Today was for the most part spent doing documentation and getting the booklet printed out.
The booklet.-
The rationale behind the instructional take away booklet is that I wanted to produce something that anyone throughout the world could use to be able to create a bike generator. I have not yet in my research have found distinctive step by step how to plans on producing power from a bicycle. Also language becomes a barrier and since putting up the site I have heard from people from several countries that speak very little English interested in knowing more about being able to empower themselves through power on demand. So I have created the document to be completely graphic based to assist people in walking through the instructions. I have checked this with several people and made many corrections to hopefully make it as easy to get through as possible. The other interesting factor is planning out a document that does not rely on color to assist you in moving through it. So now we have a fully image based, black and white document that explains how to take apart a bike, build your own stand, and hook up a generator to a series of lights. It was a very good design challenge and directly related to my thesis. Knowledge is the first step at empowering people and empowerment is the first step for people to take charge of their own lives and create their own source of energy.
With a stack of 50 take-away booklets sitting on my desk in A-1 format we walk down to “Viva” market and purchased the light bulbs that we need for Friday. It was very interesting to walk around the market; so much of culture is based on the food they eat. For one thing peanut butter is almost non-existent here, when I asked some locals if they have ever had it, they say yes but they don’t like it and would prefer Nutella. We shop around for awhile and make our purchases.
Based on quality of the ginger cookies I ate that night I also think that I was born to be eastern European. The amount of sugar in even the sugary things here seems be half that of what I have found in the US. That is not to say that they do not have twenty variations on the Kit Kat bar that have never seen the shelves in our country, but overall the feeling I have received thus far has been of less sugar. We walked down Mother Teresa blvd and discuss that even though it would be interesting to duck into some shops, neither one of us are really the shopping type. My wonderful host then takes me to a fantastic bakery where we eat French style cheesecake for dinner and drink mint tea. The cheesecake and conversation were wonderful until I heard a strange smacking sound from behind me. I take a quick glance and a younger couple are going full boar into a make out session. Beings that we are the only two tables in the restaurant this feels a bit awkward and last way too long. After dinner we take a very relaxing walk back up the hill to campus in a complete downpour. I had a raincoat with me but refused to wear because my walking partner was without one and I thought it to be a bit rude to be dry while watching someone else completely dripping.
Monday started after a great night of sleep, I woke up with the intention of meeting Hasan to try to find generators for the Pedal Power workshop I am running coming up on Friday. Walked down stairs and left my key with the hotel (it’s just what they do here), he offered me a breakfast and noticed that I was in a hurry so he mentioned that by no means did I have to eat so I took the offer and went about my way.
I arrived at the school and was given a lap top to use for the next few days and then met up with Hasan, we agreed to meet after lunch and he would take me to “his guy.” I went to office and started the long process of documentation for the trip and the upcoming conference.
I meet up with Hasan at the agreed upon time and we jump in the AUK SUV and here we go. While driving, he talks to me about how he used to work on cars and was quite familiar with what I was doing, which put me at ease a bit. He also talks about the importance of the idea of power on demand and how he has tried successfully before to make his own windmill out of bike parts. He also mentioned how strange it feels to have gone so far backwards during his time here. He has grown up here and lived here through the war and is now seeing the aftermath. He talks about a time that there was not power shortages and the streets were not all torn up. He says it’s never been a bad place to live but now he sees more people that need work. The thought had not occurred to that was actually a time before the war, a time when people were happier and did not have to worry about not having enough electricity or their water shutting off from time to time. Hasan sounds optimistic and tells me that he sees things getting better all time, but with improvement come trouble. All the new technology that keeps coming out such as computers and cell phones all takes up mass amounts of energy. When the energy that they have for the day is used up then they must go without. At times that can be hours or at critical moments or when they need heat for their homes.
We continue twisting around the streets and head up a large hill to a narrow street where Hasan asks me to get out, because if I did not I would not be able to after he parks. I get out and look down below at the city then at the yard that has now popped up where a house used to be. From where I am it’s about a 20 foot fall to the yard and the old foundation. I shimmy up the sidewalk toward a man who is eyeing Hasan and assisting him park and then I hear a loud crack. I hope that these guys are old friends because Hasan just rammed into the front of what seems to be this guy’s car. In most places in New York if this was to happen someone would most certainly lose their temper, but in this situation it all seems fine. The man signals me to follow him into this open garage with the skeleton of a 67 ford mustang rusted out with green paint on it sitting in the middle. He immediately starts speaking to me…in Armenian. I wait politely for him to finish and give him a queer look and say excuse me. He stares at me and snickers; Hasan is here now and starts to help translate. The man shows me two old generators that have been pulled from what I think would have to be old Volks Wagons. I think they should work and he is insistent this will do the trick. He also tells me that he is going to mount them to the bike stands so that they have maximum tension. He is speaking my language without a word of English. His shop for having enough junk in it to get whatever scrap that you need is nicely organized and quite clean. It is very reminiscent of the Rochester community bikes organization. I try to thank him gratefully because he has basically down everything I was nervous about doing myself. In fact there was very little that I have actually had to do myself while I have been here. In one sense has been disappointing, and in another sense has been wonderful to see that everyone is excited enough to help out with this. We leave the generators with him and go to the next shop to buy some electrical cable and tape. As we are parking I noticing all the people just hanging around the city, the time is about 1:30pm so I sort of shrug it off to a late lunch. When we walk into the shop, it’s a little smaller then my hotel room and has a very familiar smell of cigars. I pick some cable and we decide if we need tape then we walk out. I am sort wondering why we did not have to pay or how we have really not paid for anything today. I have heard people explain to me that Hasan is just someone who is connected, so I hesitate and still ask “so how come we have not had to pay for anything yet?” Hasan explains it me and sheds a whole lot of light about how things work there. It’s nothing suspicious or illegal, but still I am not going to go blabbing about it on the internet. With that we go back up the hill to the campus and he tells me about how he loves his job more than anything, sometimes, he says it is hard because you have to do some jobs that you do not really want to do but the good stuff very much outweighs the bad stuff.
For dinner that night we ate at a small Italian style restaurant down town and I get risotto with mixed seafood. Sven drops by and we get free Raki, this one is more the true style, and taste of anise. This is something that is good for one round a night; I don’t think you would ever want more than one. We stay and talk for four hours and then head home.
I arrived at the school and was given a lap top to use for the next few days and then met up with Hasan, we agreed to meet after lunch and he would take me to “his guy.” I went to office and started the long process of documentation for the trip and the upcoming conference.
I meet up with Hasan at the agreed upon time and we jump in the AUK SUV and here we go. While driving, he talks to me about how he used to work on cars and was quite familiar with what I was doing, which put me at ease a bit. He also talks about the importance of the idea of power on demand and how he has tried successfully before to make his own windmill out of bike parts. He also mentioned how strange it feels to have gone so far backwards during his time here. He has grown up here and lived here through the war and is now seeing the aftermath. He talks about a time that there was not power shortages and the streets were not all torn up. He says it’s never been a bad place to live but now he sees more people that need work. The thought had not occurred to that was actually a time before the war, a time when people were happier and did not have to worry about not having enough electricity or their water shutting off from time to time. Hasan sounds optimistic and tells me that he sees things getting better all time, but with improvement come trouble. All the new technology that keeps coming out such as computers and cell phones all takes up mass amounts of energy. When the energy that they have for the day is used up then they must go without. At times that can be hours or at critical moments or when they need heat for their homes.
We continue twisting around the streets and head up a large hill to a narrow street where Hasan asks me to get out, because if I did not I would not be able to after he parks. I get out and look down below at the city then at the yard that has now popped up where a house used to be. From where I am it’s about a 20 foot fall to the yard and the old foundation. I shimmy up the sidewalk toward a man who is eyeing Hasan and assisting him park and then I hear a loud crack. I hope that these guys are old friends because Hasan just rammed into the front of what seems to be this guy’s car. In most places in New York if this was to happen someone would most certainly lose their temper, but in this situation it all seems fine. The man signals me to follow him into this open garage with the skeleton of a 67 ford mustang rusted out with green paint on it sitting in the middle. He immediately starts speaking to me…in Armenian. I wait politely for him to finish and give him a queer look and say excuse me. He stares at me and snickers; Hasan is here now and starts to help translate. The man shows me two old generators that have been pulled from what I think would have to be old Volks Wagons. I think they should work and he is insistent this will do the trick. He also tells me that he is going to mount them to the bike stands so that they have maximum tension. He is speaking my language without a word of English. His shop for having enough junk in it to get whatever scrap that you need is nicely organized and quite clean. It is very reminiscent of the Rochester community bikes organization. I try to thank him gratefully because he has basically down everything I was nervous about doing myself. In fact there was very little that I have actually had to do myself while I have been here. In one sense has been disappointing, and in another sense has been wonderful to see that everyone is excited enough to help out with this. We leave the generators with him and go to the next shop to buy some electrical cable and tape. As we are parking I noticing all the people just hanging around the city, the time is about 1:30pm so I sort of shrug it off to a late lunch. When we walk into the shop, it’s a little smaller then my hotel room and has a very familiar smell of cigars. I pick some cable and we decide if we need tape then we walk out. I am sort wondering why we did not have to pay or how we have really not paid for anything today. I have heard people explain to me that Hasan is just someone who is connected, so I hesitate and still ask “so how come we have not had to pay for anything yet?” Hasan explains it me and sheds a whole lot of light about how things work there. It’s nothing suspicious or illegal, but still I am not going to go blabbing about it on the internet. With that we go back up the hill to the campus and he tells me about how he loves his job more than anything, sometimes, he says it is hard because you have to do some jobs that you do not really want to do but the good stuff very much outweighs the bad stuff.
