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Dan Herman
Joined: Jun 15, 2005
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If solar power is plan
November 11, 2005 - 10:16 AM
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In many countries entire forests are being wiped out by the need for charcoal and firewood for heating and cooking. The impacts of this consumption include deforestation, potential flooding and landslide hazards, as well as impacts on air quality.
A solution to this problem is the introduction of solar powered energy sources for heating, cooking, lighting. The sun is free, the technology however is not.
How can youths play a role in bringing this solution to people who need it? What type of dialogue needs to be started and with whom?
Any thoughts?
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RAFT1
Joined: Apr 5, 2005
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If solar power is plan
November 11, 2005 - 07:59 AM
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Dan I do agree with you solar panel technology is a great renewable energy source although it is rather expensive! Its a great plan "A" but I purpose another source or renewable energy that probably you or most other people know nothing about its a plant called Jatropha Curcas or plan "B". I also could give you Plan "C" "D" and "E"! But before I give you the A,B,C's of renewable energy let me just explain Plan "B". This desert adapt plant originally from Central America is proving to be a major business in parts of India, Nicaragua, and Africa. The 3-4 meter shrub is desert adapt, lives for 50 yrs, can be harvested up to three times a year, grows well in poor soils, only needs 200mm of rain per year and from its fruit or total nut weight you can extract about 31%-37% oil. This oil can produce bio diesel which burns 10 times cleaner than Petro diesel and doesnt cause acid rain or contribute to global warming! Why doesnt it contribute to global warming? The answer is simple as Jatropha Curcas is growing it absorbs 3 times as much Co2 as when it is burnt for combustion! Jatropha curcas creates a carbon deficit and in a roundabout way acts as a scrub brush with our atmosphere. Under the Kyoto Protocol there are huge benefits for developing countries to take advantage of, not only do these fields of energy produce renewable energy but at the same time act as a Co2 sinks! What does this all mean? Well the short answer to that is that there will be a surplus of carbon points awarded to these developing nations under the CDM guide lines within the Kyoto Protocol Agreement. These accredit carbon points are then bought by the developed nations which are part of the 144 country ratified pact. As developed industrial nations cant produce a surplus of carbon points because of too much industrialized activity and the burning and dependency of fossil fuels they must therefore buy the accredited carbon points from developing nations in the form of cash or technology to make a balance!! As well if these developing nations use renewable energies to process their goods they then qualify to trade fairly and without many of the tariffs that currently hamper their best efforts!! Some uses for Jatropha Curcas are Bio Diesel, Varnishes, Candles, Soap, Pest control, the bark of Jatropha curcas yields a dark blue dye which is used for colouring cloth, fishing nets and lines, the laxtex juices form the plant are a great source for medication for skin diseases. As well the seed cake that is the by product from crushing the seeds is rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium and can be used as organic natural fertilizer! The oils make a great source of cooking fuel preventing the destruction of forest and a reduction of the respiratory diseases that are involved with burning wood for cooking! The experience in India and elsewhere, a plant density of 2,500 per hectare (spacing of 2 X 2 meters) has been found to be optimal. It can meet a number of objectives such as meeting domestic needs of energy services including cooking and lighting as an additional source of household income and employment through markets for fuel, fertilizer, animal feed medicine, and industrial raw material for soap, cosmetics, etc. in creating environmental benefits, protection of crops or pasture lands, or as a hedge for erosion control, as well as a windbreak and a source of organic manure. Like I said before From soil to oil it seems much to nuts but it's really all about the nuts! Got any? Check out www.projectraft.org for the abc's of renewable energy sources if you dare!
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Vandana
Joined: Mar 15, 2002
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Addingt o the Subject of Global Warming
January 16, 2006 - 12:49 PM
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Dear mnopg,
I am working on the subject of increase the average life span of Human being that is around 66 according to certain readers. Lately I have found out that in the city of Toronto there is a machine installed to provide the cooling to the atmosphere of the city, which also means that the balance of nature can be achieved by breaking carbon dioxide
there by giving pure oxygen where dust and other gases in small quantity can be managed. It will also increase the health conditions of every human life thus giving space to increase the life span of every human being.
