Our crew was quite impressed with energy efforts in Slovenia.

It’s now time to park our bikes and take off our helmets as our trip comes to a close.

But before I fully return to reality, I’d like to reflect one last time on our experience.

Our tour provided us a great opportunity to learn how one small country is working to reduce its consumption of energy, develop renewable energy and address climate change in Europe. After its European Union acceptance in 2004, Slovenia began developing a plan to reduce its carbon emissions. From all we witnessed on the tour, it’s clear that Slovenians are taking some serious positive steps toward their goal.

As I noted in earlier posts, Slovenians are focused on developing a solar power industry. And as we pedaled through the country’s streets , we saw a couple hydro power plants and solar collectors on many homes, businesses and public buildings.

The market for solar photovoltaic systems is increasing as the cost of installation goes down. In an effort to stimulate growth, Slovenia has set aside 70 million Euros for a feed-in tariff to help consumers pay for these systems. The country has a goal of establishing 300 megawatts of solar power by 2020.

Iowa clearly needs to pursue this type of technology.  We need to develop state policy to support this growing industry, addressing consumer demand, workforce skill development and financing incentives.

The tour has also given us an opportunity to share Iowa’s own efforts in developing energy efficiency. We covered more than 300 kilometers of bicycle riding through spectacular farm-dotted countryside. We faced a few challenges, but coasted for the most part.

I would like to thank all my colleagues that participated in the trip including our David Osterberg – the tour leader, John Moreland and Ed Woolsey. And I would especially like to thank CGRER for supporting my time in Slovenia and Jim Malewitz, CGRER’s journalism intern for editing and making the blog interesting and readable!

And finally, a special thank you to Professor Mladen Franko from the University of Nova Gorica for being such a great host and taking care of us in Slovenia. He did a great job of planning our route and our visits.  We are extremely grateful for his friendship and assistance.

There, we were met by Gregor Koron, an electrical supervisor at the plant for our tour. We learned that this two year old facility generates 185 megawatts of power on the Soca River.

During the evening hours, when power demands are low, the plant pumps water up to the top of the mountain in to what looks like a huge swimming pool.  And as demand for power increases during the day, water is send back down the mountain through an underground tube to the turbine below.

It takes five hours of pumping water out of the river to fill the reservoir. When power is needed, the water flows back down to the river and can generate another 14 hours worth of energy.

We had an extensive tour and went up to the water storage site high above the plant.

We then rode down the mountain to Nova Gorica and a real time Internet session with students back in Iowa. On the day we rode a total of 55 kilometers.

We concluded the day with a picnic at the University with some of the students and people that rode during the week with us. It was a great way to end a wonderful week in Slovenia.

A key and convenient discovery our group has made: bicycles reign as king in the daily Slovene commute.

One major difference between Slovenia and Iowa is the number of people, young and old, using bikes as primary modes of transportation.  Over the course of a normal day, our group has seen hundreds of people pedaling through their daily grind.

One reason for this is Slovenia’s overall support of bicycling as a form of transportation. As these photos indicate, facilities here are well designed to direct bikers to their proper place in the transportation infrastructure.  This commitment to the upkeep of facilities – pavement, signage, signal lights and bike racks – makes it possible for Slovenes to safely commute to work and leisure activities by bicycle.

Bikes' emissions? Healthiness, endorphins, and just a bit of perspiration.

Here, we also observe that car drivers yield at every  point of potential conflict with bikes. Each time our group has crossed roads, we have the right-of-way without exception. Its pretty difficult to imagine this happening in Iowa.

Another bike trail - safe, clearly marked and easy to navigate.

This pro-bike setup in Slovenia is part of its national carbon reduction strategy – a wise choice. Not only does the plan make sense form an energy and carbon standpoint, but it also helps Slovenes can get and stay in better physical shape.

Slovenia is a place where people want to live, and in the long run its planning will make for enormous savings in health care costs.

We will be paying a large and long-lasting bill in our Iowa and the U.S. if we keep paying little heed to our citizens’ health.

But this is not to say that we haven’t made progress in Iowa. The addition of bike lanes on Ingersol Avenue in Des Moines is an excellent recent example for some success. But our municipal leaders and planners need to engage more more aggressively on these matters.  And communities in Slovenia and elsewhere in Europe  exemplify how it works!

