It Ain't How Much Energy We Generate, It's How Much We "Reject" (for the USA at least)

Every year, I look at the US annual energy budget chart and figure out a rough percentage of how energy efficient our economy is, the percentages of "useful" and "rejected" energy (the terms Lawrence Livermore National Labs uses).  Recently, I went back and looked at each year from 1991 to 2013 to see what the trends have been.  

Three things stand out: we "reject" or waste over half the energy we produce;  we haven't improved that efficiency over the last 22 or 23 years;  and we have spent the last 15 years or so at an energy plateau between 95 and 100 quadrillion btu's.

At some point, I might take a look at the growth rates of the economy since 1999 till now to get an idea at how US economic production fares under a relatively steady state energy regime.
 
1991 - 81 quads 
                         30.3 useful [37.40%]
                                                         44.4 rejected [54.81%]
1992 - 82 quads 
                         31.6 useful [39.01%]
                                                         44.4 rejected [54.81%]

1993 - 84 quads 
                         31 useful [36.90%]
                                                        46.9 rejected [55.83%]
1994 - 86.25 quads 
                        31.37 useful [36.37%]
                                                        47.67 rejected [55.269%]
1995 - 90.99 quads 
                        34.4057 useful [37.81%]
                                                        49.47 rejected [54.37%]

1996 - 93.83 quads 
                        35.44 useful [37.77%]
                                                         50.99 rejected [54.34%]

1997 - 93.83 quads 
                        35.7327 useful [38.08%]
                                                         51.8455 rejected [55.25%]

1998 - 94.78 quads 
                        34.3109 useful [35.14%]
                                                         52.0351 rejected [54.90%]

1999 - 97 quads 
                        36.8 useful [37.93%]
                                                         53.2 rejected [54.84%]

2000 - 98.5 quads 
                        34.3 useful [34.82%]
                                                         57.8 rejected [58.68%]

2001 - 97 quads 
                        35 useful [36.08%]
                                                         55.9 rejected [57.62%]

2002 - 97.8 quads 
                       42.40 useful [43.35%]
                                                          55.36 rejected [56.60%]

2003 - 98.1 quads 
                       42.65 useful [43.47%]
                                                          55.48 rejected [56.55%]

2004 - 100.2 quads
                         43.43 useful [43.34%]
                                                          56.75 rejected [56.63%]

2005 - 100.4 quads 
                         42.93 useful [42.75%]
                                                          57.47 rejected [57.24%]

2006 - 99.8 quads 
                        42.32 useful [42.40%]
                                                         57.43 rejected [57.54%]

2007 - 101.5 quads 
                         43.04 useful [42.40%]
                                                          58.47 rejected [57.60%]

2008 - 99.2 quads 
                       42.15 useful [42.48%]
                                                        57.07 rejected [57.53%]

2009 - 94.6 quads 
                       39.97 useful [42.25%]
                                                        54.64 rejected [57.75%]

2010 - 98 quads 
                     41.88 useful [42.73%]
                                                      56.13 rejected [57.27%]

2011 - 97.3 quads 
                       41.7 useful [42.85%]
                                                      55.6 rejected [57.14%]

2012 - 95.1 quads 
                       37 useful [38.90%]
                                                    58.1 rejected [61.09%]

2013 - 97.4 quads 
                     38.4 useful [39.42%]
                                                    59.0 rejected [60.57%]

Data from https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/archive.html#energy_archive
More data at the Energy Information Administration's Annual Energy Review page here:
http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/index.cfm

Sun Money

Solar is power and currency not only as energy, electricity, heat but also as politics,  economics, and sociology.  Solar energy is, by definition, local production, swadeshi, what Gandhi called the "heart of satyagraha," soul force, non-violent action.

Gandhi would spin for an hour each day, usually producing a hundred yards of thread, and helped develop a simple spinning wheel (charkha) that allowed many to do the same. He believed that spinning was the foundation of non-violence. I believe this type of practical labor has to be the core of any sustainable ecological action.

We need a solar swadeshi, an ecological practice on a daily basis that allows us to live within our solar income. Gandhi used the charkha, the spinning wheel. What would be an ecological charkha, a solar charkha?

from http://solarray.blogspot.com/2005/05/solar-swadeshi-hand-made-electricity.html

Could we do with electricity what Gandhi did with cloth, at least for emergencies and disasters? Can hand-made electricity, 21st century khadi cloth, provide real electrical power to the people and a survival level of energy independence and autonomy?

from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/11/10/919251/-Personal-Power-Production-160-Solar-from-Civil-Defense-to-Swadeshi

Here are some examples where solar energy is building economies that are closer to the practices of a Gandhian economics, a non-violent economics, a solar swadeshi, a kind of sun money.

Grameen Shakti [Village Energy] of Bangladesh
http://www.gshakti.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=62

GS [Grameen Shakti] is one of the largest and fastest growing rural based renewable energy companies in the world. GS is also promoting Small Solar Home System to reach low income rural households.

SHSs can be used to light up homes, shops, fishing boats etc. It can also be used to charge cellular phones, run televisions, radios and cassette players. SHSs have become increasingly popular among users because they present an attractive alternative to conventional electricity such as no monthly bills, no fuel cost, very little repair, maintenance costs, easy to install any where etc.
GS installed SHSs have made a positive impact on the rural people. GS has introduced micro-utility model in order to reach the poorer people who cannot afford a SHS individually. Another successful GS venture is Polli Phone which allows people is off grid areas the facilities of telecommunication through SHS powered mobile phones.
GS has developed an effective strategy for reaching people in remote and rural areas with solar PV technology. It involves:
Soft credit through installments which makes SHSs affordable
Advocacy and Promotion
Community involvement and social acceptance
Effective after sales service
Blending Technology with Market Forces

More on Grameen Shakti at
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2014/04/green-energy-for-billion-poor.html

-------

ReadyPay
http://www.fenixintl.com/products/

ReadyPay is our patent-pending financial platform that allows customers to pay-to-own Fenix solar energy systems over time. Engineered to integrate with any mobile money system, ReadyPay enables customers to make payments from a mobile phone and receive a secure code to unlock access to solar power until another payment is due.

From payment history, we are building a massive dataset to create a next generation credit score for the 2.2 billion unbanked adults in emerging markets (Source: McKinsey).

Launched in Uganda in partnership with Africa’s largest telecom MTN, ReadyPay Solar is available now for as little $0.39 per day.