Thank You,
With Regards,
Vandana Khanna
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Nguyen Thi Kim Anh
Joined: Dec 10, 2005
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not only solar is the plan
February 3, 2006 - 08:26 AM
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hi Dan (can i call you Dan ) & Raft, during the time i made my speech in class about the environment issues i found out that solar power is not the only solution. Although the sun can supply us a clear n infinite energy, what happen if there's no sunlight? In addition, the fact that the body of sunlight on the earth is decreasing caused by the green effect. there're many other solutions wind energy, biomass energy for examples, scientists are trying to find the best solutions for the global problem. Most of panels have short longity, i mean the being -used panels have bad quality,and a large amount of panels are throwed away every year, of course this also another disadvantages of panels. In The United States, Netherlands and also your country-Canada are using windmills, aren't you? However there's still a problem for this choice that's it causes air pollution. You probably think it's impossible but it's the truth( you can check this information at many websites about clear energy). Of course you mean using clear n cheap energy resources when you said solar power, i can understand that. Also, i agree with the opinions of some mates that recycling n defencing deforeststation are the two other neccessary activities. It's such a silly idea but i think nuclear energy can be a best solution for the energy issue. According to my best knowledge, nuclear power exhaust no CO2 , on the contrary, it supplies 100%of the amount of energy we use. Iran is following this way, according to what they're saying. I know nuclear is a fatal resource, i mean it's a two-bladers knife but we must think the advantage it can bring to ( use for the peaceful purpose ). Furthermore, although many scientists have declared that they found the solution for the energy problem but the price is still high and nobody ensures the truth inside, is the new energy really clean or after a while the scientist will say that they made a mistake and cannot turn back? Overall, i think there's still a long way untill we can find a complete answer. I think why don't we find a solution to prevent the bad effects of the increasing industries in the world especially in the US,JP...why we always think original ways to solve the problem, i mean everything needs time, enthusiastism and the creativity.
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Anu maheshwari
Joined: Jun 14, 2005
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Innovative Solutions which need Attention and Encouragement!
February 23, 2006 - 01:01 AM
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Read this article;
Necessity is the mother of innovation:
As these improvised village technologies demonstrate
by
DEEPAK SHOURIE
In terms of spirit, creativity and the innate ability to devise effective solutions for day-to-day problems, India’s rural and small-town innovators are second to none. Our village visionaries are powering a grassroots revolution that could go a long way to alter the face of rural India. With an array of new ideas for products, improvised technologies and ground breaking innovations, these natural born scientists are having a lasting impact on the quality of life in India’s villages and small towns.
A series of short films, to be telecast as part of the Discovery series, ‘Beyond Tomorrow’, showcases nearly a score of remarkable need-driven products and functional everyday technologies that grassroots innovators have developed in different parts of India. Necessity has clearly been the mother of invention. Take the amphibious bicycle developed by Mohammad Saidullah of Motihari, Bihar. It is retrofitted to negotiate rivers, ponds and other water bodies. Imagine how important Saidullah’s cycle will be in times of floods
Such seemingly quick-fix and invariably effective improvisations have rarely got the recognition they deserve. These grassroots innovators start with an inherent advantage. Since they live and work among the people, and not in rarefied research labs, they know the problems and needs of the community better than anyone else. Their inventions reflect just that. Remya Jose of Mallapuram, Kerala, has, for instance, fulfilled a basic household requirement by inventing a pedal-operated washing machine that provides a “tumble wash” without consuming a single unit of electricity. This is one innovation that deserves to make it to the market. As does Gujarat’s Mansukh Prajapati’s ‘Miticool — the village fridge’. Made of special clay, this is a refrigerator with three chambers, one of them designed to deliver cool water at any time of day or night. Like Remya’s washing machine, Miticool needs no electricity. In rural areas where power supply is erratic, if not non-existent, a clay fridge is a godsend.
Much the same could be said about the wind-powered mobile phone charger that Sathyanarain of Hyderabad has developed. Its commercial potential is beyond doubt. It’s a very small hand-held windmill that operates when a draft of wind is generated either artificially or by the crosscurrents that blow through a moving vehicle. Sathyanarain’s invention can charge mobile phones, laptops and other battery-operated appliances that require low amperages. It has the makings of a major success story for it can ensure that you will never again be caught in the middle of nowhere with your mobile battery dying on you!
The range and nature of these grassroots innovations are truly astounding. An UV ray-protected moga silk umbrella from Assam, a manual milking machine from Karnataka, a scooter for the physically challenged from Gujarat and a remote firecracker bursting device from Haryana, are just a few of the other grassroots inventions that are set to go places in the years ahead.