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As always, you can hear even more news from the tour on David Osterberg’s blog for the Des Moines Register.

A distant view of the solar array at Naklo Secondary School Biotechnical Center

I woke up to another sunny day and decided to take another ride around Lake Bled with John – it’s hard to think of a better way to start the day. Back at the hostel, I had a light breakfast of coffee, a cheese sandwich and corn flakes.  And after pumping up our tires and slapping on some sun screen, we hit the road to Strahiji, home of Naklo Secondary School Biotechnical Center.

We rode about 25 km along some great roads and trails, some gravel and dirt. We had a couple of steep climbs, but as the week as progressed, those have become easier!

We were greeted at the center by Monica Rant, the school’s vice principal, along with several of her colleagues and students. The two-year-old, 700 -student school attracts high school age students with its curriculum that focuses on nature, sustainable development and preparing students for work.  Programs include horticulture, agriculture, nature conservation, food-processing and housekeeping, and its students are completely engaged in no carbon education efforts.

Naklo even has its own solar collectors. It has several buildings

A display at the school shows how the solar array works.

outfitted with collectors that power the school. In the building, a monitor displays power usage in real time at the school – just another example of how Slovenia is moving ahead on solar power.

The naturally lit buildings lacked air conditioning, yet still stayed cool on this 80 degree plus day. The teachers were enthused and so were the students! Each spoke English and are learning at least one other language.

I am not sure if a similar high school experience exists in Iowa, but it should.

On the road to Skofja Loka

After our visit, we headed 25km to Skofja Loka. Our ride took us through some agricultural areas where potatoes, wheat, oats, and corn thrived in village gardens.

Tonight we will head to the town square for dinner.

Tomorrow we will be be our most challenging bike trip as we will pass along the edge of the Julian Alps to Most na Soci. We will take the road from Zelezniki – Podbrdo, as we will battle up less elevation, 830 m, on a less crowded pass than if we were to take the main road.

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As always, you can hear even more news from the tour on David Osterberg’s blog for the Des Moines Register.

Here, we gathered with Jernej Stritih, director of Slovenia's office for climate change.

Our Tuesday was dominated by meetings and some more riding.

We began the day packing for our exit from Ljubljana. After breakfast at the youth hostel’s outdoor café we pedaled to the Slovenian Office of Climate Change. There we met with the office director Jernej Stritih.

Interestingly, Stritih told us he had visited Iowa in the early 1990’s. There, he met with Stanely Consultants of Muscatine to discuss an infrastructure project that he was involved with in Slovenia. This was back when he worked in the private sector.

The Office of Climate Change was just recently established; its birth was a response to a strong push by environmental groups during last year’s elections and in the run up to Copenhagen. As a result, Slovenia has since implemented a slew of activities to address climate change, including the construction of a new energy policy.

The main focus of Mr. Stritih’s work is to develop a national low carbon strategy for 2050 – an 80 percent reduction in emissions from 1990 levels.

At the meeting, we heard again about how Slovenia’s transportation sector is a growing source of emissions as more of its people buy cars and drive more. And several newly constructed major highways across the country have contributed to this increase. Mr. Stritih said Slovenia needs to invest more in trains and other forms of public transit.

We also discussed Slovenia’s work to encourage the use of solar energy. Last year, there were 200 solar-related projects approved in the country. Leading the push, is Bisol Company, a fast-growing  solar panel manufacturer.

There are also efforts underway by private sector companies to rent the roof tops of schools for solar energy production.

The price of solar panels has been dropping here by a whopping 9 percent each year. And in an estimated five years, solar is expected to be competitive with other sources of energy.

Assisting the development of solar is a feed-in tariff; a state subsidy to people and companies that install solar projects.

Another low carbon strategy discussed in Slovenia is the greater use of wood products in construction and wood wastes to power and heat communities. About 60 percent of the Slovenian landscape is wooded, and with this abundance of the material, Slovenians believe they can sustainably reduce their carbon emissions by creating small thermal cogeneration systems for small communities. Their forests currently provide a carbon sink of about 5 mega tons per year, equal to about 15 million euro credits.

Overall, Mr. Stritih was optimistic about his work and Slovenia’s prospects for progress.

