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.
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