Cyprus-Forum.com

[Greekster91]

Hi i'm new here, i live in Brooklyn NY USA and my father is a greek cypriot. What do you guys think is Cyprus's biggest problem is? Please don't say turkey, i mean economically.

From what i hear in the states, Cyprus's problems are water and a decrease in tourism. Is any of this true?

[Nikitas]

Both right, tourism has decreased this year and water is a perennial problem, always was. Nothing I can say about tourism, but water I have studied for some years. Large scale deslaination utilising solar power seems promising.

The Republic of Cyprus is largely a services oriented economy, with light industry and agriculture making up the balance. IT has the problems usually associated with service oriented post industrial economies even though it was never an industrial nation to begin with.

[oranos64]

DAN ...WATER ..IS A BIG ISSUE ...if we dont get rain in the winter ..we could have serious issues ....

cyprus toursim is on the way down

cyprus is too expensive ,offers crap service by inpolite persons ...and very dated offers ...i am off course refering to larnaca ...

[Greekster91]

Ok i was very curious about Cyprus's energy, Nikitas said solar powered deslaination utilising is going on. Can you guys tell me where your power has come from? Also if Wind generators could be a possible alternative for Cyprus? Even more a under water turbine which operates using the ocean's currents, has your government looked into this?

I look at the USA's debt and we are like 7 trillion!! Cyprus is about 1 Billion in debt (talking in USA dollar). Does the Cypriot government have a plan to get the one billion dollars back?

[Nikitas]

Ocean currents is not applicable as the Mediterranean has a small tidal range, something like 3 feet max.

Most power comes from oil with plans to switch to natural gas for electricity in the near future.

There is widespread use of solar now for water heating, almost every building has them. Plans are afoot to implement the European Union directive that decrees that something like 20 per cent of energy should be from renewables in the next ten years. That would be mostly PV panels and wind turbines in the mountain ranges. Perhaps some agricutlural land might be put into biomass production although the land area is too small to make any significant contribution.

As for the debt, that is not my area of expertise. Maybe our economists here can enlighten us.

[humanist]

Nikitas what do we do with the excess salt dumped back into the sea and what will this mean for fish life and hence food source for the mediteranian and the nations around it? desalenation is not the answer. each home needs to collect is roof water and recycle that for drinking, washing, and other life practices.

[Greekster91]

humanist, i see where you are comming from but does cyprus really get that much rain?

[Nikitas]

The increase in salinity of the returned brine is negligible. You do not totally evaporate all the water that comes through a solar distillator. Although the systems used now are not distillators but reverse osmosis filters using special membranes, the result is the same, the increase in salinity is not an environmental issue.

The use of "dirty" water is already being implemented in Cyprus with special plumbing in multiapartment blocks and is actively promoted by the water authority. The technical name is "grey water use" and it goes mostly to irrigate gardens etc.

[humanist]

Greekster, that is precicely why each houseold needs to conserve its water, the fact that it does not get much rain. there are huge roofs in Cyprus am afraid that would collect a lot of water. megalomania is rife in a small country such as cyprus.

Nikitas, thanks for the information. I was not sugesting that solar powered disal would be more detrimental than current methods just questioning the issue of salinity.

Good to hera that grey water is used in a positive manner, unfortunately I still use the bucket to recycle my grey water.

[Greekster91]

Hey if someone can find i way I'm 100% for it!! Do you guys get "energy star" appliances?