This week, Early Engineers enjoyed using the power of solar energy to fuel miniature bulldozer builds. While we had fun using the sun's power to move our small vehicles, solar energy is making a big impact on larger building projects around the world.
This airport in southern India is the first in the world to run exclusively on solar power! Cochin's airport has been outfitted with tens of thousands of solar panels on every roof and structure, and generates over 50,000 kilowatts of power on a daily basis. This airport, India's seventh largest, is now completely independent from the electric grid. The project's nine million dollar cost should be be covered by total electricity savings in less than five years, and officials estimate that more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon emissions will be eliminated in the coming 25 years as result of the project.
Milestones like these remind us of what's possible with a little imagination and engineering ingenuity. We can't wait to see how our Early Engineers will put their knowledge to use building and designing the tech world of the future!