in improving the running of their farms. Projects that are eco-friendly are given more importance.
Figure 2: the wind- turbine which was installed
The wind turbine seen in figure 2 was installed in order to power any electrical device mainly pumps, animal feeders etc. used on the farm. In figure 3 one can see a device which is used in order to send the excess energy generated to Enemalta; this energy is then used by its customers. So apart from having an eco-friendly system to power the farm, they are gaining money by selling the excess energy generated.
In Mgarr there is another farm which is powered by solar energy. The panels, seen in figure 4, powers all the green houses of the farm and also has the function of selling the excessive power generated to Enemalta.
Even though Mgarr is quite a laid back village it is quite advanced in its agricultural practices.