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The Boston Area Solar Energy Association's Networking Newsletter is updated on an as-needed basis. Its purpose is one of connecting, supporting, and affirming energy activities within the greater Boston area, and sharing both successes and failures in our common work of promoting the use of renewable resources in the urban environment.
To submit articles, calendar events, or advertisements write:
BASEA Networking Newsletter
PO Box 44-1017
West Somerville, MA 02144
617-49-SOLAR (617-497-6527)
newsletter@basea.org
During the summer, the Board of Directors has been discussing the development of a Strategic Plan and Statement of Vision for our Association. A Planning Committee was established earlier in the year. It has met twice and as a result has established a working list of possible BASEA goals for the coming years. The committee hopes that, as a result of their work, BASEA will revitalize with a vision for its work which attracts other interested people.
The planning process is a difficult one because it requires not only a time committment of its participants but adherence to a specific process. Depending upon personal style, planning may be a difficult endeavour! As we struggle with the questions of who we are, what our strengths and weakness are, and where we want to go, we also wrestle with many questions and challenges. Although this is difficult, we can discover that in the heart of the struggle lives our strength!
We want to acknowledge our Planning Committee leader Paul Lyons, BASEA President Henry K. Vandermark, and all of our participants and friends. We wish them all the best as they continue this fine work!
Bill Moore
Bill Moore is the publisher of Macware ( http://macware.com ) and head of Digital Revolution. He has been internationally published in Discover, Popular Science and Air &Space/Smithsonian.
Bill's background is varied, including a nine year stint with Continental Airlines (he didn't tell us whether he piloted those big jets!), but most of the time he's been working as writer in one medium or another from video, cable tv, radio, print, etc.
He's launching a magazine on the internet devoted to electric vehicles. You can visit his site at http://www.evworld.com.
What can I say? I have just spent five of the most interesting and productive days in my life test driving and video taping the most advanced production electric vehicles in the world. More importantly, I was able to establish what I hope will be long and fruitful relationships with the leaders in EV technology from electric scooter builders to zinc/air battery engineers to the dedicated cast of hardcore EV experimenters and enthusiasts.
It would take a book to tell you about all the fascinating people I met and things I saw and did. Just to give you a taste, here's just some of the highlights of my trip to the Electric Vehicle Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
TEST DRIVES/RIDES
EVS14 will clearly be remembered as the watershed event in electric vehicle technology as all of the major automakers in the US and Japan unveiled production electric cars and trucks. GM displayed both their EV1 electric sports car and S-10 pickup. Ford Motor had several of their EV Rangers available to drive. Chrysler showed up with a trio of their Epic mini vans.
But clearly, the show stealers were the Japanese, especially Toyota who brought three EVs, two of which are already in commercial production: the RAV4 sport utility vehicle; and the hit of the show, the Prius hybrid-electric. (According to a Toyota rep they already have orders for 3,000 in Japan and they only went on sale Decemeber 10th. Toyota's two-passenger Ecom commuter car is only a concept vehicle at this point, but according to their manager of North American sales, they believe there will be a market for it in the US someday. Nissan showed their Hybermini commuter car and their very impressive Altra, a five door, 4-5 passenger station wagon. Honda fielded a trio of Honda EV Pluses, which like GM's EV1 is the only commercial EV available for lease to consumers. All the other production EV's will be leased initially to fleets for the next few years.
Also making appearances were Mercedes Benz, BMW and Solectria. I and EV World's contributing editor in Asia will be writing reviews on many of these vehicles in the coming weeks on the EV World web site where you'll also find streaming video clips of the cars in action.
Perhaps the most unusual vehicles at the show were the experimental hybrid-electric Hummvee and the tiny, "Firefly", a tandem-seat, pocket rocket capable of speeds of 90 miles per hour. The Hummvee, by contrast, has the acceleration of a bullet and according to the company that helped develop it, it out accelerates the EV1, which itself has zero-to-sixty mph times of under 8 seconds!
The show also featured an electric step van, buses and a German postal service van, all powered by electric motors.
VIDEO COUPS
In addition to shooting lots of video of the demo vehicles both inside the exhibit hall and outside, I was able to score a major media coup by being the only media person at the conference to record both the opening and closing speeches of such notables as Bill Ford, Jr (Henry's grandson and Finance Committee Chair at Ford Motor Company), Kenneth Baker (VP of Research/Development at GM), Edmond Alphandery (Chairman and CEO of Electricite de France) and Robert J. Kennedy, Jr.
