Guest Column: In Portland, Students and the Community “Paint Past Coal” via It's Getting Hot In Here
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Toyola Stoves via Timbuktu Chronicles
An E & Co investment:Toyola manufactures and sells energy efficient cook stoves in urban and rural Ghana. The stoves use standard charcoal but are 40% more efficient than the traditional stoves used in the region. This greatly reduces the amount of charcoal necessary to cook, which also reduces carbon dioxide emissions and saves family’s money. To date, Toyola has provided this cleaner energy product to 35,000 households...See related slideshow and carbon offset...
Earth First! blocks industrial wind project under construction in the Maine North Woods via It's Getting Hot In Here
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Growing Sustainably-Barefoot Power via Timbuktu Chronicles
Jon Gosier on solar company Barefoot Power and its sustainability factors:Barefoot Power tackles the problem of offering low-cost power solution to the poor. Low-cost is key, because there’s nothing sustainable about running around the bush handing out free anything like Johnny Appleseed...the business model of Barefoot is to sell product locally or to use micro-finance options for people who still can’t afford their solutions. The company:“...is now growing at 25-50% per month and this is exhausting our current capital base. In April 2010 we secured US$1 million of investment from the European Commission, ring fenced to build our back end, which essentially is our administration, IT and key staffing requirements. This means that new investment can be wholly channelled to inventory,...
Utah commissions independent clean energy report, hides the findings, crashes my computer via It's Getting Hot In Here
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Solar from Scrap via Timbuktu Chronicles
CNN highlights the work of Solar Light Fabber, Evans Wadongo:In 2004, while attending a Kenyan university for agriculture and technology, Wadongo found his answer. He was fiddling with a dorm experiment involving the timing of LED (light-emitting diode) Christmas lights when it struck him: The environmentally friendly light source could be used to light rural homes."I knew it would have to be sourced by the sun to be useful to people in rural areas," he said, "but [I] had never seen a solar panel small enough for individual homes."Then, while walking home from visiting a friend, Wadongo stumbled upon a broken-off piece of a discarded solar panel. With it, he was able to light a small number of LEDs. His project -- Use Solar, Save Lives -- was born...[continue reading]Related articles by... Improving Biogas Digesters via Timbuktu Chronicles
In Afrigadget:...We believe that biogas from cow dung holds huge promise for rural and urban areas as a cheap source of energy that can be turned into domestic use or even business anywhere in rural Kenya….eg. pasturizing milk, making yoghurt, running fridges, generators, hammer mills for grinding corn, cooking, baking, heating water, running machines… and reducing your carbon footprint.I have recently become the latest guinea pig for Dominic Wanjihias experiments … and it has been quite a learning experienceMore hereRelated articles by ZemantaCow Manure Will Power Data Centers In Coming Years [Renewable Energy] (gizmodo.com)Shenyang to have the most poop power? (jcwinnie.biz)How cow manure could power 1,000-server data center...
Oregon Rallies for a Coal-Free Future at Public Utilities Commission Hearing via It's Getting Hot In Here
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Solar Sisters via Timbuktu Chronicles
Worldchanging on Solar Sisters with a cautionary note:Solar Sisters is addressing the same issues as the impressive Indian Barefoot Solar Engineer program. That program's success depended both on a clear understanding of women's roles as energy managers and on a smart approach to financing. That second part seems to be the one thing missing from the Solar Sisters project. Before Solar Sisters really takes off, I have a feeling that they will take the lessons learned from their early clients' community financing arrangements and build them directly into their business model.More...
Women Solar Engineers via Timbuktu Chronicles
Covered earlier an update video on the Barefoot Women Solar...
Escape3points - Eco Resort via Timbuktu Chronicles
At the eco-village resort Escape3points: ...everything has been handbuilt,designed to fit harmoniously in with the surrounding environment,using appropriate technology including natural and recyclable materials. We use composting toilets and continue to explore different renewable energy resources and alternative methods to keep our place as eco friendly as possible...