For dinner that night we ate at a small Italian style restaurant down town and I get risotto with mixed seafood. Sven drops by and we get free Raki, this one is more the true style, and taste of anise. This is something that is good for one round a night; I don’t think you would ever want more than one. We stay and talk for four hours and then head home.
After a restless night listening to the wild dog packs that patrol the neighborhood and a band that was celebrating Albanian Flag Day I awoke early and walked down town with Lyndsey and Julia to meet up with some other staff members at a small café. When walking down the streets of Pristina you are constantly stepping on top of garbage, I was informed that this was because when the country was communist, what was yours you kept in your home, what you placed on the street or in public was the problem of the government to take care of. This helps explain a lot, when looking at the store fronts you should never judge a book by its cover. The café we run into is on an ally type street and is not decimated on the outside but is not what we consider to be a typical “nice” storefront. As soon as you open the door you see that the place is immaculate and the smell of baked goods and coffee enlivens the senses. The interior design is personal and lively such as if Starbucks was a small independent store with a real fashion sense. Everything is thought out and works together, the chairs are made to sit and have long conversation, and the drinks are made with an artistic nature and sense of pride that is well deserved. I found out later after getting about half way through the best macchiato that I have ever had, that this was the first restaurant in Kosovo that you actually go up to the counter to order. That is saying a lot since it just opened two months ago. This experience continues throughout the day going from small café to small café and falling in love with stunning interiors and the amazing food.
From there I get a walking tour from a local who works with AUK, through the city down to the newly unveiled Gold Bill Clinton Statue. The statue obviously says a lot about Kosovo culture and the locals for the most part very much dislike it. My immediate assumption was that they had issue with erecting a large statue of someone from another country who has mixed reactions from his home country. I was wrong, the people that I have spoken to about it actually just really dislike that the statue looks nothing like Bill, and It literally could be anyone. It makes me think of Harrison Ford being frozen in carbonate. The hands on the statue are just enough out of proportion to make it look very odd, also there are creases in the clothing that stand out in a very stiff way to make the jacket seem as if it was made of rough cut steel. I would say this is the perfect example of fear of commitment to an idea. That being said apparently the street named after him and the two giant billboards were not enough.
That night we were invited to a house above the city with an amazing view. The other plus of this is that owners with both architects and had designed the entire loft space apartment with huge windows looking out over the city. They also make their own wine and were very generous with the tastings. It was of course fantastic.
From there I get a walking tour from a local who works with AUK, through the city down to the newly unveiled Gold Bill Clinton Statue. The statue obviously says a lot about Kosovo culture and the locals for the most part very much dislike it. My immediate assumption was that they had issue with erecting a large statue of someone from another country who has mixed reactions from his home country. I was wrong, the people that I have spoken to about it actually just really dislike that the statue looks nothing like Bill, and It literally could be anyone. It makes me think of Harrison Ford being frozen in carbonate. The hands on the statue are just enough out of proportion to make it look very odd, also there are creases in the clothing that stand out in a very stiff way to make the jacket seem as if it was made of rough cut steel. I would say this is the perfect example of fear of commitment to an idea. That being said apparently the street named after him and the two giant billboards were not enough.
That night we were invited to a house above the city with an amazing view. The other plus of this is that owners with both architects and had designed the entire loft space apartment with huge windows looking out over the city. They also make their own wine and were very generous with the tastings. It was of course fantastic.
Arrived 11/28/09
After exiting the time warp machine that we have created through air travel, I have arrived in Pristina Kosovo. From the air looking down it seems like a very hilly upstate NY. This being the first time that I have traveled internationally my naïve expectations of this place being completely foreign on all fronts were met with self reflected laughter upon realizing that the earth is the earth is the earth. Nature always shares similar features, it’s always some sort of soil that lies underneath your feet. As I peer out the window of our Air Berlin extremely impressive airplane I notice the flora is reminiscent to that of northern California during the winter months; varied tints of sepia and yellow fill a seemingly desaturated landscape. It does not help that there is so much cloud coverage and it is November. In that sense it is also like Upstate NY, the grayness that we have come to associate with a long winter approaching. I notice the difference in the how the houses are laid out. On an earlier flight over the Washington DC area, you see veins of roads alienated with white Victorian houses and their divvied out one acre plot of green land affixed with pool or trampoline. At the edge of that property begins another property. Here staring out the window is different, the houses are collected in clusters with no real form as to how they come together. Surrounding them is wide open pasture, the kinds that you can still find in some of the more central northern states in the U.S. Upon touching down we exit the plan and board a shuttle which travels about 100 feet from plan to customs. Although it seems frivolous it is a very welcoming way to corral everyone from plane to security. After collecting our various luggage Bill Myers, Lyndsey McGrath, and myself walked out into a sea of people that were awaiting their loved ones. If I had to liken the experience to something I would say it must feel similar to what it feels like to exit a rock concert, except instead of people greedily asking for signatures they are greeting you and welcoming you to their country.
The ride from the airport starts out on a bumpy dirt road; the roadsides are lined with garbage, mostly water bottles. The first groups of houses are small farm houses with tall fences, the tops of which are wrap with razor wire. There are cars pulled over on all sides of the roads and men standing around in black leather jackets smoking cigarettes and eyeing the traffic as we fly by. As a car passes us crossing into oncoming traffic and pulls up onto what I thought was a sidewalk the feeling hits me, I have just entered a very different world with a very different set of rules. I fortunately was asked to be sit "shotgun" so that I could experience the beauty of Kosovo driving first hand. Our driver Hasan Salihu (Operations Manager for American University in Kosovo) was very capable. What you don't read in the visitors guide book is the custom for driving is traffic laws are more of a suggestion than enforcement. Drivers weave in and out passing each other constantly there seems to be a notion of lanes, but it’s not same feeling that you have in United States. The feeling that you have an invisible wall separating you from oncoming traffic is nonexistent. People seem to have figured out a way to navigate each other knowing what the other car will do and speed around like it’s an old time comedy film where the chase scene is sped up.
As we approach the city we see tilled soil and Bill cannot help but notice that it seems much for fertile than what he is used to in Croatia. He says that in Croatia the soil is abundant with Rocks, so much so that getting good farm land becomes an ever growing task. Hasan mentions that in Kosovo they have been moving further and further away from farming. He talks about how small farms are not sustainable. The initial cost is far too great after you add the amount of work into for what you receive monetarily and the end of the growing season. We have now reached the city limits and the pattern of buildings that boarder the roadside is shocking. The first building seems about to fall down, the bottom has some sort of store front with broken glass and the upper floors have no face at all. The skin of the building seems to be peeling itself away from the structural aspects. This is not a renovation; this is time and war torn. The type that repairs may not be able to fix, the type that you may just want to start over from scratch because you are not sure how structurally sound the foundation could possibly be. The open soil around has covered all parts of the white stucco with a film of dirt unevenly spread from back to front. The pollution from the road makes a gradient with the dirt that later meets from the top down with the soot that is falling from the sky. The next is a few very tight stacks of bricks that make up a brand new slab skeleton. Its cleanliness stands out as does its hollowness. The style seems to be almost brutalist, square and very vacant. It’s obvious that this project has been stagnant for quite some time. All the makings are there but it seems that finances are so that the job could not have been finished. The third is a brand new four story building with extremely modern architecture; this seems to be someone’s home. Everything about it sparkles and looks excessive. The colors used are bright and feel like neon against the brown and yellow desaturated landscape. The entire front is tinted glass and seems to have the appearance of a bastard son of Frank Gerry. The shapes are rounded in strange ways, if I had to compare it to an object I would have to say a very over designed toaster.
