Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Playing With Toys and Saving Lives

“Apollo 13” is a good movie, but one 95-second stretch is what turned it into it a geek classic. Their Command Module disabled, three astronauts use the Lunar Module as a lifeboat. Carbon dioxide is building up. The Command Module’s filters are available to scrub the air, but they’re square, and the receptacles for them on the Lunar Module are round. “Well, I suggest you gentleman invent a way to put a square peg in a round hole … rapidly,” the flight director Gene Kranz in Houston tells his engineers.

They dump onto a table everything available to the astronauts. Using duct tape, cardboard logbook covers, plastic moon rock bags and a suit hose, they make the filters fit. The astronauts are saved.

That video clip of hacking is widely known, but you may not have seen the one just above. It starts with Yamilet Mendoza Martínez, a nurse shopping in a toy store in Jinotepe, Nicaragua. She needs to make an IV alarm — something that makes noise when a bag of IV fluid is ready to be changed. Having an alarm means the nurse doesn’t have to keep popping in to check every few minutes — an impossibility for severely overworked nurses. The solution? A toy AK-47 — one that buzzes when fired.

Back at the Hospital Escuela Regional Santiago Jinotepe-Carazo, Mendoza Martínez and her colleagues hooked up the gun to an IV pole. As the IV bag empties, a rubber band attached to it compresses, opening one side of a clothespin. That closes the other side, putting the clothespin wire in contact with the electrical contact in the gun trigger. Bag empty = gun buzz.

How do hospitals like this one normally get medical equipment? For the most part, they don’t — some public hospitals can’t even afford IV tubing or gloves. Often, they get donations from rich-country hospitals, which give away last year’s technology. But these machines tend not to last long. They might need parts that are only available a continent away, or no one knows how to repair them. Sometimes it’s just that the electricity has gone out — or there was no electricity to begin with.

Jose Gomez-Marquez demonstrating a MEDIKit Nebulizer.

Nathan Cooke

Equipment destined for a productive life in a third-world hospital is equipment adapted for local circumstances, rugged, fixable locally, with available parts.

That’s often not possible with highly complex machinery. But it is possible with smaller machines and devices. “This market has been neglected,” said Jaspal Sandhu, a co-founder of the Gobee Group, a social innovation and design firm. “There hasn’t been good design for this market. It was: find something from another setting, and we’ll sell it however we can.”

Now, however, frugal design is a booming business. (In India, it is called jugaad, and it’s a major movement.) One of the first companies in the field was the Indian ophthalmic products manufacturer Aurolab, which made kits for cataract surgeries. “Around 10 or 15 years ago people started to pay more attention to it,” said Sandhu. “Companies started to look into those markets not as charity but as a market with real opportunities that needed to be addressed for products designed for them.”

Many different people are inventing health devices for resource-poor settings; so many that the World Health Organization publishes an annual report (pdf) on the ones it likes. Last year’s list includes a nail-and-screw system to set severe fractures that requires no X-ray or electricity, the Embrace infant warmer — a miniature sleeping bag for newborns — and a set of plastic rings that can circumcise men for AIDS prevention safely and painlessly without surgery.

Nurses from Hospital Alfonso Moncada Guillén prototyping with a Drug Delivery MEDIKit in Ocotal, Nicaragua.

Anna Young

Jose Gomez-Marquez goes one step further. He’s the organizer of Mendoza Martínez’s trip to the toy store. Gomez-Marquez, who was born in Honduras, is the director of M.I.T.’s Little Devices group, which builds medical devices that nurses and doctors in very poor settings can adapt themselves — or kits for making their own. (The University of California’s Tekla Labs does the same thing for research scientists who want to build or adapt laboratory equipment.)

There’s nothing new about do-it-yourself — D.I.Y. is how medical products used to be invented. In 1816, Dr. René Laënnec needed a better way to listen to patients’ chests, so he made a cylinder of paper that evolved into the stethoscope. (This article has a good overview of the D.I.Y. field.)