Just this morning, I received a call from Ford Motor Company requesting a copy of Mr. Kennedy's speech, and according to the individual making the request, she felt there would be many others wanting copies.
One of the more fun parts of my video efforts include a brief on-camera performance by EV-enthusiasts extraordinare John Wayland and Bill Dube'. They gave their version of a "Click" and "Clack" review of the best and worst cars of the show. They are hilarious. Be sure to check out their QuickTime video clip (available at the http://www.evworld.com site. ed.).
FRIENDS AND RELATIONSHIPS
The highlight of the annual event, however, was the people I met, especially the EV enthusiasts I knew only through our contacts via the Internet. Not only did I enjoy Don McGrath's generous hospitality in sharing his hotel room with me, but I also got to sample his wonderful Villa Helena Vineyards wine... the red was my favorite. Then there as Bill Dube' and John Wayland! What a pair. They should take their act on the road! SRI retiree Bob Wing has to be the grand gentleman of EVs and Aussie Rick Swan has to be the personification of Australian good nature... Paul Hogan's got nothing on Rick, 'cept maybe more money! Then there was Bruce Parmenter from HP, Bruce Meland with Electrifying Times, Peter Moore from Green Car Journal, plus many, many others who have been covering the EV movement for years. The success of EVS14 has to be, in some measure, due to their hard work and devotion to spreading the gospel about EVs.
As for Star Trek Voyager's Marvin Rush.... he was so busy being GM's best salesman, that I hardly got to say hello, much less conduct the interview I wanted with him and Linda Nealon, his lovely companion, another satisfied EV1 lessee and wife to SNL actor Kevin Nealon.
One thing EVS 14 demonstrated is that there is still no substitute for face-to-face interaction between people. The Internet is a wonderful medium, but it will never replace getting to know someone in person. I especially enjoyed the all-too-brief dialog with Lee Hart over a Coke in Tubbi's late Tuesday afternoon as we talked about kids and electric car racing. The same holds true for all engineers from GM, Ford, Toyota and Nissan I meet who did their best to explain their work in a language I could understand. Finally, Willem ter Veen from the Netherlands TNO Institute of Environmental Sciences, Energy Research and Process Innovation and I spent an engaging couple hours during Ford Motor's party Monday night discussing EV developments in Europe, battery technology and his many love affairs.
EVS14 IN RETROSPECT
The one question everyone at the symposium kept asking themselves was, "Is the market really ready for EVs?" There's no question EVs are technologically ready to hit the roads. Having been behind the wheel of virtually every demo vehicle available, including the coveted Toyota Prius, I can confidently say that the average consumer will find the transition from gas to electric a nearly transparent experience. The cars are powerful, smooth, comfortable, and incredibly quiet both inside and out. (During the demo drives, with some twenty cars and trucks coming and going, the loudest noise in the parking lot came from the Disney World groundskeeper across the street using an electric lawn edger!) Better yet, there were no noxious fumes from exhaust pipe emissions. You could have quite literally driven any of these cars INSIDE the exhibit area without any unpleasant effects. In fact, one of the technicians for Ovonics did just that, silently motoring up and down one of the aisles on his Ovonic-powered motor scooter.
Without question, battery technology is still the weak link in the chain, but as the symposium demonstrated, great strides are being made to make batteries more energy dense and less costly. On the other hand, US drivers must also recognize that if they are serious about assuming their share of the burden for helping clean up the planet, they must be willing to modify their driving habits. While we all want 300 miles-per-charge range, we must also recognize that we only need that range 10 or 15 percent of the time. If we are willing to accept vehicles with 100-150 mile range, EVs can be made affordable for anyone, not just the affluent.
The EV industry is faced with the ultimate "Catch 22." For EV manufacturers to bring down the cost of their vehicles, large numbers must be produced, but they cannot be produced unless there is a market for them. So, we're confronted with the situation that we, as automobile drivers, must show an equal amount of courage in being willing to step out and take a chance on a still evolving technology. More than 300 people in California and Arizona have done so, leasing EV1s and Honda EV Pluses. But that number needs to be one thousand times larger in order for the industry to flourish and grow.