It’s similar to walking through a used car lot and viewing an old tan Buick skylark, a hollowed out frame of a new Volkswagen Touareg and then a bright yellow Prius. The contrast is brutal but gives a hint of some sort of progress. This contrast runs throughout Kosovo culture; a land that is creating a new history and is constantly in development in an economy with no support.
Upon arrival at American University at Kosovo, I received a brief but in depth tour of the school highlighting the creativity of the students that spreads through all of the four floors of AUK’s only educational building. The building next door to the University is the Luxor Hotel, my shelter for the next 12 days. Not at all as it was explained to me, the Luxor is a great hotel, but also has led me to the first observation of design. When entering a new building with new customs, you expect certain things to be different. You do not expect simple things to change, like the shape of light switches, or how to flush the loo. What I love most about Kosovo thus far is this, Objects, not all objects but most and especially the things that you interact with the most are thought out and well designed. Case in point… the light switch. On an object that you must flick on and off constantly, would you want to flick a stick or a square flat yet rounded soft surface? The Stick is abrasive; it also juts out from the wall in a way that seems to injure the passerby in any way possible. Also after thinking about how much we actually use the light switch, it does not seem to be a smart idea to have a thin sharp rectangle that comes out of the wall. The other thing that I have found amazing about these phenomena is that it’s very difficult to find information about these sorts of switches. A Google search does not seem to come up with any just results. For being such a technologically advanced country (USA) we certainly have not given any thought to the everyday things in our lives. From door handles to wall outlets we have neglected such things in our country, this is an area of the future of design. We have become so jaded with making Cell Phones and Toasters we have not taken the time to improve the everyday necessities that constantly add to our daily stress levels. Is this not one of the goals of design? To assist in improving our everyday lives. Some things to think about, perhaps we have not become “dumb” as a country but we have become “numb” to the things that are not up to par in our lives.
Dinner-
Dinner was set at a lovely restaurant the next building up from my temporary home at the Luxor. The name of the place was ¬¬¬______. As I walked to the restaurant I notice large cow prints in the dirt sidewalk underneath my feet. I was told the herd grazes through this area quite commonly. Turning left and meandering through a rocky vine strewn path we reach a stone structure with the warm glow of a large fireplace inside. The interior is something else that we are now missing in our culture of chain restaurants as, it’s as rustic as a true cabin found in the middle of the woods. You could feel the handcrafted decor and tell how much time had been spent over the years perfecting the nuances of the wine and coat racks. We sit at a white linen table and are treated like royalty but the courteous staff. Dinning this evening was the president of the college along with his wife, the Director for the center for energy studies along with his wife (who makes amazing “American” cookies) Bill Myers ( a new faculty member) Julia (another new Faculty member) Lyndsey McGrath, and myself. A little know fact is that Albanian bread is the best bread in the world. What’s great about this is that not only is that true, but it also that a majority of Kosovo is inhabited by Albanians. After perusing the menu, the waiter brought us a plate full of a variation of the fish that was to be served that night. I will not even try to write out most of these names, but I was told that beyond the fantastic calamari, the trout was one of the best served in the world and only cost 8 euro’s. This fish was served whole and was delicious, no special seasoning, just grilled over real flames and served with some side dish vegetables. Dinner was great and the conversation even after being awake for 27 hours was energetic and absolute. When everyone had finished their meals there was an offer of desert or Raki. Raki is a non-sweet anise-flavored spirit popularly consumed in Turkey and the Balkans as an aperitif in particular alongside seafood and mezze. It is produced in the Balkans from distilling pomace, similar to Italian grappa. It is a must try for anyone who love to experience new things.
After exiting the time warp machine that we have created through air travel, I have arrived in Pristina Kosovo. From the air looking down it seems like a very hilly upstate NY. This being the first time that I have traveled internationally my naïve expectations of this place being completely foreign on all fronts were met with self reflected laughter upon realizing that the earth is the earth is the earth. Nature always shares similar features, it’s always some sort of soil that lies underneath your feet. As I peer out the window of our Air Berlin extremely impressive airplane I notice the flora is reminiscent to that of northern California during the winter months; varied tints of sepia and yellow fill a seemingly desaturated landscape. It does not help that there is so much cloud coverage and it is November. In that sense it is also like Upstate NY, the grayness that we have come to associate with a long winter approaching. I notice the difference in the how the houses are laid out. On an earlier flight over the Washington DC area, you see veins of roads alienated with white Victorian houses and their divvied out one acre plot of green land affixed with pool or trampoline. At the edge of that property begins another property. Here staring out the window is different, the houses are collected in clusters with no real form as to how they come together. Surrounding them is wide open pasture, the kinds that you can still find in some of the more central northern states in the U.S. Upon touching down we exit the plan and board a shuttle which travels about 100 feet from plan to customs. Although it seems frivolous it is a very welcoming way to corral everyone from plane to security. After collecting our various luggage Bill Myers, Lyndsey McGrath, and myself walked out into a sea of people that were awaiting their loved ones. If I had to liken the experience to something I would say it must feel similar to what it feels like to exit a rock concert, except instead of people greedily asking for signatures they are greeting you and welcoming you to their country.
The ride from the airport starts out on a bumpy dirt road; the roadsides are lined with garbage, mostly water bottles. The first groups of houses are small farm houses with tall fences, the tops of which are wrap with razor wire. There are cars pulled over on all sides of the roads and men standing around in black leather jackets smoking cigarettes and eyeing the traffic as we fly by. As a car passes us crossing into oncoming traffic and pulls up onto what I thought was a sidewalk the feeling hits me, I have just entered a very different world with a very different set of rules. I fortunately was asked to be sit "shotgun" so that I could experience the beauty of Kosovo driving first hand. Our driver Hasan Salihu (Operations Manager for American University in Kosovo) was very capable. What you don't read in the visitors guide book is the custom for driving is traffic laws are more of a suggestion than enforcement. Drivers weave in and out passing each other constantly there seems to be a notion of lanes, but it’s not same feeling that you have in United States. The feeling that you have an invisible wall separating you from oncoming traffic is nonexistent. People seem to have figured out a way to navigate each other knowing what the other car will do and speed around like it’s an old time comedy film where the chase scene is sped up.
As we approach the city we see tilled soil and Bill cannot help but notice that it seems much for fertile than what he is used to in Croatia. He says that in Croatia the soil is abundant with Rocks, so much so that getting good farm land becomes an ever growing task. Hasan mentions that in Kosovo they have been moving further and further away from farming. He talks about how small farms are not sustainable. The initial cost is far too great after you add the amount of work into for what you receive monetarily and the end of the growing season. We have now reached the city limits and the pattern of buildings that boarder the roadside is shocking. The first building seems about to fall down, the bottom has some sort of store front with broken glass and the upper floors have no face at all. The skin of the building seems to be peeling itself away from the structural aspects. This is not a renovation; this is time and war torn. The type that repairs may not be able to fix, the type that you may just want to start over from scratch because you are not sure how structurally sound the foundation could possibly be. The open soil around has covered all parts of the white stucco with a film of dirt unevenly spread from back to front. The pollution from the road makes a gradient with the dirt that later meets from the top down with the soot that is falling from the sky. The next is a few very tight stacks of bricks that make up a brand new slab skeleton. Its cleanliness stands out as does its hollowness. The style seems to be almost brutalist, square and very vacant. It’s obvious that this project has been stagnant for quite some time. All the makings are there but it seems that finances are so that the job could not have been finished. The third is a brand new four story building with extremely modern architecture; this seems to be someone’s home. Everything about it sparkles and looks excessive. The colors used are bright and feel like neon against the brown and yellow desaturated landscape. The entire front is tinted glass and seems to have the appearance of a bastard son of Frank Gerry. The shapes are rounded in strange ways, if I had to compare it to an object I would have to say a very over designed toaster.
It’s similar to walking through a used car lot and viewing an old tan Buick skylark, a hollowed out frame of a new Volkswagen Touareg and then a bright yellow Prius. The contrast is brutal but gives a hint of some sort of progress. This contrast runs throughout Kosovo culture; a land that is creating a new history and is constantly in development in an economy with no support.
