Not all 6 billion of us use fossil fuels. The last one or two billion, in energy poverty; don’t yet have any electricity at all. This starting point of zero now presents humanity with a very rare opportunity for a do-over.
Most of the rise in CO2 in the next century will actually come, not from us in the developed world, but from those in developing nations being added to the grid. If fossil fuels get to these new electricity users before renewable energy does, it would be a shame. But, by not even starting down the wrong fossil-fueled road that Western civilization first traveled – the developing world could make a real contribution to climate change. By not making the same mistake, we all have a once in a millennium opportunity to begin a better way to power human civilization.
That’s where SELF, or the Solar Electric Light Fund comes in. The tiny NGO has worked on decentralized rural electrification for over 18 years; ending energy poverty one village at a time, by bringing clean solar power to the quarter of the world that has no electricity.
Just one example is this Bunin project, where SELF launched a pilot program three years ago. They installed an innovative solar-powered drip irrigation system to replace an expensive and dirty diesel generator that had been used to pump water. Once you factor in the lack of diesel fuel costs; the 2 kilowatt solar electricity system they have set up is much cheaper; with a payback within two years.
Now, while the sun beats down for free, all year round; pumping the water for the drip irrigation, the farmers are not just able to grow in the dry season, but can also produce extra fruits and vegetables to sell for cash in nearby markets.
Helping a SELF project would make a great Christmas gift. Not just for your family and friends now, but also for our whole human family of the future. Potentially; that could be billions of us.
Source: SELF
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About Susan Kraemer
Dear Susan Kraemer, 14th Dec. 2009
Your writeups are interesting and thought provoking. Please go through my suggestion of harvesting sunlight direct.
Sub : Save Electricity by harnessing Sunlight with roof top dish mirrors for lighting rooms
Though our planet is flooded with vast sunlight (many countries) yet we are wasting huge quantities of electricity to light our homes, offices and commercial establishments.
The technology of capturing sunlight and taking into interior of rooms is well known. A dish antenna fixed on roof top can collect concentrated beams of sunlight, bundles of plastic fibers can take this light beam into interiors.
Some hurdles : (1) The harmful UV and Infra Red rays can be eliminated by reflecting sun beam from dish to another smaller auxiliary dish from where the sun beam is collected and transmitted, (2) GPS Soft ware for tracking the dish towards sun is also known, (3) Automatic regulation of conventional electrical illumination depending on the intensity of sunlight is also known.
If this abundant sunlight is efficiently utilized at an affordable cost, we can save considerable amounts of electricity there by saving our fossil fuels like coal, reduce Green House Gas emissions and save our environment.
What we need :
(1) A suitable plastic dish mirror antenna of about 1.5 meters diameter constantly tracking towards sun. The tracking can be achieved by suitable pre programmed mechanical device, optical sensors or software program connected to GPS system
(2) As Infra red and Ultra Violet rays are harmful, they can be filtered at the dish itself. Instead of utilizing the direct rays from the dish they can be reflected on to a smaller inverted plastic auxiliary mirror dish and the energy tapped from the auxiliary dish.
(3) Bundles of flexible white transparent plastic fibers to collect the concentrated light from auxiliary dish to interiors rooms.
(4) An automatic regulating mechanism in the rooms to increase or decrease the level of conventional light depending on the intensity of arriving sunlight and also to switch off the sunlight when not desirable.
(5) All this at an acceptable cost.
My related website : http://www.watermanagementforall.com
Thanking you,
P.Nukaiah Chetty
Retired Scientist of ONGC
9-19-33, Sunkaravari Street, ANAKAPALLE-530 001, A.P
Ph: 08924-222422, 222622, email : pnchetty@gmail.com
I think you should work on making this invention and stay in touch. I love the idea of sun harvesting, even through the sides of sky skrapers: funneling sunlight into the interiors of buildings between each floor.
But I was disappointed with the light quality of the only sun tube I’ve seen and really feel it is a wide open field for invention.