---------

SolarCoin
http://solarcoin.org

Solar currency.
SolarCoin is a digital currency incentivizing solar electricity. Spend it, trade it, exchange it.
Solar energy incentive.
SolarCoin represents one MWh of solar energy generated. SolarCoin rewards solar electricity generators both large and small.
A group effort.
Use Solarcoin. Join the solar power economy. SolarCoin holders help produce 97,500 TWh. 99% of SolarCoins to be distributed to solar energy generators over 40 years.

SolarCoin is an alternative digital currency. SolarCoin is backed by two forms of proof of work. One is the traditional cryptographic proof of work associated with digital currency.  Another proof of work is a 3rd party verified meter reading. SolarCoin is equitably distributed using both of these proofs of work as a means to reward solar energy generation.
Solar Coin Helps the Environment
Solar energy, unlike fossil fuels, does not place excess heat or carbon into the atmosphere. The long term intent is to provide an incentive to produce more solar electricity globally over the next 40 years by rewarding the generators of solar electricity.  SolarCoin is intended to shift the levelized cost of energy (LOCE). Source:solarcoin wiki
Technical details relating to SolarCoin are on Github.com/solarcoin

----------

Richard Komp has been seeding solar cottage industry around the world for over thirty years.  Here is news of his latest project in Liberia.
http://www.mainesolar.org/Komp.html

A group of Liberians living in the Boston area asked me to go to Liberia to give a three part course on solar energy. I have just finished the first part of the course at the Monrovian Vocational Training Center for the 27 students who will be part of a new solar corporation they are now planning. In the first part of the course, the students made small solar cell phone chargers, then graduated to bigger 15 watt PV modules that can be used to light up small squatter huts and rural grass huts. We ourselves used these modules to recharge a 12 volt deep=cycle battery so we would have continuous power to run our tools, since the Center rarely had electricity.

We spent the second week on solar thermal systems, making a solar box cooker big enough to “cook” the large PV modules we made next. We managed to cook both a 65 watt and a custom 75 watt module for a solar water pump we installed, at the same time in the solar oven (a first for cooking two at once).

-----------

Maasai Stoves and Solar (http://internationalcollaborative.org) installs locally made, more efficient cookstoves and chimneys in Maasai homes, reducing the time and material needed for cooking and providing profound health benefits for women and children.

Maasai Stoves & Solar Project addresses profound international health challenges affecting millions.

Read about our work, reducing indoor smoke in the homes of pastoral people in the developing world, caused by the use of indoor cooking fires.
We replace the fires with our stove and chimney that produces ninety percent less smoke, benefitting families and the environment.
Help us achieve these goals
Healthier indoor air quality
Improved health
Women’s empowerment
Locally-built solutions
Environmental conservation
Mitigating climate change

We are well on our way to completing the requirements for carbon credit certification. Part of the process includes baseline surveys and measurement of the wood savings of our stove directly and by efficiency studies, performed by an outside authority.

------------

There is a way you can look at the world that brings energy, money, and information into a single focus where energetic calories, cash and credit, bits and data all melt one into the other and back again.  All these  enterprises are explorations into that world.

Solar Powered Amish Buggy

Larry Yoder's solar powered Amish buggy:
http://herald-review.com/news/local/horseless-buggy-amish-carriage-travels-up-to-miles-using-solar/article_8dc1625e-f840-11e2-a92c-0019bb2963f4.html 

http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-News+Other/183814/amish-buggy-uses-solar-power#.UuL8iuIo6Uk 

Video
http://youtu.be/huBxrGyF5XE

hat tip to Ambrose

Sustainable Development and Climate Change: 2 Free Online Courses

I'd like to participate in an ongoing on and off line brainstorm using Buckminster Fuller's World Game design criteria, "How can we make the world work for 100 percent of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone?" and one of Bill McDonough's Ecological Design Principles, "Use only available solar income."

Here are some free resources that are edging, gingerly, towards that possibility.
"Age of Sustainable Development (https://www.coursera.org/course/susdev ) gives students an understanding of the key challenges and pathways to sustainable development - that is, economic development that is also socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable."

free 14 week course taught by Jeffrey Sachs
starting January 21

Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided (https://www.coursera.org/course/warmerworld )
"It is now becoming clear that without necessary climate action, the world may become 4°C warmer by the end of this century. As this threatens to roll back decades of development progress, this is a ‘make or break’ point. This course presents the most recent scientific evidence as well as some of the opportunities for urgent action."

free World Bank MOOC [Massive Open Online Course] on climate change
starting January 27

e4Dev, Energy for Development, a student group at MIT is teaching a 4 day course this week (January 7-10, 2014) "Exploring the intersection of energy and human development, Racing Towards Universal Energy Access: Why the Next 2 Billion Users Matter (more than you think).  Eventually, they want to produce their own online course as well but their Fall lectures are already available as videos online:

Prospects for Grid-Connected PV in Kenya
http://techtv.mit.edu/collections/e4dev/videos/26727-amy-rose-esd_e4dev-9-26-13

Technical and Economic Analysis of PV DC Microgrids
http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/26728-andrew-campanella-sdm-13-e4dev-10-3-13

Reliable Alternative Energy Options for Access:  Lessons from China's Countryside
http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/26729-michael-davidson-tpp-e4dev-10-10-13

Power Africa
http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/26730-power-africa-q-a-e4dev-10-17-13

Electrifying Rural India with Solar Microgrids:  Adoption and Impact
http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/26731-professor-johannes-urpelainen-columbia-univ-e4dev-10-31-13

Water Desalination:  Prospects for Energy and Demand
http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/26732-david-cohen-tanugi-ms-e-e4dev-11-7-13



Previously http://solarray.blogspot.com/2013/12/universal-energy-access-iap-at-mit-with.html

Toilets, Stoves, and Solar

Susan Murcott, Bob Lange, and Richard Komp are three grassroots environmental activists who are changing lives all around the world.  Susan is a water researcher whose work on simple water filters has benefitted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people from Guatemala to Ghana.  Her latest project is building a block of toilets for a school in a village in Ghana, the second project of this kind she has been involved with.  Bob is a physics professor who has been doing science education in Africa for many years, an activity that morphed into installing small solar systems for villages in Tanzania and now into designing, building, and installing efficient cookstoves with the Maasai people. This year, his work is expanding into Uganda.  Richard is a solar expert who has worked on everything from the physics of solar electricity to building solar stoves from scrap.   He has been teaching people all around the world how to do solar as a cottage industry for about three decades now.  His latest idea is to outfit a sailboat as a floating solar workshop that can teach people throughout the Caribbean how to better their lives with simple solar technologies. You can read his reports on his international work at http://www.mainesolar.org/Komp.html

I consider myself immensely privileged to know all three of these remarkable and remarkably effective people.