Our next meeting of the day was with Matej Andolsek, deputy head of the Global Challenges Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Masha Shvab.

There, we discussed their interest in making environmental issues a bigger part of Slovenia’s international agenda. They are working to address sustainable water management and renewable energy and to promote the sciences in all of its schools.

Another group shot, this time with Matej Andolsek, deputy head of the Global Challenges Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

After the meeting, we rode our bikes about 30 km along beautiful trails and back roads out of Ljubjana to the HPP Hydro Power Plant at the confluence of the Sara and Sora Rivers in Medvode.  We were led by our host Professor Mladen Franko, who has done an outstanding job of mapping out our routes and taking excellent overall care of us.

At Medvode we toured the Hydro Power Plant and learned about this major source of renewable energy for the country. There are five hydro power plants operating in Slovenia, which provide about one-third of the country’s electricity.

The facilities are also using roof tops for solar collectors. There, we looked at a real time display that showed how much power each collector produced. It was quite impressive.

After our tour, we jumped back on our bikes and headed 35 km to Bled for our overnight. It was another perfect day for riding. We rode through the Julian Alps on a route marked by farms growing potatoes and hay. Along the way, we also passed through several small villages, accented by vegetable and flower gardens.

Our ride concluded with a very steep climb up to our overnight accommodations at the youth hostel.

After a short break we rode down to Lake Bled for a pre-dinner visit. The lake was wonderfully clean and blue.

Today we’re off to Skofja Loka!

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As always, you can hear even more news from the tour on David Osterberg’s blog for the Des Moines Register.

Iowa relies primarily on wind power for its renewable energy production while Slovenians get much of their power from hydrogen. And while Iowans get 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources to Slovenia's 15 percent, contrary to our European counterpart, we have no stated long term goal to improve.

John and I started the day with an early morning walk around Ljubljana‘s central downtown district. As shops began to open, more and more people were riding by on bikes, heading in to start the week. We perched ourselves at an outdoor café for a cup of coffee and a croissant.

Exchanging knowledge, progress reports

Our first appointment today was at 9:00 am at the Jozef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana. There we met with Stane Merse, central head of the institute, and Ales Podgornil, project manager, to discuss their work in the creation of a national Action Plan for Renewable Energy, which aims to achieve 25 percent renewable energy by 2025. Right now, Slovenia gets about 15 percent of its energy from renewable resources,  most of it from hydro plants.

By comparison, about 20 percent of Iowa’s energy comes from renewable sources, most of it from wind. Although this may seem more impressive than the Slovenian portfolio, unlike our European counterpart, we have no stated goal for improvement.

Because it lacks the wind capacity of Iowa, Slovenia hasn’t developed any real wind energy farms. The country has also seen significant public opposition from bird protection organizations and those concerned about the visual impact wind mills would have on its scenic beauty.

One of the main components of Slovenia’s plan is to make buildings more energy efficient, with the belief that they can achieve a 30 to 50 percent reduction in building heating costs though such changes.

Slovenia has also set a new fee on consumer utility bills that raises money to help homeowners and business owners invest in energy saving improvements.

In the area of solar energy, Slovenia has about 10 megawatts of solar power – a very small amount. But the market for solar photovoltaic systems is increasing as the cost of installation goes down. In an effort to stimulate solar growth, Slovenia has set aside 70 million euros for a feed-in tariff to help consumers pay for investments they are making in these systems. And by 2020, the country aims to reach 300 megawatts of solar power.

Slovenia is also planning another large nuclear power plant for 2025.

At the Institute, we also learned about some of the impacts of climate change in Slovenia. Like we’ve seen in Iowa, Slovenians have been experiencing violent weather. They’ve seen significant flooding and even a tornado and instances of 100 plus mile winds – phenomena never seen there before. And another first time instance: the bark beetle is attacking pine forests in Slovenia.

Lunch at the market!

After scavenging on a lunch of fresh strawberries, raspberries, cherries, carrots, bread and swiss cheese at the outdoor market, we headed over to our scheduled appointment at the Okoljski Center. There we met with Andrea Palatinus from Eco Vitae, one of several strong environmental protection non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in Slovenia.

Founded in 2003 by a group of young ecologists, the group is housed with five other important environmental groups that work on key environmental issues.