Hundreds Stage BP “Citizen’s Arrest” – Demonstrate the Power of the People via It's Getting Hot In Here
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Open Source Washing Machine via Timbuktu Chronicles
A Bricolabs project:The open source washing machine project aims to rethink the way we wash clothes around the world, in accordance with economical, sociological, cultural and environmental aspects. Most of the people in this planet, mostly women, wash clothes by hand in harsh conditions related to poverty, lack of sanitation, water or energy.-websiteIts details could include:a $12 freeduino,which could replace the programmer in any washing machine, because it can manage the keyboard of the washing machine, it can manage the heat and pressure sensors of the machine, and it can manage all the hardware like heater, pumps or valves, and you could program your washing cycles by yourself“. Related articles by ZemantaOpen source washing machine project (makezine.com)Designing Open Source...
Financing Solar Power via Timbuktu Chronicles
Scidev on what works in the renewable energy financing space:The two most promising ones involve making it easier for people to buy the systems and also promote some method of long-term maintenance, she says. People can take out a microfinance loan from a bank or microfinance institute and buy direct. Or a non-governmental organisation (NGO) or social enterprise installs systems in return for payments spread over an agreed period. and what doesnt:"Part of the reason why solar projects have failed in the past is because there is a lack of ownership. Aid can create dependency and doesn't empower people to do things for themselves, and can undermine the skills and capacity that already exist in countries."More herephoto courtesy of Barefoot Solar...
Over 100 Student Body Presidents Urge Congress to Support Energy Education via It's Getting Hot In Here
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WATCH: China building ambitious “Solar Valley City” to advance solar industry via It's Getting Hot In Here
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Otejiri Oghoghori-Electrical Hacker via Timbuktu Chronicles
In 234Next Ben Ezeamalu reports on the work of Otejiri Oghoghori:To ease the inconvenience usually associated with switching off generators and switching over to the national power supply whenever it is restored, Mr. Oghoghorie said he was motivated to invent the device."I invented the changeover due to the unstable power supply, and before I invented it," the 23 year old said. "I realised that most portable generator users do not know when NEPA (the power company) is on and so their generator keeps running until someone comes to tell them to switch it off."According to him, the device, once installed, will automatically switch from generator power (when it is on) and at the same time switch off the generating set. He estimates the speed of changeover to be 0.1 seconds because, according...
Portable Solar Powered Internet Cafe via Timbuktu Chronicles
In Eweek:Computer Aid International has finished building the prototype of a new portable, solar powered cyber café, which will give rural communities in Africa the chance to get online.The portable cyber café is a standard 20 foot shipping container, which has built-in solar panels on the roof. The idea is that it can be shipped to Africa, and dumped at any remote location, and offer a connection to the Internet...[continue...
Quick Hits via Timbuktu Chronicles
Indian 'Govt. to set up incubators in Africa for SME skill development' Emerging vegetable boom takes hold in African sahelA lift for Call Centres as improved communications take holdHouse of Makeda founded by Teni OlafisoyeEarth Spark a quality energy supply provider.Related articles by ZemantaIs Africa is Becoming the New Asia?... MakaaZingira Enterprise via Timbuktu Chronicles
"... MakaaZingira eco-charcoal briquettes are made from fast growing indigenous shrubs which are sustainably harvested, carbonised, mixed with waste cassava and coconut fibre and then compressed. They are eco-friendly, ethically produced and FSC certified, but also burn longer, are easy to light and are clean...they employ more than 40 farmers with another 180 expected to join by 2011. MakaaZingira products will be sold in two large supermarket chains totalling some 36 outlets and generating valuable income..."-Seed Initiative...
Rwanda Biodiesel Express via Timbuktu Chronicles
The BBC reports:The Rwanda 'Biodiesel Express' runs entirely on oil plants, animal fats and even used cooking oil from restaurants..."Using 100% biodiesel reduces carbon monoxide emissions by 48%," says Jean Baptiste Nduwayezu, head of the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IRST)...researchers estimate that 225,000 hectares of oil plants - such as avocado, moringa and jatropha - would be needed to supply the whole of Rwanda with bio-diesel.More herevia Innovation...