Toilets
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/toilets-for-schools-improving-sanitation-in-ghana/x/5309964
"We are raising money to construct a toilet block for a school in the village of Gbalahi in Ghana."  They need about another $7000 in the next 40 days or so.

Roughly a billion people worldwide live without safe drinking water and each year millions are sickened by waterborne diseases, a condition CEE Senior Lecturer Susan Murcott hopes to improve through dissemination of household drinking water treatment and safe storage systems, a cluster of innovative technologies she has helped invent and promote: one used by about 800,000 people in Guatemala; another that removes pathogens and clarifies turbidity in Ghanaian drinking water used by over 100,000 people; and a third, a filter sold in Nepal to screen out arsenic and bacteria, which has so far reached 350,000 people. All three projects make use of locally available materials and the local workforce to create jobs in manufacturing and sales. Many CEE Masters of Engineering students, School of Engineering, DUSP and Sloan students have worked with Murcott on these projects, which were showcased at the Expo Bid Symposium in October in Dubai and will be honored during the World Expo 2020 in Dubai.Read a related story: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/long-haul-to-bring-clean-water-to-developing-nations-1210.htmlSee also: http://globalwater.mit.edu

Stoves 
http://internationalcollaborative.org

Read about our work, reducing indoor smoke in the homes of pastoral people in the developing world, caused by the use of indoor cooking fires.We replace the fires with our stove and chimney that produces ninety percent less smoke, benefitting families and the environment.

Solar

Floating Solar Workshop SailboatProject for the Miskito Coast in NicaraguaBy Richard Komp, Director - Skyheat Associates
In December I will be going to the Miskito Coast of Nicaragua for the third short solar course I will teach there. This time I will be taking a small sailboat on an overnight trip to get to the remote workshop site.
Our biggest concern is the pirates and drug smugglers in this part of the Caribbean but Nicaragua is currently pretty free of these marauders since the Sandinista government has taken control.
The Donated SailboatWhat I am looking for is a boat that is between 40 and 50 feet long that could be donated by somebody or a corporation. Skyheat Associates is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity and the donation would be tax deductible. We are not fussy about the condition or type of boat but our criteria are floating and able to be fixed up well enough to get from Florida to the Miskito Coast of Nicaragua, where it can be fixed up better and converted to the floating workshop center. It would be good if the boat had a draft of 4 feet or less since many of the places we will be visiting have shallow inlets or bays.
The Grupo Fenix http://grupofenix.org/ in Nicaragua already works in that part of the country and we have good contacts along the Miskito Coast to have this refurbishing work done properly.
Crowdsourcing to pay for the ProjectThis project will take quite a bit of money, both for outfitting the boat and for the cost of all this traveling around the Caribbean. People have suggested that we try raising the money on the Internet and I think I will ask the next person who suggests this to go ahead and do it. I will give that person or group all the information where they can send the check when they are successful.
We are looking to raise $30,000 in total for the project. Most of the places where the floating center will be giving workshops are occupied by 3rd World people who live on less than $2 a day and the workshops will be free for them; but the project will have quite a few expenses for living costs and workshop materials. Of course places like Akumal in Mexico have a lot of student volunteers from the 1st World who can pay for the workshop, so some of the boat’s expenses will be paid that way; but in general, the project will need donated funds to operate properly. Some of the volunteers who wish to take part in this project may also have money to pay their own way. 
I already have lots of people who have volunteered to help me sail around the Caribbean; but we will need volunteers to help raise money and work on the sailboat. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested. We are now setting up a Crowdsourcing website and will send more information when the donation system is running. The plan includes the opportunity to attend one of the solar workshops or sail on the boat as part of the bonus for a larger donation
Contact Information, For more information or help: Richard Komp, PhD, Director Skyheat Associates,PO Box 184, Harrington ME 04643 207-497-2204, 207- 356-0225 cell sunwatt@juno.com, www.mainesolar.org

Universal Energy Access: IAP at MIT with e4Dev

e4Dev, a student group at MIT interested in Energy for Development, is organizing a four day course on
"Exploring the intersection of energy and human development
Racing Towards Universal Energy Access:
Why the Next 2 Billion Users Matter (more than you think)"

I wonder if they'll use Buckminster Fuller's World Game design criteria, "How can we make the world work for 100 percent of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone?" or one of Bill McDonough's Ecological Design Principles, Use only available solar income.

e4Dev, if they wanted to, might be able to do all or part of the course as a webinar or a MOOC [Massive Open Online Course]. After all, they do have a Ustream channel (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/e4dev) and MIT is part of EdX (https://www.edx.org/school/mitx).

----------------------

"More than 1.5 billion people lack access to basic energy services. This is not inherently problematic as access to energy is not in and of itself a goal of development. Energy access has, however, been identified as a potentially important component in enabling many essential quality of life improvements.

"In a four-day series of lectures, case studies, interactive activities, and the development of an energy access project evaluation strategy, students participating in this course will be exposed to the challenges and opportunities in energy access for the developing world with possibility of continuing work on projects into the Spring if they choose.

"Led and facilitated by Prof. Ignacio Pérez-Arriaga, MIT Energy Initiative Deputy Director Rob Stoner, and a variety of guest speakers, lectures will provide working knowledge of:
The current state of energy access (and what it means to provide access);
The connection between energy access and various aspects of human development work; and
Financing mechanisms and business models for energy projects in the developing world

"The course listing is now available on the the IAP 2014 site, and a more detailed description of each day can be found on the MIT Energy Initiative calendar (http://mitei.mit.edu/calendar).

"DETAILS
Date: Tuesday, January 7 – Friday, January 10
Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Building E17, Room 128 (E17-128), 40 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA 02139"

More information at http://18.9.62.56/calendar/e4dev-introduction-energy-and-human-development-session-2-energy-and-human-development

Solar Christmas Present

Wakawaka (http://us.waka-waka.com) makes a

super efficient, sustainable, lightweight, sturdy and compact solar phone charger and lamp. It enables you to charge virtually any type of (smart)phone or small electronic device within just a few hours and will provide you with up to 80 hours of safe light.