Upon arrival at American University at Kosovo, I received a brief but in depth tour of the school highlighting the creativity of the students that spreads through all of the four floors of AUK’s only educational building. The building next door to the University is the Luxor Hotel, my shelter for the next 12 days. Not at all as it was explained to me, the Luxor is a great hotel, but also has led me to the first observation of design. When entering a new building with new customs, you expect certain things to be different. You do not expect simple things to change, like the shape of light switches, or how to flush the loo. What I love most about Kosovo thus far is this, Objects, not all objects but most and especially the things that you interact with the most are thought out and well designed. Case in point… the light switch. On an object that you must flick on and off constantly, would you want to flick a stick or a square flat yet rounded soft surface? The Stick is abrasive; it also juts out from the wall in a way that seems to injure the passerby in any way possible. Also after thinking about how much we actually use the light switch, it does not seem to be a smart idea to have a thin sharp rectangle that comes out of the wall. The other thing that I have found amazing about these phenomena is that it’s very difficult to find information about these sorts of switches. A Google search does not seem to come up with any just results. For being such a technologically advanced country (USA) we certainly have not given any thought to the everyday things in our lives. From door handles to wall outlets we have neglected such things in our country, this is an area of the future of design. We have become so jaded with making Cell Phones and Toasters we have not taken the time to improve the everyday necessities that constantly add to our daily stress levels. Is this not one of the goals of design? To assist in improving our everyday lives. Some things to think about, perhaps we have not become “dumb” as a country but we have become “numb” to the things that are not up to par in our lives.
Dinner-
Dinner was set at a lovely restaurant the next building up from my temporary home at the Luxor. The name of the place was ¬¬¬______. As I walked to the restaurant I notice large cow prints in the dirt sidewalk underneath my feet. I was told the herd grazes through this area quite commonly. Turning left and meandering through a rocky vine strewn path we reach a stone structure with the warm glow of a large fireplace inside. The interior is something else that we are now missing in our culture of chain restaurants as, it’s as rustic as a true cabin found in the middle of the woods. You could feel the handcrafted decor and tell how much time had been spent over the years perfecting the nuances of the wine and coat racks. We sit at a white linen table and are treated like royalty but the courteous staff. Dinning this evening was the president of the college along with his wife, the Director for the center for energy studies along with his wife (who makes amazing “American” cookies) Bill Myers ( a new faculty member) Julia (another new Faculty member) Lyndsey McGrath, and myself. A little know fact is that Albanian bread is the best bread in the world. What’s great about this is that not only is that true, but it also that a majority of Kosovo is inhabited by Albanians. After perusing the menu, the waiter brought us a plate full of a variation of the fish that was to be served that night. I will not even try to write out most of these names, but I was told that beyond the fantastic calamari, the trout was one of the best served in the world and only cost 8 euro’s. This fish was served whole and was delicious, no special seasoning, just grilled over real flames and served with some side dish vegetables. Dinner was great and the conversation even after being awake for 27 hours was energetic and absolute. When everyone had finished their meals there was an offer of desert or Raki. Raki is a non-sweet anise-flavored spirit popularly consumed in Turkey and the Balkans as an aperitif in particular alongside seafood and mezze. It is produced in the Balkans from distilling pomace, similar to Italian grappa. It is a must try for anyone who love to experience new things.
Pedal-Powered OLPC Laptop for Kids in Afghanistan (Video)
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 10.13.09
Science & Technology
Buzz up!
A prototype for a pedal-powered charging option for OLPCs was created OLPC Afghanistan so children can still have access to the computers even during power outages. The station charges the laptop while it is being used, and can be run without difficulty by typical 3rd and 4th grade children.
There's one way to get all the extra energy out of a kid during class time! OLPC Afghanistan states, "The system connects the Freeplay hand crank with pedals underneath to enable the XO to be used as long as desired at home, into the night, etc; and it requires no additional or backup battery."
The laptops have very low power requirements in the first place - a significant reason why they were created at all - so keeping them charged in this manner would be practical.
Beyond Bicycles
The Gossamer Albatross crossed the English Channel in 1979. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossamer_Albatross
The Gossamer Albatross crossed the English Channel in 1979. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossamer_Albatross
This is a call for work – Artists, Thinkers, Creators – We seek your human-powered machines, bicycle-based inventions, and interactive kinetic sculpture. In May of 2010, Rock Paper Scissors Collective is hosting BEYOND BICYCLES a celebration of the art, science, and politics of harnessing human power. Our inspiration is the bicycle, a simple machine that has transformed our experience of moving through the world. We see the bicycle as possibility, the tip of the big ol’ iceberg of human potential energy.
BEYOND BICYCLES will be an exhibition documenting the many ingenious uses of human power past and present. The Gallery space at Rock Paper Scissors Collective is limited so large works will only be displayed during opening night. Our month long exhibition will consist of a collection large color photographs of works, accompanied by a printed zine. There will also be a web zine which will be more extensive than the printed version.
We invite you to send us your work – past, present and future. What do you do with your potential and what do you believe is possible? Please send us digital images (no more than 10M at a time), specifications and descriptions. If you have video, please send us a link. We will accept proposals if your work is as yet unrealized. Include your contact information and let us know whether or not your work will be available for the May 7th opening. If your work is chosen, please be prepared to write a one to three page piece (how-to, history, etc.) about it for the exhibition zine.
The submission deadline is March 15th.
Send entries to:
gallery _at_ rpscollective _dot_ com.
By post:
2278 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland CA 94612
Written by a Professor at M.I.T. David Gordon Wilson, a singular work devoted to the history, physiology, mechanics and physics of cycling.
Reviews.
"Bicycling Science is the bible for bicycle and human-powered vehicle development. It offers the reader a good understanding of the technical aspects of bicycle design, as well as a look back at where we've come from, and perhaps where we're going. Everyone involved in the bicycle industry should read this book—a real gem."
—Bob Bryant, Publisher, Recumbent Cyclist News
"Bicycling Science is the ultimate fundamentals book in cycle science. The third edition of this highly respected work is more comprehensive and better than ever—rigorous in its scholarship, yet clear and entertaining, at times even lighthearted. Wilson sets out what is established and known on the physics of cycles and human power, and identifies open questions and directions for ongoing research. For anyone with a deep interest in cycling science and human power, this book is simply essential."
—Richard Ballantine, President, International Human Powered Vehicle Association
This is a section taken from the book "Pedal Power", in work Leisure and transportation, by James C. McCullagh. Rodale Press, Inc. it was found on the website http://www.green-trust.org/2000/pedalpower/ppch1.htm and will be a major influence my own history write up.
Pedal Power
Chapter 1 - Human Muscle Power in History
By David Gordon Wilson
"The sweat of the brow is daily expended by millions, and daily millions of sighs are wrung from the tormented frame of the bent and weary in the pursuit of providing food." Rudolf P. Hommel wrote this after living for eight years in China in the 1920s studying Chinese tools and crafts. His aim was to "give a fairly complete picture of Chinese life, as lived by millions of people today, a life in which there has been no considerable change for thousands of years."
That picture is, I believe, one which we all have of our forebears in any culture except, perhaps, those few tropical paradises where we are taught to believe that the inhabitants just sat under the banana trees and coconut palms eating their fruits whenever they wished. My remembrances of growing up in England in the thirties and forties are certainly closer to the Chinese model than to that of the Pacific islands. During World War II we all had large vegetable gardens carved out of tennis courts and the like, and I look back without longing at the back-breaking weeding, watering, and the "double-digging" (double-depth trenching the plots, with manure in the lower part of the trenches). The only mechanization we had was my homemade bicycle trailer which carried the five-gallon cans of water and the manure. The fork, the spade, and the hoe were the principal tools; and they used, or misused, our bodies painfully. We could utilize only a small proportion of the energy output of which we were capable because of the twisting contortions which these implements demanded of us. How different from the relative comfort of a bicycle, with a choice of gear ratios to suit the load and the terrain.
I have worked on farms in England, Scotland, and Germany and have lived among farmers in Nigeria. In all these places the tractor was beginning to take over those tasks which could be most easily mechanized. But this meant that the manual labor which was left to be done was generally the least susceptible to relief given by the application of mechanical aids. We shoveled endless quantities of manure; we hoed the weeds from almost invisible crops; and we picked up potatoes from the mixture of earth and stones thrown up by a speeding tractor with a rotary digger. We did not feel that we were much better off than our more ancient ancestors.
What is remarkable about the historical use of muscle power is not only how crude it generally was, but that when improved methods were tried, they were generally not copied and extended. There were three ways in which the application of human muscle power could fall short of the optimum. First, the wrong muscles could be involved. We find time and again that people were called upon to produce maximum power output, for instance in pumping or lifting water from a well or ditch, using only their arm and back muscles. It seems obvious to us nowadays that to give maximum output with minimum strain we must use our leg muscles, not incorrectly called our second heart.