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=88405
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Sharon New Zealand
Joined: Mar 23, 2006
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Cheap alternative solar power systems
March 23, 2006 - 05:59 AM
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We must never allow expense in the moment to deter us from changing the habits of the past for better options to preserve our future.
If you switch from electric to solar and wind tech, your electric bill ceases to exist and you pay instead the repayments on your newly installed solar and wind gear which is free to run. So there is no real extra cost from the day yu install it, just a transfer of payments.
I run black alkathene hose along and around an outside wall of my house and this heats water for my bath and washing up on fine days. If this hose is threaded through plastic coke and other lemonade bottles, they act as a greenhouse and keep the water hot for longer periods. These can be layed on your roof or hung around your fencelines.
Passive solar like concrete or slab placed inside your home as a floor and through the wall as a deck and rocks as a feature absorb heat during the day and let it out into your room at night.
If you intend building a home. Employ an architect who incorporates passive solar tech in his/her designs.
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Vandana
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global warming
April 19, 2006 - 03:31 AM
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Dan,
I think every thing is important. Trees are but humans are too. Saving enviornment is important but there are different methods to remove those problems may be mechanically. I think the plant installed outside Toronto city is the perfect solution to this problem. Tree grow and get cut and new ones are planted again but you are looking for artificial solution cause with increase population and increasing need and inbalance in every economy to survive you cannot go through the efforts of planting tree and wait for another ten to fifteen years for finding solutions. So wake up for finding immediate solutions to the problems which are similar to giving medicine to a sick person. In Toronto city they have installed a big plant which breaks carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen and carbonates are recycled. Temperature of atmosphere is also kept in balance. If you have any clarifications to make go to Canada and see and enquire for yourself.
Vandana
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Connor Scanlon
Joined: May 8, 2006
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Re: If solar power is plan
May 17, 2006 - 10:01 AM
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I think that we should gradually start to rely on solar energy because it still is'nt efficient enough so I believe that instead of spending Billions of dollars on wars we should put some of that maney in solar energy reaserch. Stay gold
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namesteshanti
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Re: If solar power is plan
May 19, 2006 - 12:52 PM
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Global warming is a big problem!!!! How long are we going to realize our folly? I know that everyone knows we are wrong, but just don't want to admit it! It is just too easy to not care!!! How obvious does it have to get that we are killing the earth ?! She is crying, all she can do is sit and watch while we kill her children, and destroy her bountiful surface. When will we stop this madness, admit our mistakes and go back to living in hormony withthe earth? i fear the answer is never, unless by some miracle, but I fear there may not be one big enough to make billions of people realize their mistakes. I fear that by the time we understand we are in danger, it will be more than too late.
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Liang Yao
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Re: If solar power is plan
August 9, 2006 - 09:11 PM
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Solar power is a great resource but i dont think that solar panels are the soulution. In nations where forests are being cut for heating and cooking needs, a solar cooker can often solve the problem. Solar cookers are just basically aluminum foil glued onto carboard boxes and positioned at the sun to cook food. These cookers are not very well known because of thier lesser efficency but there is consistantly new advances in this feild. Already, projects in kenya and nepal have improved the lives of the people. Not only do solar cookers cook food but they also pasturize water which leads to better health. They are cheaper than carcoal which means the people will be able to afford healthcare and food more often. They also reduce smoke emittions which helps the enviroment and also the person cooking the food. if you would like to learn more, please go to http://www.solarcooking.org/
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Ian
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Re: If solar power is plan
January 29, 2011 - 04:03 PM
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In the UK, it’s possible to get free solar power. A company is fitting free solar panel systems for homeowners worth over £12,000, slashing leccy bills by £120-ish a year.
Alternatively, if you shell out £12k for your own system, it's predicted you can earn £1,000s profit from a govt. scheme that pays for all the energy you produce. There are of course, pros and cons to either scheme.
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Steve Patriarco
Joined: Mar 7, 2011
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Re: If solar power is plan
March 14, 2011 - 11:06 AM
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Here is a global map of the surface area required to power the world with zero carbon emissions and solar power alone.
It's quite interesting - give it a look!
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The time to act is NOW. For the orangutans, for the global climate, and for the rural people that have depended on these forests for generations. Please, help me help them by watching this very brief video, and thank you!
This post was edited on: 2011-03-14 at 01:30 PM by: Steve Patriarco
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