They are offering a buy one/give one program which provides their solar lights and chargers to Syrian refugees:
http://www.solarforsyria.org/en/#.UrN0iaWugcs

Perhaps a way to promote the Christmas spirit of peace on Earth and goodwill to all.  (Bah Humbug!)

hat tip to http://inhabitat.com

Here are some other solar Christmas ideas:
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-solar-christmas.html

Pattern Language for an Urban Agriculture System

A series of patterns from _A Pattern Language_ (Christopher Alexander et alia, NY:  Oxford University Press, 1977) for designing an urban agriculture system, from City Country Fingers to Paving With Cracks Between the Stones:

3.  City Country Fingers
4.  Agricultural Valleys
7.  The Countryside
8.  Mosaic of Subcultures
12.  Community of 7000
15.  Neighborhood Boundaries
19.  Web of Shopping
25.  Access to Water
32.  Shopping Street
41.  Work Community
46.  Market of Many Shops
51.  Green Streets
60.  Accessible Green
61.  Small Public Square
64.  Pools and Streams
67.  Common Land
69.  Public Outdoor Room
73.  Adventure Playground
80.  Self-Governing Workshops and Offices
88.  Street Cafe
89.  Corner Grocery
97.  Shielded Parking
100.  Pedestrian Street
105.  South Facing Outdoors
106.  Positive Outdoor Space
111.  Half-Hidden Garden
114.  Hierarchy of Open Space
118.  Roof Garden
119.  Arcades
127.  Intimacy Gradient
134.  Zen View
139.  Farmhouse Kitchen
161.  Sunny Place
163.  Outdoor Room
170.  Fruit Trees
171.  Tree Places
172.  Garden Growing Wild
173.  Garden Wall
174.  Trellised Walk
175.  Greenhouse
176.  Garden Seat
177.  Vegetable Garden
178.  Compost
236.  Windows Which Open Wide
242.  Front Door Bench
245.  Raised Flowers
246.  Climbing Plants
247.  Paving With Cracks Between the Stones

Canal Restorer to River Restorer?

This greenhouse at the former historic Fisherville Mill in South Grafton, Massachusetts, sits on the banks of a canal by the Blackstone River.  It is cleaning stormwater runoff and water contaminated by #6 fuel oil, also known as Bunker C oil, which leaked from underground tanks.  At the end of the process, 95% of the hydrocarbons are removed without the application of chemicals, using only ecological design.

The Blackstone River can rightfully claim to be the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the USA as in 1790, Samuel Slater built the first water-powered spinning mill in America for Moses Brown, a founder of Brown University, in Pawtucket, RI using the Blackstone River as a power source.  By October 7, 1828, the Blackstone Canal from Providence, RI to Worcester, MA was completed and became the original industrial corridor of the United States.  Some say the Blackstone was the hardest working river of 19th century America with its water powering factories all along its length.

Perhaps now it will become an example of 21st century American technology that uses ecological systems thinking to clean up the wastes industrial development has left in its wake.

500 to 1000 gallons of water is pumped each day from the bottom of the canal through a filter which was designed to trap particulates and has, over time, developed its own ecosystem that begins to process the pollutants.  Soon samples will be taken of the filter layers to see what organisms are present and thriving in the presence of such contaminants.

The water is then distributed to the black boxes you can see on the right of the greenhouse which contain mushrooms and other organisms.  These continue to filter the water and break down the hydrocarbons and other complex compounds as the mushroom cultures and other organisms feed.

From the mushroom boxes the water goes into a series of six 700 gallon tanks, each of which is a separate ecology with plants, animals and microbes that continue to break down pollutants and contaminants into their constituent parts.  The water gets cleaner and cleaner from one tank to the next until it can support fish and snails and other more complex lifeforms.

The plants floating on top of the tanks are also part of the process with the roots serving as habitat for many different organisms, increasing enormously the active surface area for biological activity, breaking down more compounds into nutrients that feed the leaves, flowers, and fruits.

After passing through the greenhouse, the water is then returned to the canal through an artificial marsh, a floating canal restorer, that continues the process of biological digestion of hydrocarbon pollutants.  The marsh also takes water directly from the bottom filter in a separate cycle, cleaning it as it recirculates back into the canal.

it is the belief of the designer of this system, John Todd, that not only does this system clean the water it filters but that it also distributes micro-organisms that can help clean water downstream.  He suspects that if such a system were to operate over years, it would begin restoring the waters of the canal and the Blackstone River, a result of this experiment which began last year that he will be testing for soon.

John envisions a canal with a continuous band of floating restorers cleaning the contamination and pollution of over two centuries of industrial waste, returning the canal and the Blackstone River to pristine condition.  

John has completed projects similar to this before.  You can read about his Urban Municipal Canal Restorer in Fuzhou, China here [pdf alert]:

http://toddecological.com/clients/PDFs/100623.casestudy.baima.pdf

These are the ecological design principles John Todd uses in building his systems.  Every time I read them, I learn something new.

1.  Geological and mineral diversity must be present to evolve the biological responsiveness of rich soils.

2.  Nutrient reservoirs are essential to keep such essentials as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium available for the plants.

3.  Steep gradients between subcomponents must be engineered into the system to enable the biological elements to evolve rapidly to assist in the breakdown of toxic materials.

4.  High rates of exchange must be created by maximizing surface areas that house the bacteria that determine the metabolism of the system and facilitate treatment.

5. Periodic and random pulsed exchanges improve performance.  Just as random perturbations foster resilience in nature, in living technologies altering water flow creates self-organization in the system.

6.  Cellular design is the structural model as it is in nature where cells are the organizing unit.  Expansion of the system should also use a cellular model, as in increasing the number of tanks.

7.  A law of the minimum must be incorporated.  At least three ecosystems such as a marsh, a pond, and a terrestrial area are needed to perform the assigned function and maintain overall stability.

8. Microbial communities must be introduced periodically from the natural world to maintain diversity and facilitate evolutionary processes.

9.  Photosynthetic foundations are essential as oxygen-producing plants foster ecosystems that require less energy, aeration, and chemical management.

10.  Phylogenetic diversity must be encouraged as a range of aquatic animals from the unicellular to snails to fish are as essential to the evolution and self-maintenance of the system as the plants.

11.  Sequenced and repeated seedings are part of maintenance as a self-contained system cannot be isolated but must be interlinked through gaseous, nutrient, mineral, and biological pathways to the external environment.