Second, the speed of the muscle motion was usually far too low. People were required to heave and shove with all their might, gaining an occasional inch or two. A modern parallel would be to force bicyclists to pedal up the steepest hills in the highest gears, or to require oarsmen to row boats with very long oars having very short inboard handles.
Third, the type of motion itself, even if carried out at the best speed using the leg muscles, could be non-optimum in a rather abstruse way. Here is the best example I know of: Dr. J. Harrison of Australia took four young, strong athletic men and a specially built "ergometer" – a device like an exercise bicycle in which the power output could be precisely measured. He wanted to settle the controversy as to whether oarsmen produced more or less power than bicyclists, and he reproduced the leg and arm motions required for rowing racing boats (or "shells") and pedaling racing bicycles. He found (somewhat to his surprise, no doubt) that there was negligible difference between the power output produced in these two very different actions by the same athletes after they had practiced long enough to become accustomed to each.
Then he tried some old, and some possibly new, variations. He fitted elliptical chainwheels in place of the normal circular types to the cranks of the bicycle-motion devices. These chainwheels were made in Europe in the thirties to reduce the apparently useless time spent by the feet at the top and bottom of the pedaling stroke in bicycling, and correspondingly to increase the more useful time when the legs are going down in the "power" stroke. He found that some of his subjects, but not all, could produce a little more power with the elliptic chainwheel than they could before. Then he changed the ergometer so that, instead of the rowing motion usually found in racing boats where the feet are fixed and the seat slides back and forth, the seat was fixed and the feet did the sliding. This time all his subjects produced a perceptible increase in power output. The reason was apparently that they did not have to accelerate so high a proportion of their body mass at each stroke.
In normal rowing, after the oarsman has driven the oars through the water by .straightening out his legs and body, he must then use muscles to eliminate the kinetic energy produced with such effort in the body. Harrison investigated the effects of using mechanisms which automatically conserved this kinetic energy. He used various types of slider-crank motions, like those of a piston in an automobile cylinder. He called these "forced," as opposed to the normal "free," rowing motions; and he found that all his subjects produced a substantial increase over their previous best power outputs in rowing or bicycling. What is more, this improvement held for as long as the tests went on. One subject, apparently Harrison himself, could produce no less than 2 horsepower (1.5 kilowatts of mechanical output) for a few seconds, and a more-or- less continuous output after five minutes of a half horsepower, still 12 percent or so above his best output by other motions.
This careful, scientific work enables us to look with a better perspective at the use of human muscle power in the past. Until Harrison did his work, no one could agree as to which muscle action was best to use for racing or for steady, all-day work. Even now, six years after wide publication of his results, no one to my knowledge has grasped the significance sufficiently to apply this new in-formation to ease the lot of anyone who has to use muscles in his daily work or to increase the speed of people who race. And, incidentally, other research by Frank Whitt in England has shown that power output measured by ergometers may be substantially lower than that produced by the same persons using the same muscle actions when bicycling or rowing because the absence of the self-produced cooling wind results in dangerously overheating the body. As pointed out earlier, few of the motions used historically to harness human muscle power incorporated any intrinsic cooling action. They were mostly of the slow, heaving variety, so that our unfortunate forebears had to cope with heat stress on top of the use of usually inappropriate muscles moving against resistances which were too large at speeds which were too low. If in the future we run out of the earth's stored energy and have to resort to that of our bodies, we should be able to look forward to considerably greater comfort while we are working – if the results of modern research are applied.
The Manpower Plow of Shantung
This was, and possibly still is, a plow operated by two men, one pushing and one pulling. Rudolf Hommel found it still being used in China in the twenties. "Shantung is very much overpopulated, and poverty is therefore much in evidence.... [I]t is therefore not surprising to find today a primitive plow, which for lack of draft animals has to be served by man to pull it. There is a baseboard with a cast-iron share at one end. Two uprights are firmly mortised into the baseboard, the rear one of which, farthest from the share and bent backward, resembles the handle of one of the ancient one-handled European plows, but is not so used. Instead of grasping the upper end of this upright in his hands, as in the old western plow, the plowman, leaning forward and down-ward, presses his shoulder against it, while his two hands grasp the two projecting ends of a cross peg-handle driven through the lower part of a curved upright. Thus in a very ingenious manner, he not only guides but pushes the plow."
Figure 1-1 The Shantung plow
For this arduous task, both plowmen used their leg muscles, which are the most appropriate muscles for the duty. The motions are too slow to be efficient (in engineering we call this a poor "impedance match"), and most of the other muscles and body frame are strained painfully to apply the force produced by the leg muscles. One hopes that it was used only in soft ground. In the rocky soil of New England its use would be exquisite torture.
I have started with this plow because we have so good a description of it, complete with a knowledge of how it was used. In most historical cases, we have just old illustrations which were made for purposes other than for showing the details of the mechanisms or the precise way in which they were used. We can usually guess intelligently enough. But before we leave the manpower plow, consider how you would perform the same task today. I know of no purchasable alternative to the fork and spade – for either of which my back has no great affection. Certainly the Rodale winch described in Chapter Three is a solid advance. We will be discussing various other alternatives in the chapter on futuristic uses of manpower.
In the examples which follow, I am not attempting historical completeness: I have chosen them as interesting illustrations of how muscle power has been used in the past for a variety of tasks. I am grouping them by the muscles and motions employed.
Handcranking
This is perhaps the most obvious means of obtaining rotary motion, and man has been using it for centuries. The earliest known handcranked device was a bucket-chain bilge pump found on two huge barges used by the Roman emperors and uncovered when Lake Nemi was drained in 1932.
Figure 1-2 The bucket-chain bilge pump (Reproduced by permission of Doubleday & Company, Inc.)
Figure 1-3 Bucket-chain water lifter (Courtesy of Friedrich Klemm)
Figure 1-4 Chinese endless-chain water lifter (courtesy of Martha Hommel)
Agricola, writing in 1556, showed a complicated hand cranked transmission for driving a similar bucket-chain water lifter. He also showed a bucket-chain being assembled. An endless-chain water lifter was also used in China in much later times. It was different in two respects. Instead of buckets, the water was trapped by boards sliding in a trough. One would think, however, that this would be less efficient because of friction and leakage. In addition, levers were attached to the cranks, with all the lost motion and top-dead-center problems they entailed. Presumably the levers were used to give a more comfortable working position for the ground-mounted trough.
Leonardo da Vinci shows concern for the comfort of the user in his drawing of a textile winder with a handle at a convenient height and with a winder-drum of a diameter giving what will presumably be a near-optimum rate of action. Leonardo uses gearing for the same reason – obtaining a good "impedance match" – in his design of a file-cutting machine in which the crank is used to raise a weight at a speed to suit the operator, and the weight subsequently delivers energy at an optimum rate to the drop-hammer cutter.
Figure 1-5 Leonardo's file-cutting machine (Courtesy of Friedrich Klemm)
An earlier crank-driven screw-cutting lathe was obviously not designed by Leonardo.
Figure 1-6 Screw-cutting lathe (Courtesy of Friedrich Klemm)
One can imagine the difficulty of simultaneously turning a high-resistance load with a small crank in one hand while trying to control the cutting process with the left hand.
Two much more modern examples of handcranking are taken at random from the Science Record of 1872: the air pump for an undersea diver and what looks like a multiple stirrer for a nitro-glycerine-manufacturing process. These seemed to be low-torque applications of muscle power. A high-torque application which scarcely needs illustration was the old hand-wringer, which I used to try to turn for my mother. This was rather similar to the fifteenth century screw-cutting lathe in that while the right hand turned a heavy and fluctuating load, the left hand had to perform a difficult and hazardous control function.
A variation of the handcrank was used in China in the form of a "T-bar" attached to the crank. The use of this simple connecting rod enabled the use of both hands and/or one’s chest or belly to contribute to overcoming the resistance.
Figure 1-7 Air pump for undersea diver
Figure 1-8 Nitro-glycerine factory
Levers Actuated by Arm and Back Muscles
Until the arrival of the sliding-seat scull, oars were moved predominantly through the action of the arms and back. Battles among warships were won by the boat which could pack in the most oarsmen. Ameinokles of Corinth in about 700 s. c. built boats to accommodate three rows of oarsmen in a staggered arrangement on each side; with al-most 200 oarsmen, it could travel at seven knots and became the standard battleship of the Mediterranean.
At the other end of the warlike scale were the pipe organs designed by Ktesibios in Alexandria in the third century before Christ. The air pump was a rocking lever which could be operated with two hands. There was little difference in the external appearance, at least, from the hand-pumped organ used in our church in England when I was a boy. (My father fitted it with one of the first electric blowers used for the purpose, at least in our area of the country.)