The consequences of not switching to electric technology are dire. EVs can help make the planet a better place to live. The automakers have demonstrated their willingness to take a chance. Now it's up to us, the car driving public to do the same.
ENRON International announces new cogeneration power project
Source: Enron International
Enron International and KENETECH Energy Systems, Inc. announced recently that financial close has been achieved on the $670 million EcoElectrica LNG Terminal and Cogeneration Project. Enron and KENETECH jointly developed and each own 50 percent of the project, which will be located in the Penuelas/Guayanilla area on the south coast of Puerto Rico.
The power plant portion of the project, an approximately 500 megawatt combined cycle power facility, will be fueled primarily by liquefied natural gas (LNG). The LNG will be imported from Trinidad under a long term contract with Cabot LNG and delivered at the project's receiving terminal which includes a pier, docking and unloading facilities, and a one million barrel LNG storage tank. When completed, the project will be the first in the world to combine a private power plant and an LNG terminal as part of the same project financing. It will also be the first opportunity for natural gas -- the cleanest of all fossil fuels -- to be used to generate electricity in Puerto Rico, which presently uses oil for 98% of its power generation.
Construction activities will begin immediately, with commercial operations slated for the 4th quarter of 1999. Power produced by the facility will be sold solely to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) under a 22 year power purchase agreement.
Miguel A. Cordero, executive director of PREPA, considers the culmination of this financial process to be a solid step towards the diversification of sources of electricity, a principal goal of the authority.
"The construction of the EcoElectrica Project will not only provide our system with additional highly reliable capacity to meet the increasing demands for the next century, but will mark a historic moment in the development of our electrical system, which frees us of the dependency on oil," Cordero stated.
In addition to the power plant and the LNG facility, the EcoElectrica Project includes a desalination plant that will utilize waste heat to produce approximately two million gallons of clean water per day for use in the power plant and to supplement the public water supplies in the area. The project will generate over 500 jobs during the construction phase and contribute significantly to the local economy.
"We are very pleased we are getting an opportunity to contribute to the island's fuel diversification and to the revitalization of the Penuelas/Guayanilla area," said Mark Lerdal, CEO and president of KENETECH Corp.
"We are also very pleased to see this project brought to financial closure and construction underway," said Rebecca P. Mark, chairman and CEO of Enron International. "It will provide a clean, reliable and economically attractive power source for Puerto Rico and significantly reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants on the island."
The project will be constructed on a turnkey basis by an Enron affiliate.
Enron Corp.operates one of the largest natural gas transmission systems in the world; is the largest marketer of natural gas and electricity in North America; is a leading participant in liberalized energy markets in the United Kingdom and the Nordic Countries; markets natural gas liquids worldwide; manages the largest portfolio of fixed-price natural gas risk management contracts in the world; is among the leading entities arranging new capital to the energy industry; owns a majority interest in Enron Oil & Gas Company, one of the largest independent (non-integrated) exploration and production companies in the United States; owns and manages operating power plants and natural gas pipelines around the world; is one of the largest independent developers and producers of electricity in the world; and is a major supplier of solar and wind energy worldwide.
Enron's internet address is www.enron.com .
SOURCE Enron Corp.
A Leap Forward into the Post Fossil/Nuclear Era
Armenia and Its Warning for the World
Sajed Kamal
Sajed Kamal visited Armenia during the month of November 1993 as a renewable energy consultant with the Armenian Assembly of America and a VOCA (Volunteers for Overseas Cooperative Assistance) volunteer. This article has been adapted from his report, Armenia, Energy and Sustainability: Exploring the Prospects for Renewable Energy (1994), and his forthcoming book, The Solar Revolution: Energy for a Sustainable Earth.
Human behavior, to say the least, is interesting! Take the case of the lottery. Even though a ticket holder has a one-in-several-million chance to win, millions of people will buy tickets thinking, "This time it will happen to me. I'll be the lucky winner." But if there is warning of a crisis--a catastrophe, a disease, an accident--millions of people think in just the opposite way: "It will happen to others, but it will never happen to me."
Scientists, environmentalists, foresightful thinkers have been concerned about sustainability for a long time. But not until the problem reaches a critical state do many people or nations really devote any serious attention to it. Armenia manifests part of a global process, and what Armenia teaches us is critical to global sustainability, as well as its own. This manifestation is a critical warning for the "developed" countries which are for the most part still in the "fossil/nuclear era," as well as for the "developing" countries which are collapsing in their mere attempts to enter it.