12.  Ecological design should reflect the macrocosmos in the microcosmos, representing the natural world miniaturized and reflecting its proportions, as in terrestrial to oceanic and aquatic areas.

from _A Safe and Sustainable World:  The Promise of Ecological Design_ by Nancy Jack Todd

Washington:  Island Press, 2005

ISBN 1-55963-778-1

More information at

Todd Ecological  http://www.toddecological.com

Clark University Living Systems Laboratory  https://wordpress.clarku.edu/fisherville/

CTI Micro-Reduction Technologies, LLC  http://ctigreenpower.com/

By working with Nature, we can create miracles.

The pictures of the Fisherville Canal Restorer and Greenhouse were taken on a tour with the Ecological Landscaping Association (http://www.ecolandscaping.org) on Tuesday, August 6. 2013.

Previously

The Next Industrial Revolution Is Ecological

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/02/1165557/-The-Next-Industrial-Revolution-Is-Ecological

Ecological Restoration:  Cleaning the Fisherville Mill Canal

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/21/1112491/-Ecological-Restoration-Cleaning-the-Fisherville-Mill-Canal

Providential Experimentation

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/26/1190128/-Providential-Experimentation

The Challenge of Appalachia:  Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/05/14/515882/-The-Challenge-of-Appalachia-Comprehensive-Design-for-a-Carbon-Neutral-World

From Coal to a Carbon Neutral World:  Ecological Design for Appalachia

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/07/01/543978/-From-Coal-to-a-Carbon-Neutral-World-160-Ecological-Design-for-Appalachia

Sixpack of Solar: How Many Solar Devices Can You Make from a Plastic Bottle?

How Many Solar Devices Can You Make from a Plastic Bottle?
A clear PET plastic bottle can help disinfect water.
6 hours of sunlight's UV-radiation kills diarrhoea-causing pathogens in water making it safer to drink.
A clear bottle full of water and a little bleach can become a solar skylight, providing the equivalent of a 50w incandescent light to a windowless shack.
Cut the bottom off a clear plastic bottle to make a mini-greenhouse, a hot cap, to protect seedlings from frost.
Surround that bottle hot cap with a circle of other bottles full of water for solar heat storage to extend the growing season.
Here's a bottle inside a bottle inside a bottle to heat water in the innermost bottle
and a variation of this design using a clear bottle, a dark can full of water, and a set of reflectors.
They illustrate the essentials of solar thermal energy:
light reflects
dark gets hot
clear keeps the wind out
With that knowledge you can move, concentrate, and store energy.
This clear plastic water heater is much larger and more practical for household use.  It is made almost entirely from recycled packaging waste.
You can make a window out of plastic bottles, too,
and a south-facing window is already a solar collector.

But that's another story.

Simple Solar Principles

Simple solar principles
dark gets hot
light reflects
clear keeps the wind out
insulation keeps heat in
heat can be stored and moved
and any window that sees sunlight
is already
a solar
collector

Free Energy: Solar and Dynamo LED Keychain Lights

Last year, one of the vendors at NESEA's Building Energy conference (http://www.nesea.org/buildingenergy/) gave away a keychain fob, a little two LED hand crank light.  This year, another vendor gave away three LED solar keychain lights.  A few weeks later, I got another solar LED light as a giveaway from the MIT Energy Initiative.

A little searching found where these promotional gifts are available in bulk:
1.61 @ per 5000 solar keychain lights
http://promotionalproductsonline.com/products/Colored-Solar-Powered-LED-Keylights.html

1.32@ per 5000 hand crank keychain lights
http://www.dhgate.com/top-50-pcs-lot-brand-new-2-led-mini-dynamo/p-ff80808133cfdac80134165da92c2e25.html#s1-1-1

I wonder what happens when these cheap sweatshop trinkets meet the necessary invention of the bottom billion and a third, billion and a half people who do not yet have access to reliable electricity.




In 1988 I visited China.
One evening, I walked out of the White Swan Hotel
on Shamian Island and crossed the bridge
into the city of Guangzhou.
There I saw a line of men
standing behind small folding tables
in closed shop doorways.

Coming closer, I saw that they were rebuilding and
reselling
plastic "disposable" lighters.

I want a solar rechargeable reading light
just as cheap, adaptable, and readily available
as a disposable cigarette lighter.
We need to make it possible
for every child around the world
to read in bed
and dream.

That's one way we could transition to a more renewable economy.

Richard Komp has been practicing another, seeding solar cottage industry systems around the world for the last few decades.  He teaches people how to assemble their own panels, from  AA battery to household, school, or hospital scale, out of raw solar cells.  You can read more about cottage industry solar at
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/25/1196968/-Solar-as-a-Cottage-Industry

Boston Solar House Tour, 1990

A tour of suburban homes and urban apartment houses using solar energy around the Boston area from 1990 or so. Some of these houses were built as early as the 1960s.

Energy Critical Elements

"Energy Critical Elements"

Wednesday, January 16, 2013
1:30p–2:30p
MIT, Building 6-120, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Speaker: Robert Jaffe - Morningstar Professor of Science, Department of Physics
I will then turn to our recent report on "Energy Critical Elements: Securing Materials for Emerging Technologies", describing rare elements' roles in emerging technologies, constraints on availability, and government actions to avoid disruptive shortages.

Web site: http://student.mit.edu/searchiap/iap-9289af8f3b3c7818013b3d15ee340001.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Physics IAP
For more information, contact:  Denise Wahkor
617-253-4855
DENISEW@MIT.EDU

American Physical Society (APS) and Materials Research Society Energy (MRS) Critical Elements report:
http://www.aps.org/policy/reports/popa-reports/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=236337

Since the Chinese have recently monopolized rare earths production, energy critical elements have become a serious economic and policy concern.  The US has responded by engaging in rare earths mining and now produces 20% of some of them.  Australia is also beginning rare earths mining.  If the usual model of capitalistic boom and bust, which we've experienced with the silicon market over the last decade, is any indication, there will be an over-investment in rare earths elements (REE) and then a subsequent bust as the market settles.  However, the fact remains that the US is 90% dependent on imports for critical energy materials.

Some of these energy critical elements include:

Gallium, germanium, indium, selenium, silver, and tellurium, all employed in advanced photovoltaic solar cells, especially thin-film photovoltaics.

Dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium (all REEs), and cobalt, used in high-strength permanent magnets for many energy-related applications, such as wind turbines and hybrid automobiles.
Most REEs, valued for their unusual magnetic and/or optical properties. Examples include gadolinium for its unusual paramagnetic qualities and europium and terbium for their role in managing the color of fluorescent lighting. Yttrium, another REE, is an important ingredient in energy-efficient solid-state lighting.
Lithium and lanthanum, used in high performance batteries.
Helium, required in cryogenics, energy research, advanced nuclear reactor designs,
and manufacturing in the energy sector.
Platinum, palladium, and other PGEs, used as catalysts in fuel cells that may find wide applications in transportation. Cerium, a REE, is also used as an auto-emissions catalyst.
Rhenium, used in high performance alloys for advanced turbines.

Tellurium is one fourth as abundant as gold.  It takes 80 tons of Te to get a gW of peak power in thin film pv solar according to Jaffe.  (However, thin film pv is not the most efficient pv currently available and I doubt that anyone would consider deploying large-scale thin film pv installations.)  The estimated world production of tellurium is 500 tons per year.

Neodymium and praseodymium are used in wind turbines and are about one tenth of world rare earth production.

Terbium production is about 450 tons per year.

Rhenium is perhaps the rarest material with an annual world production between 40 and 50 tons per year.

In the next few years the US will sell off its helium stockpile. Helium is a by-product of natural gas, at 4 parts per billion, but only some natural gas deposits include it and those have not been adequately mapped.

10% of world's silver production now goes into silicon pv contacts.

Almost all of these materials are by-products of other materials and their prices are artificial because of that:
Rhenium with molybdenum
Tellurium with copper (also zinc and lead)
Indium and germanium with zinc
Gallium with aluminum

Thorium is frequently present in rare earth deposits as well but usually disposed of because it is not economic to capture it. As are many other useful materials.  Witness the flaring of gas from the fracking operations in North Dakota.

In addition, as by-materials, they depend upon the main ores and the processes used to produce them.  For instance, copper can be processed in such a way that tellurium is lost.

The report recommends some changes in policy:
a "coordinated response" which is beginning as the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has established a task force on critical and strategic mineral supply chains led by Cyrus Wadia;  the US DOE has selected the Ames Laboratory to house the Critical Materials Institute;  and, although the Bingaman-Murkowski amendment of the energy critical materials bill died in the last Congress, it will be re-introduced in the next Congress with the sponsorship of Ron Wyden and Barbara Murkowski since Jeff Bingaman has retired from the Senate;

"comprehensive, reliable, and up-to-date information on all aspects of the life cycle of ECEs as present information on many of these materials is very uneven";

"research and development to both expand availability and reduce dependency" on such materials and to train scientists and technologists in the field especially since it takes 5-10 years for research and develop substitutes and another 5-15 years to bring new sources online;

and "recycling" as many of these materials are not yet recycled or even tracked through the materials flows of our industrial and commercial systems.

Thomas Graedl of Yale is one scientist working on recycling and materials flows:

"The historical reservoir for the materials used by our technological society has been virgin stocks (ore bodies, mineral deposits, and the like). For a variety of reasons, those stocks may become inadequate or unavailable at some times or places in the future, and the loss of resources by dissipation or discard is often problematic from an environmental standpoint. These issues can be addressed by developing cycles for the stocks and flows of materials of interest, particularly if the cycles are temporally and spatially resolved.

"I, along with my colleagues, have characterized regional and global cycles, current and historic, for copper and zinc, determining the stocks available in different types of reservoirs and the flows among the reservoirs. GIS techniques are used to display some of the results in spatially-gridded form. The work provides a new basis for assessments of resources sustainability, environmental impacts over time, and related policy initiatives."
source:  http://environment.yale.edu/profile/graedel/research

Europe is actually doing some recycling now.  EU Rare Earths Recycling study:  http://reinhardbuetikofer.eu/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Rare-earths-study_Oeko-Institut_Jan-2011.pdf

One company is Solvay
http://www.solvay.com/EN/NewsPress/20120927_Coleopterre.aspx

Of course, there is an industrial association and lobbying group, RARE, the Association for Rare Earth (http://www.rareearthassociation.org/)

RARE is the premier international advocate and opinion leader for rare earth industry suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers dedicated to improving the future through rare earth innovation.

One interesting parallel track Robert Jaffe didn't mention is the Center for Inverse Design
(http://www.centerforinversedesign.org/) which is doing a systematic examination of the periodic table for new and more efficient properties, in some cases using genetic algorithms. Carla Gomes of Cornell is also doing some interesting work on the computational analysis of new materials.  After hearing talks on the Center and then, a few weeks later, Dr Gomes, I alerted her to the Center's work.  I have emailed Dr Jaffe about both and hope that something useful can come from making such connections.

In addition, there's the currently outlandish possibility of nuclear transmutation of elements.  Here is a presentation by Yasuhiro Iwamura of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on transmutation reactions delivered at the American Nuclear Society on November 12, 2012:
http://youtu.be/VefCEaLAkRw

It is always good to remember

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy

But I wouldn't hold my breath in anticipation of such (scientific) miracles.

Occupy Sandy

http://techpresident.com/news/23062/hurricane-sandy-moves-occupy-wall-street-protest-people-powered-recovery

A group of people from the Occupy Wall Street movement is collaborating with the climate change advocacy group 350.org and a new online toolkit for disaster recovery, recovers.org, to organize a grassroots relief effort in New York City.

Occupy Sandy:  http://occupywallst.org/article/occupy-sandy/

Boston TEDX talk by Recovers.org http://www.ted.com/talks/caitria_and_morgan_o_neill_how_to_step_up_in_the_face_of_disaster.html



The combination of the jobs and economic focus of Occupy with the climate change and energy transition ideas of 350.org along with the disaster recovery systems of Recovers.org is a model that can build resilience and preparedness quickly if continued.  Add Solar IS Civil Defense, set the Maker Culture loose, and it just might shade over into Solar Swadeshi, Gandhian economics, a non-violent and restorative open source peer-to-peer economic system where we plan for 100% success for all humanity, to paraphrase R Buckminster Fuller.


First encountered Recovers.org in April, 2012 when Caitria O'Neill, one of the founders, spoke at Harvard.  Morgan O'Neil, Caitria's sister and another of the founders, was working on a PhD in atmospheric science before her hometown of Monson, MA was hit by a tornado and she began disaster recovery work.

Here are my rough notes from that presentation:
4/17/12
Harvard
Recovers.org
Common misconceptions - Red Cross and FEMA organize volunteers, assess needs and donations, or canvass neighborhoods.  They do not do any of these things.
Common problems - Spontaneous volunteers and unsolicited donations (almost never a need for clothes)
[accommodating surges of volunteers, donations, and interest is a problem not confined to natural disasters]
Town/ngo/community responses do not interface optimally now
No centralized info hub
Short window of interest - 50% of web searches on a disaster are in the first 7 days but needs are beginning to be reported only after that first week
Recover.org databases the initial interest information for use later
Use community organizations for long-term recovery
[build resilience, especially for most common emergencies and disasters - flood, fire, blizzard, drought]
Internet communication more organized and prioritized than facebook
Centralized info clearinghouse
Tools:  needs reporting, canvassing, volunteer management, donation databases
Fema pays for 75%, state pays for 15%, town pays for 10% - and volunteer hours can be counted if accounted for.
Recovers.org has a database service that can be deployed online immediately along with a package of tools to take advantage of that initial interest
Post-disaster assistance free
License subscriptions to preparing towns - first sale to five towns in Illinois in response to periodic flooding

Previously:
Planning for After the Storm Emergency and Before the Next One
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/28/1151415/-Planning-for-After-the-Storm-Emergency-and-Before-the-Next-One
Building Resilient Communities:  John Robb at NYC Maker Faire
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/14/1144458/-Building-Resilient-Communities-John-Robb-at-NYC-Maker-Faire
Eating the City and Town:  Todmorden and Beyond
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/05/1125342/-Eating-the-City-and-Town-Todmorden-and-Beyond
My Solutions to Climate Change
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/26/1136484/-My-Solutions-to-Climate-Change
Occupy Green
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/16/1037270/-Occupy-Green

Solar Stove Design Challenge

Solar Cookers International needs new designs for a more durable solar cooker.  For years, people in refugee camps have been using the CooKit, a cardboard and aluminum foil solar reflector with a plastic bag as a "greenhouse" around a blackened pot, to cook food and reduce the need for cooking fuel and the consequent necessity for women and children to leave the relative safety of the camps to look for fuel, exposing themselves to injury, rape, and murder by the very people they've been trying to escape.  The Touloum camp in eastern Chad for refugees from Darfur is one place where these solar cookers have made a real impact.

The design criteria are
the reflector must be waterproof and UV resistant, cost less than US $25 and last for at least five years;
it must hold one or more three to five liter cooking pots;
the greenhouse replacement for the plastic bag should last for at least one but preferable two years or longer;
the reflector and greenhouse must allow the cooking pot to reach temperatures between 250 F/121C and 300F/149C;
both the reflector and the greenhouse must be lightweight, unbreakable and fold flat for shipping;
both must be easy to open and close, easy to clean and easy to store indoors;
the cost of the greenhouse should not exceed $10

Please spread the word as there are 10 million displaced persons and refugees in the world today, many in desert regions where solar cooking could be used, and more than 2 billion people are still cooking every day over open fires.  If solar cookers can reduce a portion of the need for combustible fuels and the resulting black carbon, it would be a great help to the people using them and help reduce local deforestation and climate change almost immediately.

More information at
http://www.solarcookers.org/index.html
http://solarcooking.wikia.com

You can support solar cookers in African refugee camps today through
http://www.solarcookerproject.org/
http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/

One of my favorite solar oven designs was Dr Charles Greeley Abbott's from the early 20th century.  It was a parabolic trough that heated oil as its working fluid.  He built it on Mount Palomar in CA when that area was remote and used a clock and counterweight system to track the sun during the day.  The oven got hot enough to bake bread:  http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/how-to-build-a-solar-cooker-zmaz77mjzbon.aspx

David Gordon Wilson of MIT has been working on another stored heat solar oven using a Fresnel lens to concentrate sunlight on lithium nitrate which can store heat up to 25 hours and produce temperatures of 450º F over that period of time.  They say they'll have a production model available soon.
http://inhabitat.com/wilson-solar-grill-stores-the-suns-energy-for-nighttime-fuel-free-grilling/
http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/39261/173660389.pdf


A few days ago, I remarked to a friend that the annual local solar cooker picnic, usually around summer solstice, hadn't happened this year.  Then I got this notice:

12th Annual Solar Picnic

Saturday, July 28th
11:00 to 3:00 (Solar Noon will be 12:51 PM)
Somerville Community Growing Center, 22 Vinal Ave. Somerville, MA  (near Union Square)
See map: http://www.thegrowingcenter.org/find_us.html

12th Annual Solar Picnic at the Somerville Community Growing Center

Celebrate the sun and another year's growth in the garden. Come and join us for a solar picnic - no gas, wood or charcoal grills, just solar cookers using the energy of the sun!

This event is a simple, traditional pot-luck picnic. No fire, just solar ovens/cookers. We will have a few solar cookers and some space available for you to bring your own. If you want to learn how to build one or see how they work, this is your golden opportunity! For more information see:
http://solarcooking.org

There will also be other solar devices demonstrated (of course, feel free to bring your own) and a good chance to see old friends and meet new ones. A great place for a picnic, the Somerville Community Growing Center is an urban oasis that was designed and built by local residents and is maintained by volunteers. http://www.thegrowingcenter.org

It's a recipe for a fine midsummer's day: friends, fun, food and the sun! Relax, chat, learn and explore the gardens. And when the delicious aroma of solar-cooked cuisine fills the air, come to the table and feast!

Sponsors:   The Boston Area Solar Energy Association: http://www.BASEA.org (a chapter of NESEA).

Somerville Climate Action: http://somervilleclimateaction.org

Previously:
My Solar Christmas
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-solar-christmas.html
Short Term Climate Forces:  Black Carbon, Methane, and Tropospheric Ozone
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/06/1088365/-Short-Term-Climate-Forces-Black-Carbon-Methane-and-Tropospheric-Ozone
Solar as a Cottage Industry
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/15/1055035/-Solar-as-a-Cottage-Industry

Solar IS Civil Defense - what we are all supposed to have on hand in case of emergency - flashlight, cell phone, radio, extra set of batteries - can be powered by a few square inches of solar electric panel.  Add a hand crank or bicycle generator and you have a reliable source of survival level electricity, day or night, by sunlight or muscle power.

This is also entry level electrical power for the 1.5 billion people around the world who do not yet have access to electricity.  Civil defense at home and economic development abroad can be combined in a "buy one, give one" program like the Bogolight (http://www.bogolight.com) which is a solar LED light and AA battery charger.

Solar IS Civil Defense and could be much more.

-------------------------

I wish the mainline environmental groups had been broadcasting practical material like this for the last twenty years or so instead of devoting almost all their advertising to scaring us about climate change.

Simply Questions

Simply Questions about the ecological footprint for children (because adults are too crazy to understand it).

Solar as a Cottage Industry

Richard Komp (sunwatt@juno.com) has been building solar cottage industries in Nicaragua, Niger, Peru, Mali, Rwanda, Pakistan, Mexico, Haiti, India, and Mexico for the last few decades. He teaches people how to build small solar electric systems using factory second photovoltaic cells and assembling them into collector arrays themselves.

Here's a video of his 2009 Pakistan project


One of his latest projects is in Colombia (http://www.mainesolar.org/Colombia2011.pdf PDF alert) at the Universitaria de Investigacion y Desarillo (UDi) in Bucaramanga and uses solar to make more solar: solar cookers are used to encapsulate solar electric panels using ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) instead of silicone. The EVA cures at a temperature near the boiling point of water and the students built two solar cookers big enough to fit 65 watt PV modules. 24 students in one week made six 65 watt PV modules and about 8 solar cell phone chargers, besides studying the design of several different PV systems. One of the solar cookers ended up in a restaurant on the beach while the second was used for making PV modules. "There is about $90 worth of materials in each big cooker," writes Komp.

Komp also gave lectures on solar thermal systems, including solar air conditioning, relevant as the UDi is designing a zero energy addition to their campus, a building where all the electricity, hot water, and air conditioning will be 100% solar powered.

"We designed a lithium bromide absorption air conditioner that ran from heat from an array of 150 evacuated solar water heater tubes. The only electricity the air conditioner will need is to run the pumps and fans since the heat furnishes all the energy needed to produce the chilled water, which will be stored in large insulated tanks for use when cooling is need[ed] at night or cloudy days. All the hot water needed (and then some) will be from the waste heat from the air conditioner system. ($100,000+ in costs)"

Part 1 of Richard Komp's 10 part introduction to photovoltaics series.

http://www.mainesolar.org/Komp.html - reports on Richard Komp's various international projects

Richard is not the only person taking factory seconds to the developing world to make local solar devices locally. Here's a BBC story (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15876602) on making solar cell phone and battery chargers in Kenya through Mark Kragh and KnowYourPlanet (http://www.knowyourplanet.com).

Richard is also not the only person using solar to make more solar as this article about an industrial solar furnace for PV manufacture points out
http://inhabitat.com/nrels-new-optical-furnace-bakes-more-efficient-solar-cells-using-50-less-energy/

Some 30 or more years ago, Solarex talked about building a solar breeder facility where the solar panels on the roof would provide the power to make the solar panels inside the factory. Unfortunately, Solarex never completed its project and no longer exists.

There are other cottage industries that can be built around solar besides solar electricity. Solar ovens have been used in African refugee camps for years now, supported by such institutions as German CARE (http://www.care.de/) and the Jewish World Service (http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/donate/solarcookerproject.html)

Here's a video on a solar cooker workshop held in Nyala, Sudan under the auspices of the Darfur Peace and Development Organization.



This video from German CARE is especially close to my heart because it shows a woman in one of the 3 international displaced person camps they run in Easten Chad using a solar oven and a "haybox" or retained heat cooker to prepare a meal.



The haybox is simply an insulated box into which you place a hot pot. The heat has nowhere to go but into the food. You can also use a stone as a heat reservoir: heat the stone, place it in the box with a pot of food, cook. It's an old, old technique updated with solar. I love these ancient solutions to common problems.

In Tanzania, Robert Lange has been working with the Maasai people adapting an efficient cookstove to their local needs (http://www.maasaistovessolar.org). They have established a small factory to produce them using local materials.

"Lange reports that, 'Our particulate and CO monitors show that the stoves cut indoor smoke by 90 percent. They also reduce the amount of wood use by 60 percent, thereby saving 12 to 15 hours a week of wood-gathering for the woman of each household.'

“'We are finding that householders are willing to pay for stoves if they know they will really save time and eliminate the smoke compromising their children’s health. Maasai typically have little cash but they have goats and cows. If they are able to see value in the stoves, they are ready to sell "a goat and a half" to purchase one. Referring to Lange as "Babu”, they affectionately call the stoves “Jiko ya babu” (Grandpa’s stove).'

"'The numbers also show the potential in business stimulation. The final cost for a stove is about $55. Of this, $10.40 goes to the local brick maker; cement and other building materials cost $8.50 at the local supplier; steel for custom parts is purchased for $12 from the Arusha steel merchants; transport of bricks and labor required to form the steel parts come to about $9.00. And the women’s team that makes the stoves in the homes, building them, maintaining them, and training the householder how to uses them, earns $14 per stove to be divided among team members.'"

Animation of stove design http://www.informmotion.biz/Maasai_stove_v2.html

This 5 gallon solar shower design is also ripe for a locally produced solar cottage industry
http://www.greendiary.com/solar-shower-affordable-solution-healthy-life.html

One of the best introductions to the variety of solar solutions being implemented around the world is The Renewable Revolution by Sajed Kamal. Sajed is another person who has been doing solar internationally for a number of decades. He lives in an apartment house in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston and practices what he preaches:

"It inspires me to look at the 46W stand-alone PV system we installed in our home in 1986. Sitting on the south-facing window sill of our fifth floor condominium unit in the Fenway, with the battery box placed inside and under the window, it has been supplying electricity for a room with two 15W fluorescent lights, a table lamp, a small table fan and a record player diligently and reliably, around the year, for over 20 years! All I had to do was to replace the set of two interconnected 6V, deep-cycle batteries twice. The room is also equipped with a variety of solar cookers - both home-made and factory-made - well-used over the years. The PV system also has the capacity to power our 'Tulsa Hybrid' solar cooker that can cook three ways, day and night, year-round: by direct sunlight, being plugged into the regular household current (110VAC), or by solar electricity from the PV system (12VDC converted to 110VAC through an inverter). Last but not least, the battery in our digital camera too, gets recharged by the PV system."

I know Richard Komp, Robert Lange, and Sajed Kamal personally and thus can say that their work is a labor of love, lasting over many years and now decades. Richard and Robert are always looking beyond their own pockets for support in what they do. You can contact them at their respective websites if you care to contribute.