We spent about two hours visiting with staff and checking out their offices inside a 150 year old house in the central part of downtown. We then met with representatives from CIPRA, Focus, Institute for Sustainable Development,  Solenski E-Forum and Umanotero.

Today’s weather was sunny and mid 80’s – another perfect day!

We will spend the evening visiting the Ljubljanski Grad (Ljubljana castle), grabbing dinner and then rocking out at the open air Deep Purple concert!

We leave for Bled tomorrow after meetings with the Office of Climate Change and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and we expect to bike about 70 kilometers through some more beautiful countryside.
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You can hear even more news from the tour on David Osterberg’s blog for the Des Moines Register.

At about 9 am, we left Postojna. After yesterday’s tough 8 km climb, we coasted down an 8 km slope today. On yet another sunny day, it was smooth sailing for our crew.

Although the traffic was light overall,  the motorcycles were still out in force. On our old highway route, we breezed past mountain switchbacks and beautiful birch and pine trees. And as we passed through the small villages we were greeted by bike lanes and friendly Slovenes.

At about 1 pm, we arrived in Ljubljana, the nation’s capitol and largest city. We found bike lanes at the edge of town and followed them to our downtown youth hostel.

Ljubljana and its suburbs have about 350,000 people. It is an interesting cosmopolitan town.

Tomorrow we will visit the premier research institution in Slovenia, Jozef Stefan Institute, for an academic exchange on energy technologies.

In the meantime, you can hear even more news from the tour on David Osterberg’s blog for the Des Moines Register.

And we're off!

What a great way to kick off the tour! In perfect weather, sunny and in 70s to low 80s, we met up with a number of tour riders at the University of Nova Gorica (UNG) and were greeted by Mirko Brulc, mayor of Nova Gorica.

And soon we were off. We pedaled down a busy two lane road with speeding cars and motorcycles, but our group of fourteen remained unfazed.

Our first stop was the UNG School of Viticulture and Oenology in Ajdovscina, where we met Gvido Bratina – professor and vice president of research at the university – along with several other professors and graduate students.

A professor at UNG shows off some of his work.

The UNG campus is notable for its strong research in organic semiconductors for photovoltaic, or solar cells -  and to materials for hydrogen technologies. We toured the labs and learned about this work, and the efforts on campus to sustain a skilled workforce in viticulture – the study, production and science of grapes. Wine making is a major economic strength of this region of Slovenia.

Next, the tour passed the headquarters of the aircraft manufacturing Pipistrel Company an aircraft manufacturer.  The company has a massive rooftop solar array, one of the county’s largest, that generates a large portion of the company’s electrical power.

Still in Ajdovscina, we paused for lunch before jumping back on the road for the 400 foot climb on the 7 km mountain pass to Postojna. As the sun beat down, we replenished our energy using some very basic hydrogen technology – we guzzled lots of water.

After arriving in Postojna we wearily grabbed much grabbed much needed showers at our hotel and had dinner at a local pizzeria. And by 10 pm, our beds beckoned and we took heed, bringing an end to an action-packed day.

And we ride...

We are really pleased to have these brand new mountain bikes to ride, provided by Slovenia's Cult Bike Company.

An aerial view of Nova Gorica -- Arhiv Občina Nova Gorica

After a seemingly endless flight bounced us from Des Moines to Detroit, to Rome and Trieste, Italy, John Moreland, Ed Woolsey and I arrived in Nova Gorica, Slovenia on Friday. At the airport David Osterberg, the organizer of the tour, gave us a warm welcome.

We spent the afternoon getting ready for our first long ride. We took our new bikes for a spin and met Mladen, our Slovenian host. And after watching Slovenia take it to New Zealand in a soccer match, we retired quite early, exhausted from jet lag and a full day’s worth of activities.

Today we were all up early, fiddling with our bikes in preparation for the ride. It is a beautiful and sunny here – it seems that Nova Gorica is about a week of two ahead of us in summer weather.

We will soon kick-off on the Italian/Slovenian border with an exchange between the tour participants and University students and faculty. Presentations will include a summary of renewable energy in Iowa, policy responses to climate change and efforts by Slovenians to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy. We will ride with the Slovenians on the first leg of the tour, 20 km to Ajdovscina.