Armenia's Energy Crisis: An Overview.
The Republic of Armenia, a former member of the Soviet Union with a population of about 3.5 million and a land area of approximately 17,500 square miles, is now a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). For the years prior to 1990, Armenia enjoyed an era of plentiful energy. Approximately 60 to 65% of the total energy supply came from fossil fuel sources (mostly natural gas), 30% from nuclear, and 5% from the hydroelectric generators along Lake Sevan.
A smaller percentage from Petroleum,
diesel, coal, and mazut also added to the total energy mix. The Republic of Georgia
supplied the natural gas, at a rate of about 6 million cubic meters/day. Power lines and
other distribution systems were extended across the country for electricity and heat.
[Note: Due to Armenia's dramatic political changes and its current state of flux, it is a
challenge to verify the accuracy of data. The data gathered for this article can be
regarded as helpful, even if not completely accurate, indicators of the scenario.]
In 1988 under growing public pressure--led by the Greens Union of Armenia, a voluntary
organization dedicated to environmental protection and prevention of ecological
disasters--Armenia's nuclear power plant was shut down after a major earthquake. Under the
Soviet system the cost of energy in Armenia had been well subsidized, if not free.
Individual metering and payment of a gas or electricity bill was, and still is, an alien
concept. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow's centralized control of the energy
supply was eliminated. The total supply of natural gas was reduced to about 2.5 million
cubic meters/day. Even this supply was threatened and disrupted by a blockade and sabotage
to pipelines by the Azeri's along the supply route through the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
Where people had been living in a dream world of plentiful energy from nonrenewable
sources, suddenly the lights went out and the heat shut off.
Without massive efforts to reverse this trend the crisis is bound to worsen. For example, there is a critical shortage of electricity. Available for about six to eight hours a day, mostly at selected public office buildings, universities and hospitals in and around the capital city of Yerevan, the supply is highly unreliable. Long hours or even days without electricity and frequent black-outs have become the norm. The country is virtually without fuel for heat or cooking, even during the intensely cold months. Schools and some universities are closed from December through February. Even emergency rooms in some hospitals are sometimes without heat, hot water or electricity. Public transportation is extremely erratic or at a standstill. Due to the rising gasoline prices, some cars and buses have been abandoned by the roadside or have been transformed into living shelters. The postal, banking, and commercial systems are paralyzed. The airport has some electricity but no heat. Precious artworks are being ruined. Miles and miles of powerlines across the country--and the street lighting in Yerevan, its huge structures in shapes of trees, umbrellas and domes covered with thousands of bulbs, now powerless--are reminders of an unsustainable energy era whose lights have gone out.
Industrial production is down by about 80 percent due to shortages of light and heat (which has, however, significantly cut down on the alarming rate of increase in smog and other pollutants in the region). Greenhouses which have been vital to Armenia's agriculture, forestry and economy, and which used to be heated mostly by natural gas in winters, now lie barren. Gas tanks next to the greenhouses are rusting.
Armenia is struggling for its survival. Under present conditions and with extremely limited financial and other resources, the battle is uphill. Even the emergency measures necessary for survival have begun to raise some long-term concerns. Massive deforestation engenders the most concern. In the city of Yerevan an estimated 120,000 trees were cut down last year alone just for heating and cooking. Nationally, the estimates vary between 1.5 million, according to the Ministry of Ecology, and 2.5 million trees, according to the Forest Service of the Republic of Armenia. And these are the "illegal" cuts, those beyond the number the government permits for critical fuel needs. With trees providing such basic benefits as food, fuel, lumber, environmental habitat, and ecomonic development opportunities, the future impact of deforestation alone is likely to be catastrophic. Reforestation programs undertaken by the Armenian government, or other organizations such as the Armenian Assembly of America and its Armenia Tree Project, are essential steps countering such a catastrophe. But trees take time to grow, and unless sufficient alternatives are found, people themselves--for whom the programs are instituted--become the main threat.
