vassilis kalavrouziotis only has to go and inspect them once a year. - “in that way, we can minimize to live more than about 25 years. ” hundreds of islanders, and up to 40 thousand seasonal visitors who flow onto the island, are supplied with renewable energy in this way. tourism is tilos' main source of income. before the homespun green energy revolution, there were constant difficulties, says tavern owner michalis kourakis. - “it used to be quite tough. the power often went out for hours at a time. it caused problems for our appliances, especially our fridges, and for the food. the financial damage was quite high. now things are a lot better. ” the problem back then stemmed from the diesel power plant on the island of kos, 50 kilometers north. it generates electricity, not always reliably, but with a lot of pollutants. - “look at that. the plant looks terrible. and people are probably still swimming right next to it. ” to change that, maria and her team set to work on the multi-million euro eco-project, financed with eu funds. the paperwork with brussels now fills many binders. bu