D.I.Y. on a wide scale used to be a contradiction in terms. But it’s less so now that there is a budding Maker movement, which offers tools, advice and support to people who want to create new things. Gomez-Marquez and his colleagues are doing this for health care workers in poor settings. “There were a lot of one-offs,” said Sandhu. “An enterprising physician or local mechanic figured out something local health care needed and didn’t have the resources to get.” (See herefor an interview with the astoundingly creative Nigerian physician Awojobi Oluyombo, whose work is sadly unrecognized and unreplicated, even in Nigeria.) “What Jose is doing is important because it’s a long-term, focused effort.”

As in “Apollo 13,” hacks need to use locally available materials. That often means toys. “Toys have a much better supply chain than other devices,” Gomez-Marquez said. Plastic toys are everywhere, even at open-air markets in remote towns. He encourages health care workers to take them apart and MacGyver the parts.

Lego pieces have been modified to create plug and play modules so that people can assemble their own diagnostic tests, in this case a pregnancy test.

Jose Gomez-Marquez

The blades of a toy helicopter, for example, can be used to kick up a dust cloud — delivering an inhaled asthma drug. The motors from remote-control cars can allow a patient to open or close a prosthetic hand by using his toes, or permit nurses to control machines inside a sterile room without entering. The proximity sensor that keep a toy car from running off the edge of a table can tell you when a pill bottle is opened or when a face is actually in the nebulizer mask.

“Cheap toys today are much nicer than cheap toys of yesterday,” Gomez-Marquez said. “A toy today is really an engineered device. You can harvest these parts.”

Hardware stores are also useful: “You can make a fully functioning asthma nebulizer with a bicycle pump, tubing, some adapters and filters,” he said. “That’s about $10.” And no electricity required.

One of Little Devices’ signature products is the Solarclave for sterilizing instruments. One version uses 140 pocket mirrors glued to an old satellite dish to concentrate the sun’s rays on a pressure cooker. (Another version uses Mylar tape instead of mirrors.) Anna Young, a researcher, is starting a pilot that will put about 50 Solarclave kits into health posts in the Matagalpa area of Nicaragua.

How safe is a medical device made of toy parts and duct tape? Clearly you wouldn’t want one if tested, approved alternatives existed. But hacking is necessary precisely because they don’t. Health care workers build their own because the alternative is no device at all. Patients, too: in China, some kidney patients who can’t afford dialysis construct their own machines — certainly a mark of desperation.

Not every needed part can be found in a toy store or hardware store. To provide stuff unavailable on the ground, the Little Devices lab built MEDIKits — boxes of parts collected for different projects. The MEDIKit for diagnostics, for example, contains components to build lateral flow assays (like pregnancy tests) for all sorts of different conditions, along with reagents and antibodies — health care workers can snap the parts together for the tests they need. There are MEDIKits for building drug delivery devices, prosthetics, microscopy, microfluidics and adherence tools.

MEDIKits are not like new Lego kits — the ones that can be used only to build Hogwarts. These are like the old boxes of Legos, that can construct anything you want. (Some actually contain Legos, which are good connectors.)

“How do they need to use these devices?” Gomez-Marquez asks. “I don’t know. But they know.”

The difference between sending a hospital medical devices and sending it a curated box of parts so it can make its own may seem like a small difference. But it’s part of a major idea shift, one that’s transforming the design of foreign aid.

Projects often fail because we can’t anticipate the issues and problems that play out on the ground. The traditional solution has been to try to make better-informed guesses: when we told you before we knew what you should do we were wrong. But now we really do know!

A new solution is to let people on the ground design the project.

This is changing the way big aid works. Cash on Deliverypay-for-successsocial impact bonds anddevelopment impact bonds are new ideas that set goals, but allow people on the ground to design ways to reach them. With these projects, people aren’t locked in to one strategy. If it doesn’t work — and chances are, it won’t work as conceived (see this blog post by a D-lab fellow about adapting to on-the-ground realities) — they can try something different.

Encouraging local people to innovate is important on a large scale — and it’s important when the idea is just to create an IV alarm. The first step is often just legitimizing hacking. In a hospital in Esteli, Nicaragua, Daniela Urbina, a nurse, fixed her broken stethoscope with a plastic overhead transparency slide. “The tragedy was she was embarrassed — embarrassed to show it to us,” said Gomez-Marquez. “While at M.I.T. we’d say ‘oh, this is such an awesome D.I.Y. hack.’”