For survival, people have had to resort to burning furniture, twigs, books, clothing, cardboard boxes, etc. The use of candles, diesel generators and kerosene heaters has increased. Kerosene heaters for room heating are also used for warming food. But the kerosene prices have increased at a phenomenal rate. Between 1989 and November 1993 the price for one liter rose from 3 copeks to 9000 rubles (100 copeks = 1 ruble), or 300,000 times. Without the social benefits, price controls, and subsidies of the Soviet Socialist economy, kerosene became unaffordable for ordinary citizens who earned an average monthly income of 8000 rubles (then equivalent to $1.00 U.S.). One of the main activities of the increasing number of relief agencies in Armenia is the distribution of free kerosene heaters and kerosene. But the distribution is far below the country's total need, even for the bare minimum of heating and cooking.
In 1993 the value of the U.S. dollar went up from 1300 rubles in September to 9000 rubles on November 14. Later in that month a new national currency, the dram, replaced the ruble (with 70 drams to $1.00 U.S.). However, even during this brief period, against a bankrupt economy the value of the dram decreased dramatically while the price of kerosene and everything else continued to rise.
This long-term energy crisis is felt thoughout the year, is certainly far worse during winter, and worsens with each returning winter.
Armenia at a Crossroads.
Armenians are reacting to the crisis with a pervasive sense of powerlessness, uncertainty and desperation, even a state of shock and denial. There is a general belief that the energy crisis is caused by the blockade of energy supplies along the Azerbaijan-Armenia border and that the crisis will be over as soon as the blockade is ended. Indeed, the crisis has been expedited by the blockade, and in that sense it's significantly political. Nothing is more desirable than a peaceful resolution to the conflict which is causing such immense human suffering. I was deeply moved to learn about some efforts toward a resolution, such as Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze's call on December 9, 1993 to restore the joint energy supply system for Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. At best, however, it will still be a short-term solution.
The increasing scarcity of nonrenewables is a major source of tension, insecurity, and conflict in the world in general, as it is in this region. While other sources of conflict need to be addressed, choosing the renewable path can only help reduce tension and enhance the possibility of peace.
The Armenian government is considering restarting its nuclear power plant, although many critical and unresolved concerns continue to surface regarding the plant's location, design, safety, fuel supply, life duration, radioactive waste disposal, and a host of other health, economic and environmental concerns. In the face of the crisis, opposition to the plant is not popular. The Greens Union, however, despite severe limitations of resources and moral support, continues its stand against it. Two 440 megawatt units make up the 880 megawatt plant, which began operating in 1976. About 16 miles from Yerevan, in the fertile Ararat valley, it was built on top of an underground water reservoir, and is in an active seismic zone on the edge of earthquake faults. There is a long history of earthquakes in the region. The epicenter of a devastating earthquake in the Gyumri region, from which the country has yet to recover, was only 50 miles away from the plant. A major nuclear accident may mean that Armenia and adjoining countries will simply be rendered uninhabitable. It is urgent that the results of the Chernobyl accident, which made a significant section of the Ukraine uninhabitable for probably thousands of years and contaminated the food chain around the globe, be remembered in the consideration of the reopening of this plant.
In spite of everything, there are still some people--at the grassroots, in the academies and the government--who react to this crisis with perseverence, understanding, insight, ingenuity, vision and active commitment to overcoming it. The committed members of the Greens Union, of course, are among them. They all understand that a transition to the renewable/sustainable energy path is the only solution for Armenia, as it is for the world.
Armenia is at a crossroads, but it has an inspiring history of survival. Genuine international cooperation will be essential. The limited quantity of natural gas could be judiciously used as a much needed transitional fuel. But Armenia has rich and diverse solar endowments: plenty of clear warm sunshine during most of the year, plenty of wind in the mountainous regions, naturally flowing streams, fertile soil for thriving vegetation.
This inexhaustable and diverse nature of solar energy is studied by Dr. Michael Kalashian, Chief of Scientific Applications of Solar Energy, The Republic of Armenia, and Consultant to the Renewable Energy Program of the Armenia Tree Project. I was both impressed and inspired by his long years of dedication in this pursuit. To hear him say the following seemed simply a natural expression of his profound understanding of the revolutionary prospects of renewable energy: "We must change our thinking; turn and face the sun."