Figure 1-9 Pipe organs (Reproduced by permission of Doubleday & Company, Inc.)
I was extremely happy that my latest attempt at a google search ended up with this classic, which is now on its way to RIT with care from Connect NY.I will give a more defined write up after it gets here.
Until then, here is the description from the website.
http://www.green-trust.org/2000/pedalpower/default.htm
CHAPTER ONE:
Human Muscle Power in History --
David Gordon Wilson
The Manpower Plow of Shantung
Handcranking
Levers Actuated by Arm and Back Muscles
Capstans
Treadmills
Legs on Treadles
Leg Muscles Used in Cranking
Pedal Power in the Workshop
CHAPTER TWO:
Pedal Power on the Land: The Third
World and Beyond -- -Stuart S. Wilson
Transportation
Stationary Pedal Power
The Dynapod
The Winch
Pedal Drives for Irrigation Pumps
Pedal Drives for Borehole Pumps
CHAPTER THREE:
Multiuse Energy Cycle: Foot-Powered
Generator -- Diana Branch
The Energy Cycle
Genesis of an Idea
Testing Program
Refinements in Design
Winch
Homemade Foot-Powered Generator
Materials
Building Instructions
Rear-wheel Bicycle Adapter
Materials
Building Instructions
CHAPTER FOUR:
American Tinkerer: Further Applications
of Pedal Power -- John McGeorge
The Frame
The Jackshaft
The Flywheel
Making a Flywheel
The V-belt Pulley
Possible Applications
Trash Can Washing Machine
The Wood Saw
Water Pumping
The Pitcher Pump
Log Splitter
Cider Press
CHAPTER FIVE:
Treadle Power in the Workshop -- Mark Blossom
Hand-Made Toys
Construction
Renaissance of Hand Crafts
CHAPTER SIX:
The Future Potential for Muscle Power --
David Gordon Wilson
High-Power Devices
Low-Power Special-Feature Devices
Low-Power "Convenience" or "Status" Devices
Need for Improved Muscle-Power Delivery Systems
A Recumbent Bicycle
A Pedaled Lawn Mower
Pedaled Boats
Yacht Battery-Charging Generator
Irrigation Pumps
Tire Pumps
Saws
Sewing Machines, Typewriters
Cooling Fans
Delivery Vehicles
Railbike
Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) Systems
CONCLUSION
POSTSCRIPT
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
How I am creating current-Problem Statement (rough draft in progress)
Right now as your reading this there is someone struggling to find time to create shelter, there is someone who has lost a percentage of this years income due to not being able to process their harvest, There is someone else who has no income to feed their family.
Without access to reliable electrical energy, it becomes more difficult to survive in the post-industrial and developing worlds. Deprivation of electricity also deny the use of other significant technologies including: powered-lights, radio, medical devices, agricultural equipment(s), as well as devices for metal and wood-work, which provide valuable shelter(s) that would otherwise be constructed of lesser materials. Before we can adequately discuss the need for power, we must first concertize the definition of power.
"Empowerment is the process of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes. Central to this process are actions which both build individual and collective assets, and improve the efficiency and fairness of the organizational and institutional context which govern the use of these assets"(Source ?).
Let us refer to electric-based power in the context of this thesis simply as power. One way that power is defined is:to inspire; spur; sustain, to use power correctly enables the achievement of goals that would otherwise be too laborious and time consuming if done by conventional means. Power in this sense empowers the intended user. This empowerment comes not merely in the electrical sense, but also in a personal state of achievement and independence.
By permitting users to create their own power, we are creating a direct connection from device to user. This connection removes the power company from the situation, and frees the users to create their own personal power grid. This leads to the personal empowerment of the user(s) who needs not rely on power companies, the government or a foreign agency, that charge for use of electricity.
Number of people living without electricity
Some pros and cons of different methods of Alternative Power for electricity.
Solar Power-
+ Our sun is the greatest source of energy we know about it today, it comes to us freely and is efficient. It is very possible that solar power can replace traditional electricity sources in many places, especially where there is abundant sunshine.
- Unfortunately not all places are ideal for solar power. In the areas at high latitude there is not enough sunlight in a day to produce efficient energy, and the same for places where it rains a lot. Its also expensive and costly to repair. Solar energy is spread relatively thinly. If a solar thermal generator is to produce much electricity it has to cover a large area.
Wind Power-
+ Wind is very efficient at producing electricity. Obviously you need a lot of wind, like along coast lines and at high altitudes. Wind power could replace up to 20% of our total electric consumption in the foreseeable future. Wind is a clean source of energy with none of the harmful byproducts like carbon dioxide.
- However the huge blades of the windmills do pose a danger to birds and you need a lot of room to build a sufficient number of windmills. It can be expensive and difficult to maintain also because its a central power supply if something goes wrong, people are without power until that problem can fixed. Costly start up. Power storage while there is no wind
Hydro-electric Power-
+ This type of power is mainly sourced from dams. The production of electricity from the water movement is clean and it does not produce waste material.
- However, the ideal type of places to build this is very limited and it is very expensive to build the dams. Energy Expansion is not possible using Hydro-electric without more dams.
Tidal energy-
+ Tidal energy work much in the same way as hydroelectric energy, but on a smaller scale, and it uses the natural tides of the ocean.
- Because of the sometimes violent and unpredictable nature of the ocean, they can not be constructed in many places. So far only about 9 places have been identified to build this kind of power plants. And these power plants can have a negative impact on migratory birds and also fisheries. Energy Expansion is also not possible through the use of Tidal Power.
Geo thermal-
+Sustainable, low cost, non polluting.
- It can only be developed in selected volcanic areas, so it can never be a major contributor to the world energy supply
Pedal Power
+ sustainable, Low cost, non polluting, great exercise, easy to set up, easy to maintain, easy to grow, just add more bikes. Annual world bicycle production is currently estimated to be at 108,799,200 units. cars production is not slowing down either, so if you use car alternators and batteries you have a constant surplus of power supply
- limited amount of power, power storage, power storage can be expensive and unhealthy for the environment. but, if you hire people to pedal all the time then storage is not a problem
Other forms of energy such as fusion, geothermal and nuclear power can power the world, but they all have some negative impact on the environment.
and the winners are...
Pedal Power and wind power seem to be the most feasible uses of personal power or small group power they are both relatively cheap and mechanically simple so that you do not need to be an engineer to set up this systems. That being said what is the answer, do you simply use both or what if there was a system that you could create that would utilize both wind and pedal power? The downfall to the windmill is that what do you do when there is no wind if having a power storage device is truly a large problem? what if you could make a way that on days that there is little to no wind or on days that you needed to produce more power you could attach a pedal power device to a windmill to ensure your energy, or is it simply preferable to use pedal power. A system that you are in full control of would most definitely ensure your empowerment but it could also make you a slave to the device. I feel the best solution would be some sort of hybrid unit that could be created anywhere that is easily utilized by any person or group who aspires to be their own power supplier.
Right now as your reading this there is someone struggling to find time to create shelter, there is someone who has lost a percentage of this years income due to not being able to process their harvest, There is someone else who has no income to feed their family.
Without access to reliable electrical energy, it becomes more difficult to survive in the post-industrial and developing worlds. Deprivation of electricity also deny the use of other significant technologies including: powered-lights, radio, medical devices, agricultural equipment(s), as well as devices for metal and wood-work, which provide valuable shelter(s) that would otherwise be constructed of lesser materials. Before we can adequately discuss the need for power, we must first concertize the definition of power.
"Empowerment is the process of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes. Central to this process are actions which both build individual and collective assets, and improve the efficiency and fairness of the organizational and institutional context which govern the use of these assets"(Source ?).
Let us refer to electric-based power in the context of this thesis simply as power. One way that power is defined is:to inspire; spur; sustain, to use power correctly enables the achievement of goals that would otherwise be too laborious and time consuming if done by conventional means. Power in this sense empowers the intended user. This empowerment comes not merely in the electrical sense, but also in a personal state of achievement and independence.
By permitting users to create their own power, we are creating a direct connection from device to user. This connection removes the power company from the situation, and frees the users to create their own personal power grid. This leads to the personal empowerment of the user(s) who needs not rely on power companies, the government or a foreign agency, that charge for use of electricity.
Number of people living without electricity
1.6 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live without electricity:
Breaking that down further:
| Region | Millions without electricity |
|---|---|
| South Asia | 706 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 547 |
| East Asia | 224 |
| Other | 101 |
Some pros and cons of different methods of Alternative Power for electricity.
Solar Power-
+ Our sun is the greatest source of energy we know about it today, it comes to us freely and is efficient. It is very possible that solar power can replace traditional electricity sources in many places, especially where there is abundant sunshine.
- Unfortunately not all places are ideal for solar power. In the areas at high latitude there is not enough sunlight in a day to produce efficient energy, and the same for places where it rains a lot. Its also expensive and costly to repair. Solar energy is spread relatively thinly. If a solar thermal generator is to produce much electricity it has to cover a large area.
Some forms of solar power require substantial amounts of cooling water.
The sun's position in the sky is continually changing so most solar thermal generators have to include expensive machinery to keep them pointed in the right direction.
Solar thermal electricity is expensive, US$0.20 to $0.28/kWh.
Wind Power-
+ Wind is very efficient at producing electricity. Obviously you need a lot of wind, like along coast lines and at high altitudes. Wind power could replace up to 20% of our total electric consumption in the foreseeable future. Wind is a clean source of energy with none of the harmful byproducts like carbon dioxide.
- However the huge blades of the windmills do pose a danger to birds and you need a lot of room to build a sufficient number of windmills. It can be expensive and difficult to maintain also because its a central power supply if something goes wrong, people are without power until that problem can fixed. Costly start up. Power storage while there is no wind
Hydro-electric Power-
+ This type of power is mainly sourced from dams. The production of electricity from the water movement is clean and it does not produce waste material.
- However, the ideal type of places to build this is very limited and it is very expensive to build the dams. Energy Expansion is not possible using Hydro-electric without more dams.
Tidal energy-
+ Tidal energy work much in the same way as hydroelectric energy, but on a smaller scale, and it uses the natural tides of the ocean.
- Because of the sometimes violent and unpredictable nature of the ocean, they can not be constructed in many places. So far only about 9 places have been identified to build this kind of power plants. And these power plants can have a negative impact on migratory birds and also fisheries. Energy Expansion is also not possible through the use of Tidal Power.
Geo thermal-
+Sustainable, low cost, non polluting.
- It can only be developed in selected volcanic areas, so it can never be a major contributor to the world energy supply
Pedal Power
+ sustainable, Low cost, non polluting, great exercise, easy to set up, easy to maintain, easy to grow, just add more bikes. Annual world bicycle production is currently estimated to be at 108,799,200 units. cars production is not slowing down either, so if you use car alternators and batteries you have a constant surplus of power supply
How many bicycles are there in the world?
It is estimated that more than a billion bicycles are present in the world, with nearly half of them in China. Below is a table with the major countries:
| Country | Quantity | Year |
| China | 450,000,000 | 1992 |
| USA | 100,000,000 | 1995 |
| Japan | 72,540,000 | 1996 |
| Germany | 62,000,000 | 1996 |
| India | 30,800,000 | 1990 |
| Indonesia | 22,300,000 | 1982 |
| Italy | 23,000,000 | 1995 |
| UK | 20,000,000 | 1995 |
| France | 20,000,000 | 1995 |
| Brazil | 40,000,000 | 1996 |
| Netherlands | 16,500,000 | 2000 |
| Canada | 10,150,000 | 1992 |
| Spain | 6,950,000 | 1995 |
| Sweden | 6,000,000 | 1995 |
| South Korea | 6,500,000 | 1985 |
| Mexico | 6,000,000 | 1986 |
| Belgium | 5,200,000 | 1995 |
| Rumania | 5,000,000 | 1995 |
| Denmark | 4,500,000 | 1995 |
| Switzerland | 3,800,000 | 1996 |
| Hungary | 3,500,000 | 1995 |
| Australia | 3,300,000 | 1995 |
| Finland | 3,250,000 | 1995 |
| Norway | 3,000,000 | 1995 |
- limited amount of power, power storage, power storage can be expensive and unhealthy for the environment. but, if you hire people to pedal all the time then storage is not a problem
Other forms of energy such as fusion, geothermal and nuclear power can power the world, but they all have some negative impact on the environment.
and the winners are...
Pedal Power and wind power seem to be the most feasible uses of personal power or small group power they are both relatively cheap and mechanically simple so that you do not need to be an engineer to set up this systems. That being said what is the answer, do you simply use both or what if there was a system that you could create that would utilize both wind and pedal power? The downfall to the windmill is that what do you do when there is no wind if having a power storage device is truly a large problem? what if you could make a way that on days that there is little to no wind or on days that you needed to produce more power you could attach a pedal power device to a windmill to ensure your energy, or is it simply preferable to use pedal power. A system that you are in full control of would most definitely ensure your empowerment but it could also make you a slave to the device. I feel the best solution would be some sort of hybrid unit that could be created anywhere that is easily utilized by any person or group who aspires to be their own power supplier.
This is a great idea and there's lots of info out there on it!
Lights, laptops, and radios all draw small amounts of current at 12 volts DC. In addition, LED lighting and high efficiency fluorescent lighting now allow 200 watts to go a long way. A typical 25 watt fluorescent light bulb, which replaces a 100 watt incandescent bulb, will last 8 hours on 200 watts worth of power. LEDs (light emitting diodes) are even more efficient and will last days on 200 watts worth of power.
Want to know if you can power an appliance? Look at the label on the rear (usually by the power cord) and find out the "rating" which is in watts. For example, the label may read 30 W under electrical rating and this is 30 watts. If you are unsure, please email us with questions.
Power Consumption of Typical Appliances:
Small TV 100 watts
Large TV 200 watts
Laptop PC 10 watts
Desktop PC 75 watts
Stereo 20 watts
Charging a cellphone 5 watts
Hi Effic Desk lamp 15 watts
Any bicycle that is in good shape will suffice for mating to the Pedal-a-Watt platform. However, bicycles with wheels of larger diameters, such as 27 inches as opposed to 16 inches, create more mechanical advantage. Both street bikes, with very narrow, smooth tires, and mountain bikes, with wide, knobby tires, have been used with equal success.
____Watts is an instantaneous measure of power at any moment in time. Watt-hours is a measure of power over time.
For example, the Pedal-A-Watt, creates 200 watts of power. If you pedal for 2 hours, then you have created 400 watt-hours ( 200 watts x 2 hours) of power.
This 400 watt-hours would power a 100 watt light bulb for 4 hours, a 200 watt large screen TV for 2 hours and so on.
____
The average rider will produce between 125 and 200 watts using the Pedal-a-Watt. While this may not seem like much power, many pieces of equipment draw very little power and can be powered for long spans of time with small amounts of power.Lights, laptops, and radios all draw small amounts of current at 12 volts DC. In addition, LED lighting and high efficiency fluorescent lighting now allow 200 watts to go a long way. A typical 25 watt fluorescent light bulb, which replaces a 100 watt incandescent bulb, will last 8 hours on 200 watts worth of power. LEDs (light emitting diodes) are even more efficient and will last days on 200 watts worth of power.
Want to know if you can power an appliance? Look at the label on the rear (usually by the power cord) and find out the "rating" which is in watts. For example, the label may read 30 W under electrical rating and this is 30 watts. If you are unsure, please email us with questions.
Power Consumption of Typical Appliances:
Small TV 100 watts
Large TV 200 watts
Laptop PC 10 watts
Desktop PC 75 watts
Stereo 20 watts
Charging a cellphone 5 watts
Hi Effic Desk lamp 15 watts
Any bicycle that is in good shape will suffice for mating to the Pedal-a-Watt platform. However, bicycles with wheels of larger diameters, such as 27 inches as opposed to 16 inches, create more mechanical advantage. Both street bikes, with very narrow, smooth tires, and mountain bikes, with wide, knobby tires, have been used with equal success.
____
For example, the Pedal-A-Watt, creates 200 watts of power. If you pedal for 2 hours, then you have created 400 watt-hours ( 200 watts x 2 hours) of power.
This 400 watt-hours would power a 100 watt light bulb for 4 hours, a 200 watt large screen TV for 2 hours and so on.
This is just amazing.