How big a difference could this make? Large-scale still seems elusive. It’s not just that the project is new — Gomez-Marquez and his group have so far brought fewer than 50 MEDIKits to Nicaragua. It’s that many problems remain: the product will have to be sold to people who can pay nothing, there’s no distribution chain and, most important, convincing people to do things in a new way takes a lot of door-to-door time.

But if wide is not possible, long is. “Scale is not much without sustainable,” said Sandhu. “Scale can be getting useless crap out to a lot of places that’s not going to be used three months down the line. If it’s done in a way where it can actually be maintained and used effectively, that’s worth a lot. That’s what D.I.Y. has the potential to bring to the table.”

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Tina Rosenberg won a Pulitzer Prize for her book “The Haunted Land: Facing Europe’s Ghosts After Communism.” She is a former editorial writer for The Times and the author, most recently, of “Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World” and the World War II spy story e-book “D for Deception.”

Source http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/opinionator/2014/01/29/playing-with-toys-and-saving-lives/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Fixes&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body

Oil is only a catalyst in GCC’s economic advance

Commodity has been a major factor, but that alone would not have made the enormous changes witnessed in the Gulf societies

By Mohammad Al Asoomi, Special to Gulf News
January 29, 2014

The Gulf nations are rated at the top of the table in the Middle East when it comes to their standard of economic and social development. Over the past four decades, they have achieved high growth rates and almost managed to eradicate illiteracy and raise the living standards of their nationals as well as expatriate.

We are well aware of the reason why such remarkable gains were made. It is oil, but the answer is not that simple. Oil has been a major factor, but that alone would not have made the enormous changes witnessed in the Gulf societies. Otherwise, it could have had the same effect in other regional countries with abundant oil and gas resources such as Libya, Iraq, Iran and Algeria.

The other reasons are many. We will mention some of them and how these relate to the experiences of Libya, Iraq, Iran and Algeria.

First, at the time when the economic systems collapsed in Libya, Iraq, Iran and Algeria, the new regimes that emerged failed to present development alternatives because they simply did not have one. This resulted in the destruction of the old economical structures based on historical experiences and replaced with confusion and failures.

In contrast, the GCC evolved gradually within a stable economic and social system that allowed for the creation of a healthy environment for the business sector and provision of facilities for the development of various non-oil sectors. This was coupled with government support and flexible economic policies. This approach still prevails as it helped transform the GCC from “developing” to emerging markets with high living standards and good rate of growth for their non-oil sectors.

Qualitative shift

It is no exaggeration to say that Libya, Iraq, Iran and Algeria could have achieved similar developments if they had maintained their former economic regimes. For instance, Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran abolished contracts worth $50 billion (Dh183.5 billion) for projects that were agreed upon by the Shah’s regime.

If this value is calculated at today’s prices it is equivalent to $500 billion, which would have meant a qualitative shift for the Iranian economy. It is no different from the economic situation in the other three countries.

The GCC took up open economic policies and allowed for capital to move smoothly and actively into the financial and trade sectors. This was accompanied by the transfer of state-of-the-art technologies that contributed to the development of various non-oil sectors. As a result, the GCC has become a global trading and financial hub.

Ironically, they were also able to attract investments from the other four oil-producing countries in the region, with Iranian investments alone estimated at $250 billion in the GCC.

The GCC has enjoyed enviable political stability and security despite the volatile security situation in the region and the attempts by some groups to undermine this stability or drag the Gulf states into hopeless conflicts.

These and other factors are the real reasons behind the economic and social progress achieved by the GCC, with oil playing a crucial role in financing sound policies that served the development needs.

Therefore, it is important for the GCC to maintain their natural course and to work on developing their economies in keeping with rapid international changes. They also need to boost their economic co-operation within the Gulf Common Market, which will open up new horizons and the competitive capabilities required in the next phase of growth and competitiveness.