Sajed Kamal is the president of the International Consortium for Energy Development, a Boston-based nonprofit corporation involved in solar energy education and projects in several countries, and a member of the speakers bureau of the Union of Concerned Scientists and BASEA. Dr. Kamal, also a poet, artist, psychotherapist, translator and educator, has been involved with solar energy education and initiatives for the last twenty-five years. He has lectured internationally on solar energy, and has set up pilot projects in the United States, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Armenia.
Solar Efforts In The Dominican Republic
Julie Smith
We welcomed Julie Smith, Assistant Director of Enersol Associates, as a speaker at our October 1996 BASEA Forum. Enersol, a non-profit organization based in Chelmsford, MA, encourages rural solar electrification in the Dominican Republic. Julie outlined the scope of Enersol's activities and introduced us to Enersol's biggest project to date: an expansion of solar electrification and solar-powered community water systems in the Republic. The following is her brief description of the project.
Enersol Associates will team with its Dominican Republic counterpart, a non-governmental organization called ADESOL (La Asociacion para el Desarrollo de Energoa Solar) to complete its most ambitious renewable energy project yet. Enersol and the Dominican Republic Mission of the US AID officially inaugurated the "Solar Energy for Rural Electrification and Water Delivery" project on April 26, 1996. Within three years, through training efforts and the formation of so-called "solar micro-enterprises," Enersol anticipates 1000 new solar-electric installations in homes and businesses and eight wind or solar-powered community water systems. This project will significantly increase solar-based rural electrification activities which have been underway in the country since 1984. These installations will be available through a partnership of local Dominican commercial and non-profit entities. To fund the project, a $500,000 US AID PVO/Co-Financing grant will be matched with approximately $250,000 in private funds to be raised by Enersol and ADESOL. An additional $700,000 will be contributed by beneficiaries through the purchase of photovoltaic (PV) systems and through community collaboration with water system construction.
Key to the project's success is a network of small solar retailers providing solar-electric systems to many of the country's most isolated rural areas. This network consists of 18 solar micro-enterprises at varying stages of development. It is anticipated that over 20 businesses will be fully established at the close of the project. The owners, technicians and administrators of these businesses will complete a series of technical and entrepreneurial training courses and seminars given by Enersol and ADESOL, who will also provide ongoing technical support. Upon successful completion of the courses, these businesses become financial intermediaries for ADESOL's credit funding which is extended to rural beneficiaries wishing to purchase photovoltaic systems.
Credit is extended to the beneficiaries through the solar micro-enterprise at competitive interest rates. Returns from the consumer credit are recycled back into the project. This partnership between ADESOL and the local energy enterprise translates into increased dissemination of photovoltaic systems at a national level. A permanent $100,000 loan fund will reside at ADESOL at the end of the three-year project, ensures continued access to credit for rural users.
The micro-enterprises are equally important in the delivery of potable water to rural communities. Energy enterprises and local development organizations will use the eight water systems to serve as demonstrations of renewable energy systems powered by photovoltaic or wind technology, depending on the site. Technicians from the energy enterprises will work closely with ADESOL's water engineer and well-drilling team during advanced training courses and system installations. Development practitioners will integrate the community and sustainability aspects with the technical installations. Enersol foresees an ongoing partnership between: (1) the energy enterprises, which will install and maintain renewable energy systems; (2) local development organizations, which will mobilize and educate the community; and (3) ADESOL, which will offer technical and equipment support.
The scale of this three-year project provides a unique opportunity for Enersol to further advance its training and technical assistance initiatives within the Dominican Republic and beyond. Training for energy entrepreneurs, technicians, development professionals, and decision-makers will increase in importance as the project gains visibility. To fill this need, the construction of an International Renewable Energy Training Center is underway, partially funded by the InterAmerican Foundation and the International Foundation. The Center, which will be entirely powered by renewable energy, will educate local and international audiences about renewable energy technology and applications. The visitors will experience first hand the impacts of such technology as they interact with the community of Bella Vista, where the residents have been living with photovoltaic power for over a decade. Special emphasis will also be placed on "training trainers" as a way to facilitate greater local transfer of information.
Enersol Associates is a 501.c.3 international development organization based in Massachusetts. Enersol maintains Solar-Based Rural Electrification programs in both the Dominican Republic and Honduras. It also assists renewable energy and rural electrification efforts in other countries. An Outreach and Education program seeks to share models and outcomes from Enersol's work to encourage replication. Enersol's work is funded by private foundations, government grants and contracts, and individual donations.