Assumptions:Constant speed analysis
Drag coefficients reference "Science of Cycling", E.R. Burke, Leisure Press, 1986, pg 126.
http://sgp.undp.org/web/projects/9688/mitigating_global_warming_by_bicycle_power.html
Mitigating Global Warming by Bicycle Power (THA/05/21)
| Country: | THAILAND |
| Grantee: | Phu Tham Phu Kratae Rehabilitation Group - PTRG (Community Based Organization) |
| Focal Area: | Climate Change |
| Op. Program: | OP11 - Promoting Environmentally Sustainable Transport |
| Project Type: | Full |
| Operational Phase: | OP3 - Y1 (Mar 05 - Feb 06) |
| Dates: | 3/2006 - 3/2008 |
| Grant Amount: | 27 982,95 USD |
| Project Status: | Satisfactorily Completed |
| Project Types: |
Project Details & Results
Target Population/Location of project:
100 high school students from two schools in Waengnoi District, Khonkaen Province who commute 10 kilometers to school by bus and motorbikes. The parents of the 100 students are members of a CBO currently launching conservation activities for the 320-ha community forest in the project area. The project proposes to demonstrate a community-based approach to reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Objectives:
1. Build capacity of youth to lead and sustain bicycle power project
2. Demonstrate the use of bicycles to reduce consumption of fossil fuels
3. Launch campaigns and disseminate relevant material in other communities
Planned activities:
1. Provide training for 100 core youth leaders
2. Create a New Generation for Reversing Global Warming Club
3. Conduct study tours to share relevant experiences
4. Organize youth camps focusing on reduction of energy consumption
5. Establish a service center for bicycles
6. Hold mobile forums to teach peers in five villages about the benefits of bicycle use
7. Launch a radio campaign advocating bicycle use on National Mothers’ Day
Anticipated outputs:
1. Emergence of a youth group with an action plan to create value through bicycle use and energy efficiency
2. Adoption of bicycles for short-distance commuting in 30% of total population
3. Within two years of project start: (1) 30% reduction in use of motorbikes for commuting to school, and (2) avoided consumption of 18,072 litres of gasoline; this is equal to THB 433,728 and 39,758,000 grammes of CO2
4. Community-wide awareness of the environmental benefits of bicycle use
Project Results
I. First progress report (September 12, 2006):
Activities undertaken:
1. Training provided for 50 core youth leaders
2. New Generation for Reversing Global Warming Club created
3. ‘Bicycles to Reverse Global Warming Festival’ held
4. Community radio programme launched
Results of activities:
1. 30 project members planned the ‘Bicycles to reverse Global Warming Festival’; 189 people—on 150 bicycles—participated
2. 74 project members formulated an action plan and methodology for data collection
3. Increasing percentage of the population showed interest in project activities, and participating in the campaign
II. Mid-course evaluation workshop (February 20-22, 2007):
After a brief presentation by the National Coordinator (NC) reiterating the objectives of the GEF SGP, representatives from each project spent 30 minutes explaining project background, activities undertaken, immediate results and challenges. The National Coordinator encouraged candid discussion of problems and problem-solving strategies, and each presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session.
Project representatives also spent an afternoon interacting with community members from THA-05-14 (Local Scenes for Environment Protection). Workshop attendants learned about the old ways of life in the central area and how local ecologies had been altered. The final day was allotted to the two remaining project presentations, the National Steering Committee's observations and suggestions, and the National Coordinator's reminder of next steps.
Progress-related observations at Workshop:
--Of 14 projects, 12 were on time regarding activities and submission of reports. All were capable of articulating details of their activities and immediate results, which were deemed promising.
--Several projects secured financial support from other stakeholders.
--Leaders from at least four projects demonstrated increased capacity, both technically and institutionally. (National Steering Committee members expressed special satisfaction with this.)
--Eleven projects used Power Point and audio-visual equipment; the remaining three presented sets of photos.
III. Second progress report (March 7, 2007):
Activities undertaken:
1. Continued training for 50 core youth leaders
2. Training camp held for members of the New Generation Club to Reverse Global Warming
3. Centre for Bicycle Service Against Global Warming established
Results of activities:
1. 20 leaders show increased capacity as a result of role in planning activities of youth groups
2. 136 project members show increased capacity as a result of participation in organized events, and role in disseminating project information to communities outside target area
3. Centre served 20 bicycles, and had another 20 donated from the community
IV. Interim report (September 18, 2007):
The report highlighted two events:
(1) Cycling Against Global Warming Campaign
(2) Mobile Forums for Training Brothers and Sisters To Cycle
Cycling Against Global Warming Campaign: This secondary campaign encompassed 221 participants from the New Generation of Wang Noi (Tha Nang Naew School), the Phu Tham Phu Kratae Forest Conservation Group, and youths from Wang Noi District. These participants shared knowledge, built networks, performed bicycle repair services, and engaged in a rally for environment.
Mobile Forums for Training Brothers and Sisters To Cycle: The Mobile Forums took place in six villages, and reached 270 people, 60% of which were children. The four major activities were: reforestation of marginal area and temple grounds, environmental education, demonstration of bicycle maintenance, and bicycle service for those attending. As a result of these forums, friendships were forged, over 1,000 trees were planted on temple grounds, and old bicycles were made usable again.
V. Monitoring visit from NC and two NSC members (April 10, 2008):
On April 10th, the National Coordinator and two members of the National Steering Committee visited THA-05-21 to assess project results, and interact with the target population and other stakeholders to gauge their satisfaction. The two-year project is nearing completion in several months.
In discussions with project members, the assessment team discovered a number of issues that had reduced project effectiveness. These included:
• After initial campaigning and training, hundreds of students were using bicycles to commute to school. Soon afterwards, rumors about gangs using vans to kidnap children riding bikes prompted commuters to turn to car-pooling (subsidized by the local Tambol Administrative Organization, or TAO).
• A lack of bike lanes along roads connecting villages to schools made cycling dangerous for students.
• A number of parents encouraged their children to use motorbikes, as they are more comfortable and efficient.
Despite these issues, the project youth group and some community elders were using bikes to do errands within the village.
Project leaders were working towards project sustainability by convincing participating schools to establish bicycle service centers, and soliciting institutional and financial support from the TAO for promoting bicycle use.
After these discussions of project issues and action plans, the assessment team cycled 10 km with students and other villagers to plant trees in a local school. As the school is near a previous SGP grantee--THA-98-G20, ‘Rehabilitation & Conservation of Phu Tham & Phu Kratae Forest’--they were also able to verify that the forest has been well rehabilitated in the nine years since project end.
V.The completion report was received on 18 July 2008, with following details:
Date of final participatory Evaluation: 16 July 2008
Number of Beneficiary/ Participating personnel:
Woman: 88
Man: 63
Children: 543
Number of person trained/ attending seminars, joining study tours:
Woman: 10
Man: 50
Children: 120
Expense:
Amount received to-date from SGP: Baht: 930,824.29
Amount received from other :
In cash: National Environmental Fund: Baht: 144,000
Communities: Baht: 162,040
The grantee: Baht: 41,100
Phuan Phu Association: Baht: 4,000
Huay Yang Wai Conservation Group: Baht: 3,280
Total in cash: Baht: 354,420
In kind: Phuan Phu Association: Baht: 120,000
Communities: Bath: 389,800
Waeng Noi District Office: Baht: 1,600
Waeng Noi Hospital/Police Station: Baht: 15,000
Total in kind: Baht: 526,400
Activities Carried out:
1. Building capacity of 50 target project members through seminar, training, study tour and youth camps
2. Establishing the Centre for Bicycle Service Against Global Warming
3. Using bicycle to commute between homes and schools, three days per week by youth groups
4. Training additional youth groups in five villages and one municipality
5. Disseminating project results through community radio, national mother’s day and printed matters on energy conservation
Results:
1. Emergence of a youth group called New Generation Club to reduce energy consumption to reverse global warming, with planned participatory system to include new junior groups and relevant local administrative organization to sustain project activities
2. Evinced increasing numbers of bicycle use, from average 7 persons/day to 13 in two target villages ( Baan Pa Peng and Baan Namsub)
3. 63 bicycles being donated by individuals with estimated value of Baht: 9,450 , increasing bicycle users to 100 persons
4. Estimated avoidance of gasoline use by 3,375 litres during the life of project. This could be translated to an equivalent amount of 7,425 kg. of CO2.
Impact: 1. Local government offices such as public health office, municipality and tambol administrative organization encourage, through
participatory process, community members to use bicycle for short-distance mobility.
2. The management of four primary schools established bicycle repairing centres with a goal to upscale throughout all primary schools in
Waeng Noi District.
3. Tha Nang Naew DJ Club was committed to continue with project dissemination.
4. Project activities were sustained through the support of the Health Promotion Fund of the government.
Experience and lessons learnt:
In campaigning on bicycle use, continuity was of utmost important. Target communities needed to be regularly instigated to ensure sustainability and successful transfer of practice from this generation to next. With able youth groups, the successful transfer was expected. Primary schools should be more targeted than secondary ones to ensure transfer of built capacity thus continuity. In this regard, the project, together with its network, had formulated a bicycle curriculum for primary schools with appreciated number of biking students.
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