Union Fenosa

Out and about tonight, I came across a 4-sim island called Union Fenosa (1 - 4). While it is not the most exciting find in the world, it does have one intriguing aspect - which I shall come onto anon. First though, let's find out a little about the owners...

Union Fenosa is a Spanish utilities company, headquartered in Madrid but now with a presence in 13 countries, supplying gas and electricity to some 8.7 million customers. It employs around 12,000 staff. They are currently executing their BIGGER Plan, targeting a net profit of 1.2billion Euros and a share price of 4 Euros by 2011 - in effect, doubling the current figures.

The Second Life island is not the normal corporate showcase. Indeed, on arrival it is hard to find any indication of the company or its business. In fact, you are most likely to pitch up in the Virtual Forest, which is the dominant motif here. Actually there are 3 forests - evergreen, deciduous and tropical. Rivers separate the forests, and at their confluence there is an island with a small wooden structure that houses the company office. A YouTube video provides the context - it seems that, in return for your participation in a short questionnaire about energy efficiency, the company donated a Euro towards offsetting climate change, and planted a tree in this virtual forest. The tree would have your name on it. And that nicely explains the fact that all of the trees, and there are many, have floating text identifying on whose behalf they have been created.

There's a decent machinima here, or you can make do with my piccies: