David Perner's Posts - Urgent Evoke2024-03-28T22:40:54ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPernerhttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2209204000?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=3cfn1m21i2kzb&xn_auth=noFun in the Park with Cryptosporidiumtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-04-01:4871302:BlogPost:752002010-04-01T00:10:39.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
This idea is a little rough, so please be kind, haha.<br></br><br></br>For World Water Day 2020, I am imagining having a costume contest. In each participating city, preferably near a public waterfront of some kind, people come dressed as their favorite water-borne pathogen. The contest could have several categories, such as "best overall costume", "best protozoa", etc. I would imagine this would be a good but not too serious way to educate people as to just how many water-borne diseases are out there…
This idea is a little rough, so please be kind, haha.<br/><br/>For World Water Day 2020, I am imagining having a costume contest. In each participating city, preferably near a public waterfront of some kind, people come dressed as their favorite water-borne pathogen. The contest could have several categories, such as "best overall costume", "best protozoa", etc. I would imagine this would be a good but not too serious way to educate people as to just how many water-borne diseases are out there and, should there be supplemental materials to explain each organism, just how large of an impact they have on the world. <br/><br/>Perhaps as a sub-event there could even be something like a masked-wrestling match, where the competitors are dressed in some way like their respective organisms. The advantage of this is it would make describing their impact less in your face so to speak. By this I mean that in the preamble to the match where the announcer tries to hype up the crowd by describing the competitors, he (or she) could mention how many infections worldwide or even related deaths each one is responsible for under the guise of setting them up as villains for the crowd. I hope this makes sense, but let me know if it doesn't. Thanks!<br/>Getting Clean Water to Scale in Bangladeshtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-31:4871302:BlogPost:750612010-03-31T21:40:08.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
For my ACT4 post, I decided to write about <a href="http://www.veoliawaterst.com/press/?news=2776&src=vwv2_portal">Grameen-Veolia Water Ltd.</a>, a joint venture between Grameen's health and hygiene subsidiary and Veolia Water, a French company. Operated as a social business venture (similar to the joint venture between Grameen and Danone I would imagine) the water purification plant provides water to the area at a nominal cost, which helps to maintain the facility and plan expansion into…
For my ACT4 post, I decided to write about <a href="http://www.veoliawaterst.com/press/?news=2776&src=vwv2_portal">Grameen-Veolia Water Ltd.</a>, a joint venture between Grameen's health and hygiene subsidiary and Veolia Water, a French company. Operated as a social business venture (similar to the joint venture between Grameen and Danone I would imagine) the water purification plant provides water to the area at a nominal cost, which helps to maintain the facility and plan expansion into other areas. <br/><br/>Before going on, I should probably mention why Bangladesh in particular is in such desperate need of such a service. While water (as far as I know) is not scare in Bangladesh, it tends to be highly contaminated with arsenic. This isn't the fault of any man-made phenomenon, but rather a geological one. As a result, most of Bangladesh's water is dangerous, or even lethal to drink.<br/><br/>As far as what to advocate Grameen or Veolia do to increase their impact? Both are highly skilled companies, and Grameen in particular has decades of experience with similar, very successful, projects. My only hope, then, is that they are actively encouraging replicator projects in other areas, so that everyone can benefit from what seems to be a very effective approach. I am also going to try to apply to the Grameen Creative Lab to see if there is a more direct way I can contribute.<br/>The Floating Oasistag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-31:4871302:BlogPost:750242010-03-31T20:55:58.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
While generally I don't like the idea of water desalination (I'm a fan of learning how to make the most of what's available instead of forcing the system to work for you) I recognize that at least in the short term it may become a necessary part of life around the world. To that end, why not try to make this process as benign as possible?<br></br><br></br>I found a company, <a href="http://www.waterstandard.com/">Water Standard</a>, who is trying to do exactly that. Their idea is to get a tanker-type…
While generally I don't like the idea of water desalination (I'm a fan of learning how to make the most of what's available instead of forcing the system to work for you) I recognize that at least in the short term it may become a necessary part of life around the world. To that end, why not try to make this process as benign as possible?<br/><br/>I found a company, <a href="http://www.waterstandard.com/">Water Standard</a>, who is trying to do exactly that. Their idea is to get a tanker-type ship, have it sweep through the sea and return to port loaded with freshwater. The advantage of this approach is that instead of a stationary desalination plant which would cause a considerable portion of a coastline to experience extremely salty conditions, the Water Standard method spreads the effect over a much wider area, helping to minimize the impact such activities have on local ecosystems. This, along with the mobility of the system in the even of an emergency, makes it a very interesting approach.<br/>A Happy, and Renewable, Holiday Seasontag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-31:4871302:BlogPost:750062010-03-31T20:42:47.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
While I don't actually celebrate Christmas, I do enjoy the lights and all the festive decorations around my neighborhood. It has been some time since virtually all Christmas lights phased to LED bulbs, but even with the massive reduction in power consumption, when a couple million people decide to string out hundreds if not thousands of lights a piece, you have to get more energy from somewhere. <br></br><br></br>With the short days, solar isn't really an option. Fortunately, the winter season…
While I don't actually celebrate Christmas, I do enjoy the lights and all the festive decorations around my neighborhood. It has been some time since virtually all Christmas lights phased to LED bulbs, but even with the massive reduction in power consumption, when a couple million people decide to string out hundreds if not thousands of lights a piece, you have to get more energy from somewhere. <br/><br/>With the short days, solar isn't really an option. Fortunately, the winter season coincides with the harsh winter winds that give the wind turbines in the area a little extra juice to run the lights. Especially considering that the run at night when base load is lower and the winds even stronger, we've managed to get dazzling displays every year that don't emit a gram of CO2.<br/><br/>As for me, I've got some beeswax sustainable candles to light ;-)<br/>Homemade wind powertag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-31:4871302:BlogPost:750022010-03-31T20:31:58.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
So it's not completely new, but I would want to design my own homemade wind turbine. I've seen a couple people on the EVOKE network give it a shot, and I've found a couple website that have plans such as <a href="http://www.windstuff.org/">My DIY Wind turbine</a>, <a href="http://thebackshed.com/Windmill/Contents.asp#2">TheBackShed.com</a> and <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Chispito-Wind-Generator/">Instructables</a>. <br></br><br></br>Where my idea would differ from these plans would be cost…
So it's not completely new, but I would want to design my own homemade wind turbine. I've seen a couple people on the EVOKE network give it a shot, and I've found a couple website that have plans such as <a href="http://www.windstuff.org/">My DIY Wind turbine</a>, <a href="http://thebackshed.com/Windmill/Contents.asp#2">TheBackShed.com</a> and <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Chispito-Wind-Generator/">Instructables</a>. <br/><br/>Where my idea would differ from these plans would be cost and safety. While these site advocate finding junkyard or secondhand parts, I would want to see if there is something inherent in the design that can be made simpler and cheaper. Second, on most of the plans I've reviewed, I haven't noticed features like overspeed control (making sure the wind turbine doesn't spin so fast that it damages itself) or some kind of brake to stop the rotor if need be. These two things would make the turbine much more reliable and safe, even if they did add some cost. <br/><br/>As far as being cheaper or more sustainable than my current power source, in Pennsylvania about 50% of our power comes from coal and another 20-30% comes from nuclear. Especially if I use scavenged parts, it's no contest that the power is more sustainable, and considering my biggest personal energy uses are lighting and charging my laptop and cellphone, such a wind turbine might be all I need for the day. My house as a whole still needs heating, cooling, refrigeration, etc., but one thing at a time, haha. <br/>It slices, it dices, it uses renewable energy to run wireless communication and water purification hardware!tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-31:4871302:BlogPost:749922010-03-31T20:18:49.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
So I wanted to find this article I remember reading about a shipping container sized machine someone had developed that contained solar panels, a small wind turbine, and even a biomass generator. The idea was that you could put this thing down in an area and just crank out power, but unfortunately I can't seem to find it anywhere.<br></br><br></br>What I did find was something similar, perhaps even better! This company Ecosphere has created another shipping container sized device which acts as both a…
So I wanted to find this article I remember reading about a shipping container sized machine someone had developed that contained solar panels, a small wind turbine, and even a biomass generator. The idea was that you could put this thing down in an area and just crank out power, but unfortunately I can't seem to find it anywhere.<br/><br/>What I did find was something similar, perhaps even better! This company Ecosphere has created another shipping container sized device which acts as both a wireless hub and a mass water filter. Called the Ecos LifeLink, it can even provide power for local needs such as schools if need be, and runs only on wind and solar energy. You can find more about the <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/it_generates_it.php">Ecos LifeLink here</a>.<br/>The Link Between Poverty, the Environment, and Electricitytag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-19:4871302:BlogPost:479722010-03-19T18:41:05.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
First and foremost, this post is mostly a quote from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind</span> where William Kamkwamba talks about the link between the poverty in rural Malawi and the rampant deforestation that has swept the country. This has special relevance to me because I became interested in environmental issues exactly because you can't build a successful society on a dead planet, and because environmental degradation is a key factor which worsens, or even…
First and foremost, this post is mostly a quote from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind</span> where William Kamkwamba talks about the link between the poverty in rural Malawi and the rampant deforestation that has swept the country. This has special relevance to me because I became interested in environmental issues exactly because you can't build a successful society on a dead planet, and because environmental degradation is a key factor which worsens, or even causes, poverty around the world.<br/><br/>Enjoy.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic;">"Another thing that contributes to our energy problem is deforestation. As my grandpa told me, the country was once covered in forests, with so many trees the trail grew dark at noon. But over the years, the big tobacco farmers estates had taken much of the wood, using it to flue-cure the leaves before bringing them to auction. Local tobacco farmers used more wood to build shelters for drying the leaves, but these structures never lasted more than a season because of the termites. The rest of the wood got used by everyone else for cooking since we had no electricity. The problem got so bad near Wimbe that it's not uncommon for someone to travel fifteen kilometers by bike just tot find a handful of wood. And how long does a handful of wood last?</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">Few people realize this, but cutting down the trees is one of the things that keeps us Malawians poor. Without the trees, the rains turn to floods and wash away the soil and its minerals. The soil - along with loads of garbage - runs into the Shire River, clogging up the dams with silt and trash and shutting down the turbine. Then the power plant has to stop all operations and dredge the river, which in turn causes power cuts. And because this process is so expensive, the power company has to charge extra for electricity, making it even more difficult to afford. So with no crops to sell because of drought and floods, and with no electricity because of clogged rivers and high prices, many people feed their families by cutting down trees for firewood or selling it as charcoal. It's like that."</span> <br/>My First Attempt at Polyculturetag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-17:4871302:BlogPost:396242010-03-17T01:00:16.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
So originally I wanted to volunteer with the <a href="http://www.phillyorchards.org/">Philadelphia Orchard Project</a>, but unfortunately I'm not sure when their next planting will be. I've heard that the epitome of selfless sacrifice for future generations (or something like that) is planting a fruit tree, since it will be most enjoyed by those who have yet to be born. I may yet still get a chance to volunteer with them, but alas, not this week.<br></br><br></br>Yesterday though, my family realized…
So originally I wanted to volunteer with the <a href="http://www.phillyorchards.org/">Philadelphia Orchard Project</a>, but unfortunately I'm not sure when their next planting will be. I've heard that the epitome of selfless sacrifice for future generations (or something like that) is planting a fruit tree, since it will be most enjoyed by those who have yet to be born. I may yet still get a chance to volunteer with them, but alas, not this week.<br/><br/>Yesterday though, my family realized that we had about a dozen potatoes that had started sprouting. With this week's theme being food security I thought, "why not plant a family garden?" Of course, I couldn't just make it that simple. For a while I've been wanting to experiment with polyculture, which is planting multiple crops in the same plot. Usually, the crops complement each other in some way,such as structurally (tall plants provide a place for vines to climb) or nutritionally (beans fix nitrogen while corn needs it in spades).<br/><br/>Starting with the potatoes, I looked up common pairings for it. It turns out legumes (big nitrogen-fixers, of which beans and peas are examples) and daikon radish came up, the first because potatoes need the nitrogen and the second because the radishes help scavenge nitrogen in the soil and act as a cover plant, helping to deter weed growth. On top of it all, the combination of plants is supposed to help deter pests and diseases, since they can't just pump right from one plant to another of the same kind.<br/><br/>I decided to go with daikons and sweet peas to help the potatoes out. It's the first time we've had a garden in the backyard at my parents' place, mostly because we used to have dogs that made it impossible to do any gardening. I tried to pick the spot with the most sun, planted the potatoes first, the peas second, and the radishes last. I'll make sure to update the post once things start sprouting!<br/>Dinner in 2020: more local, more seasonaltag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-17:4871302:BlogPost:395962010-03-17T00:20:29.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
March is one of the more boring times of year for food, and the kids let me know it. Potatoes, celery root, carrots, and other vegetables can only hold you over for so long before you want something more substantial, especially if you're 3 and 5 years old. But in Philadelphia, it's what we have in our 100 mile food radius this time of year, with occasional additions from the backyard greenhouse. There's still food imported from afar, like oranges from Florida and Midwestern grain to make up the…
March is one of the more boring times of year for food, and the kids let me know it. Potatoes, celery root, carrots, and other vegetables can only hold you over for so long before you want something more substantial, especially if you're 3 and 5 years old. But in Philadelphia, it's what we have in our 100 mile food radius this time of year, with occasional additions from the backyard greenhouse. There's still food imported from afar, like oranges from Florida and Midwestern grain to make up the difference if there is one, but mostly we eat local. This is becoming especially important given the increasing emphasis on maintaining nutrient cycles, the increasing difficulties with petroleum-based fertilizers and the decreasing availability of mined fertilizers. <br/><br/>Tonight, I made brazed carrots with (saved) brown rice and some fish for the protein of the meal (thank goodness we live near the ocean!). Overall, the meal's pretty sweet, given the carrots, the honey used in the recipe and the citrus used to marinate the fish. Soon though, the corn will start coming in, along with the berries and melons that make spring and summer a pleasure. The rest of the family and I can't wait! <br/>Philadelphia Food (In)Securitytag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-12:4871302:BlogPost:323392010-03-12T05:35:19.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
Being from (and currently living in) the Philadelphia area, I thought it would be appropriate to look up food security issues in the area closest to me.<br></br><br></br>However, and I may have glossed over it, but there seem to be two different issues with food security. The first is the economically-induced hunger, that is, how many people can't afford food or enough food. The second is the security of the food supply itself, in this case, how vulnerable the food supply is to disruption.<br></br><br></br>On…
Being from (and currently living in) the Philadelphia area, I thought it would be appropriate to look up food security issues in the area closest to me.<br/><br/>However, and I may have glossed over it, but there seem to be two different issues with food security. The first is the economically-induced hunger, that is, how many people can't afford food or enough food. The second is the security of the food supply itself, in this case, how vulnerable the food supply is to disruption.<br/><br/>On the first type of food security, the <a href="http://www.hungercoalition.org/hidden-epidemic">Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger</a> claims that about 1 in 4 people in Philadelphia are at risk for hunger. I'm not sure as to their exact methodologies, but having lived in Philadelphia for all by my college years, it's certainly not a stretch to imagine people in Philadelphia having difficulty paying for food given the poverty in the city.<br/><br/>On the second type of food security, there are a lot of different resources. In addition to <a href="http://www.foodsecurity.org/links.html">several community gardening initiatives</a>, there are other organizations like the <a href="http://www.phillyorchards.org/">Philadelphia Orchard Project</a> who, as their name implies, plans fruit trees and bushes around the city. I even managed to find a rather <a href="http://www.dvrpc.org/food/FoodSystemStudy.htm">comprehensive study</a> conducted by the Delaware Valley Planning Commission, although unfortunately it'll cost you $15 to get. If you're really interested it might be worth it; it looks like they seriously analyzed where Philadelphia's food comes from and how it could become locally sourced. It's really encouraging to know there is an organization advising the area on these issues.<br/>Turning a Quarter of Detroit into Farmlandtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-09:4871302:BlogPost:257162010-03-09T19:02:36.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
<img alt=""></img> So Detroit right now is in a very tricky spot. The city which, at its height, had roughly 2 million inhabitants now has roughly half of that. Beyond the decreased tax base, the city is now stuck with paying for infrastructure (like plumbing and electricity) as well as services (like police patrols) for a city twice its size. The solution they seem to be coming to is rather radical, but could very well save the city.<br></br><br></br>To combat this problem, Detroit is going to shrink. The city…
<img alt=""/>So Detroit right now is in a very tricky spot. The city which, at its height, had roughly 2 million inhabitants now has roughly half of that. Beyond the decreased tax base, the city is now stuck with paying for infrastructure (like plumbing and electricity) as well as services (like police patrols) for a city twice its size. The solution they seem to be coming to is rather radical, but could very well save the city.<br/><br/>To combat this problem, Detroit is going to shrink. The city will buy out property owners, many of whom are the only ones left on their blocks, and relocate them to denser parts of the city (presumably closer to the city center). Then, these houses will be leveled and people are talking about turning the land over to agriculture, sort of a semi-rural farm belt around downtown Detroit.<br/><br/>There are definitely pros and cons to this idea, as <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35767727/ns/us_news-life//">outlined in this article</a>. What are your thoughts?<br/>The Power of Resourcefulnesstag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-07:4871302:BlogPost:203662010-03-07T04:03:37.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
I feel like a one man fan club, but for this EVOKE power I feel I must talk about William Kamkwamba. William, as a teenager in rural Malawi, set out to build a windmill in the hopes that the electricity it would produce would help to break his family and eventually his community and country out of the cycle of poverty. Accomplishing such a task in his situation is no easy feat, and William displayed his resourcefulness in several different ways.<br></br><br></br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Local…</span>
I feel like a one man fan club, but for this EVOKE power I feel I must talk about William Kamkwamba. William, as a teenager in rural Malawi, set out to build a windmill in the hopes that the electricity it would produce would help to break his family and eventually his community and country out of the cycle of poverty. Accomplishing such a task in his situation is no easy feat, and William displayed his resourcefulness in several different ways.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">Local knowledge</span> <br/>The idea for an electricity-generating windmill came from textbooks William's local library was fortunate enough to have obtained. Not only this, but at the time William was studying how to build his windmill, he was unable to attend school due to his family being unable to afford the tuition. To this end, he also used the librarian's knowledge to help him understand the English text when he could not. <br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">Local materials</span><br/>To make the windmill itself, William was extremely creative with what he had available. For the windmill blades, he found PVC pipes, which he then cut in half, heated over fire, and flattened out. The hub of the windmill was fashioned out of an old tractor engine fan. To generate the electricity, he salvaged a bicycle and attached a dynamo to it, with the windmill "pedaling" the bicycle. William even made a circuit breaker, based on an electric bell, to ensure that shorts in the system wouldn't burn his house down. <br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">Local labor</span><br/>In order to perform the welding needed for the windmill, William worked around his village to gain the money he needed to pay a welder to assemble his invention. He also had the help of friends and family in obtaining parts and labor to help construct the tower.<br/><br/>I can only hope that under a similar situation I would have the same resourcefulness, but stories like William's at least give me the inspiration for whatever challenges I might encounter in the future.<br/>Update: My hero to shadowtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-06:4871302:BlogPost:193312010-03-06T17:25:08.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
In my <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blogs/my-hero-to-shadow-1">previous ACT1 post</a>, I talked about William Kamkwamba and the inspiring story of how he built a windmill in his hometown in Malawi with the dream of one day breaking the cycle of poverty in the area. Well, as part of the mission, I sent a friend request to him on facebook, and he accepted! I also just sent him a message on facebook asking if he would be interested in joining the EVOKE network, so I hope he…
In my <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blogs/my-hero-to-shadow-1">previous ACT1 post</a>, I talked about William Kamkwamba and the inspiring story of how he built a windmill in his hometown in Malawi with the dream of one day breaking the cycle of poverty in the area. Well, as part of the mission, I sent a friend request to him on facebook, and he accepted! I also just sent him a message on facebook asking if he would be interested in joining the EVOKE network, so I hope he accepts.<br/><br/>If anyone else wants to friend him, I would encourage you to do so :-)<br/>Grameen- The power of local insighttag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-05:4871302:BlogPost:177352010-03-05T22:51:51.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
For my Game1 submission, I wanted to bring up Grameen as an example of how local insight can make all the difference.<br></br><br></br>From the beginning, the Grameen Bank, and more specifically the founder Muhammad Yunus, defied the expectations of a banking system that did not understand life in the Bangladeshi countryside. Horrified by the suffering of the poor and their inability to move out of poverty for want of fair credit, Dr. Yunus started the Grameen Bank to loan small amounts to the rural…
For my Game1 submission, I wanted to bring up Grameen as an example of how local insight can make all the difference.<br/><br/>From the beginning, the Grameen Bank, and more specifically the founder Muhammad Yunus, defied the expectations of a banking system that did not understand life in the Bangladeshi countryside. Horrified by the suffering of the poor and their inability to move out of poverty for want of fair credit, Dr. Yunus started the Grameen Bank to loan small amounts to the rural poor. His knowledge of the communities he worked in allowed the bank to create the social and monetary systems they needed to not only create a successful bank, but to obtain repayment rates in excess of the more traditional, mainstream Bangladeshi banks.<br/><br/>This insight into the local communities also paid off enormously for Grameen when it expanded into the telecom business. Many people argued that the poor had no need for telecom services, which Grameen was offering in the form of cell phones. However, taking their understanding of the local economics and realities, Grameen produced a model for widespread adoption of cell phones that not only resulted in millions of people now having access to a cell phone across the country, but to thousands of people making a livelihood off the technology.<br/><br/>That's my two cents, let me know what you all think! <br/>Make money, save the world?tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-05:4871302:BlogPost:173222010-03-05T20:13:01.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
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<br></br>So a while back I came across the <a href="https://www.microplace.com/">Microplace website</a>. For those of you who don't know about it, it's a site similar to Kiva where you send money to microfinance institutions around the world. When the money is sent, it acts much like a bond, with you not being able to access the money for a certain period of time, but you earn interest on it quarterly. I've put some money into it, but unfortunately I'm…
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<br/>So a while back I came across the <a href="https://www.microplace.com/">Microplace website</a>. For those of you who don't know about it, it's a site similar to Kiva where you send money to microfinance institutions around the world. When the money is sent, it acts much like a bond, with you not being able to access the money for a certain period of time, but you earn interest on it quarterly. I've put some money into it, but unfortunately I'm not in the position to give any more, haha.<br/><br/>But my question is this: <br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">How can we use instruments like this to amplify the impact our dollars have on the world?</span> <br/><br/>For instance, most of the interest rates for these investments are relatively low, between 1 and 3 percent, but over time the interest snowballs and it can become quite a bit of money. Does it make sense to simply cycle money in the Microplace system (that is, keep both the initial investment and the interest reinvested in Microplace) or does it make more sense to keep it for a few years in Microplace, move it to a higher interest savings account for a while, and then back into Microplace?<br/><br/>If your goal is simply to build an investment that gives more and more back to the world, what's the best, most responsible way to do it?<br/>My response to Simon's Challengetag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-05:4871302:BlogPost:170652010-03-05T19:12:25.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
(This is a Challenge taken from <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blog/list?user=36lh3obl8avbw">Marc Skaf's blog</a>)<br></br><br></br>So just to summarize, at least for my own benefit, the challenge is:<br></br><br></br>For a wireless power system, similar to the one WiTricity is developing:<br></br><ol>
<li>What are the problems in applying this to African development?</li>
<li>How might you implement this technology in poor communities</li>
</ol>
As far as the problems, I see them falling into five…
(This is a Challenge taken from <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blog/list?user=36lh3obl8avbw">Marc Skaf's blog</a>)<br/><br/>So just to summarize, at least for my own benefit, the challenge is:<br/><br/>For a wireless power system, similar to the one WiTricity is developing:<br/><ol>
<li>What are the problems in applying this to African development?</li>
<li>How might you implement this technology in poor communities</li>
</ol>
As far as the problems, I see them falling into five or so categories. <br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">Technical issues</span> <br/>From what I've seen on the WiTricity site, it seems like the power transmission only works over relatively short distances, like around a home. If the hope was a centralized power plant which then broadcast power to the entire nation, I'm not sure that's feasible. There is also usually a limit as to how much power you can fit into a certain amount of air (think, an entire nation's power demand through the air surrounding the antenna) before it breaks down and the system starts suffering massive losses. So from that perspective there may also be issues.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maintenance issues</span><br/>Another issue that comes up frequently in bring new technology to any market is where to fix or replace an item if it breaks. You'd have to find out how durable this technology is, how roughly it may be handled, and what infrastructure could be set up to fix or replace equipment if it breaks.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">Financial issues</span><br/>Cost ultimately is king, especially in impoverished areas. Some of the questions that would have to be asked are: Can people afford the receivers? Can they afford them through a mechanism through micro-loans? Does the added earnings potential of electricity offset or even overcome the cost of the system? Does the nation/state/village have the resources to build the generator/transmitter? Can the people/organizations who own these systems afford the upkeep? I'm sure there are more, but this is usually a good starting point.<br/><br/>Another financial issue is billing. If this is being run as a social enterprise, there has to be a source of income. Who then is billed, and how, in this system, would you keep track of how much people are consuming, assuming their receivers aren't metered? This is also a highly practical problem, as you have to know how much people are demanding on the system to know how much electricity to produce.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">Political issues</span> <br/>This is an odd one, as electricity seems like a pretty apolitical issue. However, on top of whatever rules and regulations exist in a country for electrical production and distribution, you may also have to contend with corrupt officials demanding a slice of the project for themselves. This would be an especially big problem if large central power plants were constructed, as larger scale projects tend to draw more attention. In addition to corruption, you'd also have to look out for state-run monopolies who have no interest in letting competitors into the market, even if they provide next to no service to the country at the moment.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">Local issues</span> <br/>Here the problem is what issues might come up on a local level, such how an individual village or town might choose to share the power distribution or make the most of it. Would it be better to sell the system to individuals, or to those who want to use it for a business like charging cell phone or running lights at night for marketplace sellers booths. I could go on, but how a specific area sees a use for this system is probably the biggest, most varied challenge, so I would spend a lot of effort making sure you understand the market.<br/><br/>I'll stop here for now for the issues. There are even more than this, but I hope it gives you an idea as to what to look out for and what to consider.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold;">Implementation</span><br/>In my own point of view, I think the best initial plan would be to set up a village-level system. That is, have some power system in the village, preferably renewable, that would then run through the power transmitter. This way you can better expand incrementally without having to find the capital to build major infrastructure. It also gives you the opportunity to better customize the system for a specific market, as well as how to figure out who is paying for the system and how the payback will work. Also, it would recognize that the power transmission range is most likely limited and play into the technology's strengths. I would, however, weigh the cost/benefit of a wireless system against a wired or even household power system.<br/><br/>Hope this is all useful... let me know if I can be of any more help!<br/>What is renewable energy's future in Africa?tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-05:4871302:BlogPost:153762010-03-05T04:47:34.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
These are taken from a previous post I did, but I wanted to make it its own discussion if I could. From the maps I've found, Africa looks to have enormous renewable energy potential, fair better in many cases than the industrialized nations that are now investing heavily in it. I know several African nations, like Kenya, get a lot of their power from hydro, but for a continent just building its infrastructure, is there a way to make renewable energy more prevalent and available to the people…
These are taken from a previous post I did, but I wanted to make it its own discussion if I could. From the maps I've found, Africa looks to have enormous renewable energy potential, fair better in many cases than the industrialized nations that are now investing heavily in it. I know several African nations, like Kenya, get a lot of their power from hydro, but for a continent just building its infrastructure, is there a way to make renewable energy more prevalent and available to the people who need it? <br/><br/>The following two images show Africa's wind and solar potential respectively. For the first, better wind potential is in brighter shades of green, and for the solar map, better photovoltaic potential is in deeper shades of red/brown.<br/><br/><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2146415094?profile=original" alt=""/></p>
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<br/>My daily life in South Africa (circa 2020)tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-05:4871302:BlogPost:151342010-03-05T02:52:48.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
Letting me dream about the future is a little dangerous, but let's see where it goes.<br></br><br></br>In 2020, I'm working for a company in South Africa similar to <a href="http://betterplace.com">Better Place</a>, which provides electric vehicle charging infrastructure, such as charge points and battery swapping stations. On a usual day, I'm traveling to communities, both rural and urban, to help determine how to best design renewable energy infrastructure for electric vehicle charging as well as to…
Letting me dream about the future is a little dangerous, but let's see where it goes.<br/><br/>In 2020, I'm working for a company in South Africa similar to <a href="http://betterplace.com">Better Place</a>, which provides electric vehicle charging infrastructure, such as charge points and battery swapping stations. On a usual day, I'm traveling to communities, both rural and urban, to help determine how to best design renewable energy infrastructure for electric vehicle charging as well as to meet community needs. This way we can meet a wide variety of goals including decreasing carbon emissions, providing South Africa with desperately needed generation capacity, electrifying communities and providing them with the means to sell their products in farther-flung markets. Also, since the vehicles and batteries are built in South Africa with South African minerals, the company has helped to bring greater industrial development to the country. <br/>My hero to shadowtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-04:4871302:BlogPost:145612010-03-04T22:44:08.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
It's odd for me to list as a hero someone who's the age of my younger brother, but as I mentioned in my last post, William Kamkwamba certainly qualifies as a hero. As a teenager, William built a wind mill with the hope of one day breaking him and his community out of the cycle of poverty that grips the Malawi countryside. His determination, courage and vision makes him someone I admire.<br></br><br></br>There are many ways to follow what William is up to. The first is his…
It's odd for me to list as a hero someone who's the age of my younger brother, but as I mentioned in my last post, William Kamkwamba certainly qualifies as a hero. As a teenager, William built a wind mill with the hope of one day breaking him and his community out of the cycle of poverty that grips the Malawi countryside. His determination, courage and vision makes him someone I admire.<br/><br/>There are many ways to follow what William is up to. The first is his <a href="http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/">blog</a>, which contains a lot of the initiatives he's part of now including his efforts to get wind power built in his hometown of Wimbe. You can also follow him on twitter @wkamkwamba. In addition to several fan pages, you can also friend him on facebook (assuming it's actually him, haha). I just sent an invitation, let's see if he accepts! <br/>Innovation in Africa: Best advice (and one I take exception with)tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-04:4871302:BlogPost:142502010-03-04T21:00:00.000ZDavid Pernerhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/DavidPerner
From my own research into African development (and really, development anywhere) is that understanding the people, the culture, the environment and the constrains of an area are crucial to the success of any solution. This might be a bit of a cop out, since this could also include economic considerations and a variety of other <a href="http://designinafrica.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/innovation-in-africa-tips/">African development tips</a>, but the example of solar ovens is a good one.…
From my own research into African development (and really, development anywhere) is that understanding the people, the culture, the environment and the constrains of an area are crucial to the success of any solution. This might be a bit of a cop out, since this could also include economic considerations and a variety of other <a href="http://designinafrica.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/innovation-in-africa-tips/">African development tips</a>, but the example of solar ovens is a good one. <br/><br/>On the surface, solar ovens make a lot of sense. They need no fuel, which is in increasing shortage in Africa, they produce no pollutants and can be made for next to nothing. However, they have never really caught on. One of the main reasons is that many communities only cook at night, or like the post I mentioned earlier, prefer to stir food or some other constraint that makes solar ovens more of a hassle than it's worth, at least in terms of time and convenience. This is why understanding is key in development, as without it even the most obvious solutions to you or I will fall flat in their intended area of use.<br/><br/>However, I have to take exception with the idea that you should only innovate on existing platforms in Africa. This might be for the simple reason that the advice is contradictory. The bicycles and cell phones used as an example for platforms on which to build are not native African technologies. They were imported, and so saying that new technologies have no place in African development I think is not only false, but a disservice to Africa and the developing world as a whole.<br/><br/>I myself used to be quite a skeptic to the contrary I must admit. But as I started learning more about what Africans from around the continent are asking for and what they are going through great lengths to obtain, my opinion shifted. I would like to share two examples, that of William Kamkwamba and the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee. <br/><br/>William Kamkwamba, a Malawian, as a teenager, faced the ridicule of his community, friends and family to build a wind turbine with nothing but what he could find in his village. But his reasons for doing so were nothing if not extremely practical. First and foremost, he built the wind turbine after suffering through a famine in Malawi beyond anything I can comprehend. Many people died, and those who survived were often left in precarious economic conditions, having sold everything they own to get the food they needed. William vowed to never let this happen to his family and community again, and built the wind mill to generate the electricity he needed to have light to study at night, and even one day to power a pump to bring water to his family's fields, making them not only free of the rains that had caused the famine, but even able to have two crops a year instead of just one. Electricity here wasn't seen as a luxury, but as a key to development and even survival.<br/><br/><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234177406?profile=original" alt=""/></p>
<br/><br/>William also built the wind mill, to a much lesser extent, to help break the environmental cycle of poverty in Malawi. Malawi is a heavily deforested country, and the degraded land quality only exacerbates the poverty that fuels deforestation in the first place. If enough electricity could be generated to run an oven or heater, it could help address that problem as well. <br/><br/>If you would like to follow William, you can read <a href="http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com">his blog here</a> (let's not even talk about how the internet, another import, has helped his story, and life for that matter!).<br/><br/>The next example is the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee. While admittedly very controversial, the SECC reconnects residents of one of South Africa's poorest areas, Soweto, to the electrical grid if their power has been turned off by the South African utility Eskom. The SECC even prides itself on its professionalism and claims its connections are at least as good as Eskom's. But their reasons for this behavior are compelling. The SECC sees electricity, again, not as a luxury, but as a service of vital importance to people in Soweto. Again, to deny that higher technology has no place in African development denies the realities on the ground. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8376400.stm">You can read more about the SECC here.</a><br/><br/>Finally, I would like to finish with two images. The first is a wind potential map of Africa, with brighter shades of green indicating better wind quality on a global scale. The second is the solar photovoltaic potential of Africa, with deeper brown showing the better potential. <br/><br/><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2146415094?profile=original" alt=""/></p>
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<br/>Both these maps show that the wind and solar potentials in Africa are at least as good, if not better, than many developed nations. In fact, the continent of Africa has, overall, better solar quality than the nation of Spain, which has a huge solar power sector. Does advanced technology really have no place in development? Or are we just limiting African development because of our own preconceptions?<br/> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8376400.stm"></a>