Source http://gulfnews.com/business/oil-is-only-a-catalyst-in-gcc-s-economic-advance-1.1283659

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

A world of difference

  • Polluted fields: Punjab stands as an example of what has gone wrong with the Green Revolution. Photo: Akhilesh Kumar
    The Hindu Polluted fields: Punjab stands as an example of what has gone wrong with the Green Revolution. Photo: Akhilesh Kumar
It is time we changed our perspective on agricultural practices, say experts at a symposium on the aftermath of the Green Revolution
Some decades ago, Punjab was feted as the food bowl of the country, where wheat, sugarcane and paddy grew in lush, fertilizer-rich farms. Today, the State stands as an example of what has gone wrong with the Green Revolution. “From a State of five rivers, activists say it has become be-aab (without any rivers). The groundwater levels have reached an alarming stage,” says Kavitha Kuruganti, convenor, Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA).
“When a house is in flames, you will use any water, even sewage, to douse the flames. That’s how fertilisers came in when we faced food shortage. But, now we have enough stock of grains. Why do we continue to poison our fields?” asks organic farmer Madhu Ramakrishnan.
“You eat cornflakes thinking you’re doing your body a lot of good. Have you paused to wonder if the corn has been imported from the U.S. or Argentina? Most of that corn is genetically modified,” said R. Selvam, coordinator of the Tamil Nadu Organic Farmers Federation speaking about Genetically-Modified (GM) crops.
All three speakers, along with organic pioneer G. Nammalvar, president Vanagam, were present at a recent symposium organised by the Department of Geography, Nirmala College for Women, to commemorate the golden jubilee of Rachel Carson’s, Silent Spring. The book raised concerns about pesticides and environmental pollution.
The Green Revolution, initiated by Dr. Norman Borlaug, introduced high-yielding seeds and promoted fertiliser use to increase production. This resulted in farmers moving away from multi-cropping where they raised millets, cereals, pulses and vegetables to single-crop agriculture. Today, statistics show that the land suffered, pesticides triggered health issues and many debt-ridden farmers committed suicide.

Enjoy Nature

Madhu, who has been an organic farmer for 15 years, said the time is ripe to look at farming from a different perspective. Besides focussing only on harvest and growth, we should also learn to enjoy what Nature gives us voluntarily, he said. “Sadly, many farmers today don’t know farming.”
R. Selvam spoke about farmer suicides, failing crops, dependence on MNCs and the destruction of native seeds. Giving examples from the country and abroad, he said farmers must unite and stay firm on their decision to reject GM seeds.
“Did you know genes can jump crops?” he asked. The GM seeds of one company are tweaked to resist a group of weeds. But, if the genes from the crop jump to the weed, the weed becomes resistant to the recommended herbicide. In such cases, farmers have to use herbicide manufactured by a second company to tackle the problem. Ironically, the first company gives them a subsidy for the same. We’re back where we began,” he said.
Kavitha presented statistics to narrate the ill effects of the Green Revolution. She also spoke of suicides (250,000 farmers have committed suicide since 1995), the growing incidence of cancer among farmers and the average monthly income for farmers in Punjab that is just Rs. 4,960. She said how tested blood samples revealed the presence of six to 13 different pesticides.
She added, “By viewing the farm as a factory with inputs and outputs, we have done away with agriculture that was integrated with Nature.” She explained how gynaecologists found that in many villages of Punjab, an increasing number of women have had spontaneous abortions in the past 10 years.

Sustainable farming

Kavitha said it is time we shifted to a more sustainable agriculture — where millets are cultivated, stored and distributed locally. It is vital to speak to the youth, she said, because even if five per cent of them developed interest in this kind of farming, it would make a world of difference, at least in the next generation.
“We have produced more and perished,” she said. In Punjab, in the Malwa belt, kids have turned grey and girls reach menarche at the age of eight,” she pointed out.

What is agriculture?