For more information about Enersol,
please contact Julie Smith, Assistant Director, Enersol Associates, Inc., 55 Middlesex
Street, Suite 221, Chelmsford, MA 02143, Tel: 508-251-1828, Fax: 508-251-5291,
email: enersol@igc.apc.org.
In Search of Cowgas:
Can the US learn from India's Sustainable Energy Practices?
Jack Apfelbaum, P.E.
This article is reprinted with permission from the Farm Times, Central Edition, January, 1995.
Anand Niketan - Bows and arrows, liquor, slashed forests, erosion, rape and murder -- all were rampant a mere 50 years ago in this tribal area of northern Gujarat, India's most modern state.
Now hundreds of thousands of trees have been planted in varieties chosen to insure good survival and ecological health. Soil erosion plans are in place and small farm ponds hold monsoon waters helping to provide as many as three crops per year. Now the tribals are mostly settled agriculturists learning Gujarati, new agricultural methods, new ways of settling conflicts. Now, some of them use bio-gas instead of dung cakes or firewood.
My wife and I were able to visit a village about an hour's hard jeep ride away from Anand Neketan Ashram thanks to an invitation by a literacy team. We would see the results of both increasing literacy and the use of biogas, topics we were both vitally interested in.
In India's 500,000 villages we see girls and women collecting cow dung from streets and fields, wherever cows have roamed. They scoop up the dung, mix it with a bit of straw, form it into a ball about the size of a baseball, then flatten it against a wall to make dung cakes, the traditional fuel of many agricultural people. Although this way of using dung produces an inexpensive, hot and relatively clean flame, it is a waste of precious nitrogenous material needed by the earth to regenerate itself.
The farmers proudly show us their clean, neatly kept houses. Bullocks and milking cows are kept overnight in the front part of the house. The middle of the house is divided into sleeping and eating sections and in the rear section grains are stored in high woven baskets. This is also where cooking takes place, and the rafters are still dark from the cow dung fires formerly used in the preparation of food.
The process used for biogas production is straightforward. Enough cowdung must be collected, then mixed with water and sluiced into a closed container, which is located just in back of the house. Fermentation takes place with the consequent release of methane. This gas is tapped off the top of the biogas container. this is either a large steel or a fiberglass container. A flexible hose connects the top of the container to the two-burner stove. After fermentation is complete, a wet slurry remains behind which is very useful as a highly nitrogenous fertilizer. A family of six (two adults and four children) can generally derive enough "cowgas" from the dung of four cows to cook all their slowly cooked food. It is important that the climate is not too cold for successful methane generation.
Return of the fertilizer to the ground is, however, not the only advantage of biogas utilization. As the neatly dressed farm wife gesturing to the circle of men seated in front of the portable blackboard, her eyes sparkling, emphasized: "Now, I, too, can take part in the literacy classes. No longer do I have to stand in front of the hot stove, slowly feeding it dung cakes to keep the fire evenly hot." This is obviously a big advantage, one that will create multiple changes.
Returning to the ashram after our "literacy" and bio-gas plant observation tour, we were invited to watch a televised version of the Mahabarata, the ancient Indian epic of Rama and Sita.
At the Ashram, television was made possible by a recently installed photovoltaic system. Alongside this high technology system, their low "tech" bio-gas plant operates efficiently and quietly,accepting not on cow dung, but also "night soil," (human wastes normally flushed down the toilet) to create the fuel for tomorrow morning and the fertilizer for the future.
Biogas and other sustainable energy projects are being undertaken in most developing countries. China has already installedover 100,000 large community biogas plants. In Gujurat, western India, where we have done most of our present observing and promoting of renewable energy, small and large biogas plants (gobi-plants) are springing up like mushrooms. China is producing excellent solar hot water heaters and India is the world's third-ranking producer of photovoltaic cells. The energy future in these huge developing countries is beginning to look less cloudy, less hopeless.
Perhaps we in the west can also learn from them, not the theory which we have known for years, but the practice of sustainable energy in all its viable forms. Here in the US, biogas, biomass, wind farms, direct solar energy conversion and other forms of energy savings systems are all being tried, some of these are now entering successful commercial operations. Perhaps our environment can be saved; perhaps at least our future heating and cooking gas will come from composted organic materials and our cars will be electric, charged by photovoltaic cells.
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