The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) has announced that it will be offering new courses in the environmental field in its prospectus for next year.
The MCAST is a success story in itself, turning out hundreds and hundreds of graduates that might have struggled to find employment had they not joined MCAST. The number of courses available on both part-time and full-time basis is impressive, but this latest venture in the area of Green courses is another step in the right direction.
The courses aim to turn out Green engineers and technicians to meet demand which is sure to soar in the near future.
The world as we know it is changing, and changing fast, especially in the Green sector. People are installing solar water heaters, solar panels, photo voltaic cells, water filtration systems, double glazing and a lot more. This is 2010 – what will it be like in 2025? It is safe to say that the youngsters (or mature students) who opt to take these courses will be at the forefront of Green technology in years to come.
It is very plain to see that we are lagging behind in the sector and one of the main reasons is that we simply do not have people who are qualified. In fact, it is not the first time that the government has had to engage the services of expert foreigners in capital projects which are of a Green nature.
We can only dream of what reality will be like by 2025. Maybe we will all be living on a scorched earth – but if we were to look at things more positively, we might see a world which has been freed from mankind’s addiction to fossil fuels.
Maybe we will be generating our own electricity at home, maybe we will be purifying our own water and just maybe, we might be disposing of most of our rubbish apart from non-perishable and hazardous waste. This is all up in the air, but it is clear that at some point, things have to change the world over.
But that change will bring about new challenges, such as demand for technicians and engineers who can solve problems related to the ‘new way of life’ which we all anticipate.
The authorities are correct in trying to educate the general public about alternative energy and it is doing the right thing in targeting our children, rather than adults. But so much more needs to be done. Malta barely has any tangible alternative electricity generation on a mass scale. For years we heard about the plan to turn gas into power from the landfill – it is still not functioning and we have not heard anything else about it – or anything else for that matter.
In one sense, the government is being rather flat in concentrating on wind and solar energy. There are many other fledgling technologies out there which are likely to become mainstream in the coming years. One of which is electricity generation by algae.
Malta really does need to move and move fast. We have seen power cut after power cut this year and it is only likely to get worse. Demand is increasing – international oil prices are also increasing, as is the cost to generate power and of course on our barren little island; water.
However, bearing all this in mind, the decision to start these courses is a good one and we will reap the rewards in the future – but, only if we make a serious shift towards concentrating more on generating green energy.