Agriculture, she said, should serve many purposes, including issues such as farmers’ income, protection of resources and diversity, quality and safety of food. “It should be farming, where the focus is not productivity. And, agriculture that gives farmers a sense of confidence and social status.”
Book of Change
Silent Spring Written by Rachel Louise Carson, an American marine biologist and conservationist, this book triggered concerns about pesticides and environmental pollution. The book is said to have facilitated the ban on the pesticide DDT in the U.S.
It is said that she was prompted to write the book following a letter written by her friend Olga Owens Huckins describing the death of birds around her property after DDT was sprayed aerially. The title is meant to make you think of a spring season without birdsong.
(Source: The Internet

జీవ వైవిధ్యంతోనే ఆహార భద్రత

అన్ని దేశాలకూ నేరుగా లబ్ధి
జన్యు పదార్థాల వినియోగ ఒప్పందాలు మేలు

దీంతో అందరికీ ప్రయోజనమే
నిధుల సమీకరణపైనా దృష్టి పెడతాం
సమష్టి కృషి లేకపోతే మొత్తానికే ముప్పు
ఎఫ్‌డీఐల వల్ల సమస్యలు తప్పవు

హైదరాబాద్‌లో వచ్చే వారం ప్రారంభం కానున్న జీవ వైవిధ్య సదస్సుపై సర్వత్రా ఆసక్తి నెలకొంది. ఇంతకీ ఈ సదస్సు ప్రాముఖ్యం ఏమిటి? ఇందులో చర్చించే అంశాలేంటి? దీనివల్ల భారత్ వంటి దేశాలకు కలిగే ప్రయోజనాలేంటి? విదేశీ పెట్టుబడులు జీవ వైవిధ్యంపై ఎలాంటి ప్రభావం చూపుతాయి వంటి అనేక అంశాలపై జీవ వైవిధ్య సదస్సు ఎగ్జిక్యూటివ్ సెక్రటరీ డాక్టర్ బ్రాలియో ఫెరీరా డిసౌజా డయాస్ 'ఆన్‌లైన్'తో తన అభిప్రాయాలను పంచుకున్నారు. కెనడా నుంచి ఫోన్‌లో ఇచ్చిన ఇంటర్వ్యూలోని ప్రధానాంశాలు మీకోసం..

హైదరాబాద్‌లో జరిగే జీవ వైవిధ్య సదస్సునుంచి మీరు ఎలాంటి ఫలితాలను ఆశిస్తున్నారు?
జీవవైవిధ్య సదస్సు ప్రతి రెండేళ్లకోసారి జరుగుతుంది. గతంలో జపాన్‌లో జరిగిన సదస్సులో అనేక నిర్ణయాలు తీసుకున్నాం. అవి ఏమేరకు అమలవుతున్నాయి? వివిధ దేశాలు ఎదుర్కొంటున్న సవాళ్లు ఏమిటి? ఇంకా ఏ అంశాలపై దృష్టి సారించాల్సి ఉందన్న విషయాలను ఈ సదస్సులో మొదట సమీక్షిస్తాం. జీవ వైవి«ధ్యంపై ప్రపంచవ్యాప్తంగా అవగాహన పెంచడానికి తీసుకోవాల్సిన చర్యలపై దృష్టి సారిస్తాం. గత నిర్ణయాలను అమలు చేయటానికి అవసరమైన ఆర్థిక వనరులను ఎలా సమకూర్చుకోవాలన్న అంశంపైనా చర్చిస్తాం. జీవ వైవిధ్య పరిరక్షణకు, అందుకు ఎదుర య్యే సవాళ్లను ఎదుర్కొనడానికి కొన్ని వేల కోట్ల డాలర్ల నిధులు అవసరం. వీటిని ఎలా సమీకరించాలి? ఇందుకు కీలకమైన రాజకీయ మద్దతును కూడగట్టడానికి కృషి చేయాల్సిన అవసరం ఉంది.

ప్రస్తుతం అనేక దేశాల్లో ఆర్థిక సంక్షోభం ఉన్న నేపథ్యంలో జీవ వైవిధ్య పరిరక్షణకు నిధుల సేకరణలో ఎలాంటి సవాళ్లు ఎదురవుతాయని భావిస్తున్నారు?
ఇది చాలా కీలకమైన అంశం. ప్రస్తుతం అనేక దేశాల ఆర్థిక వ్యవస్థ సరిగా లేదు. అందువల్ల అవన్నీ తమ ప్రజలకు ఉపాధి కల్పన, ఆహార భద్రతపైనే ప్రధానంగా దృష్టి కేంద్రీకరిస్తున్నాయి. అయితే ఇక్కడ అందరం గుర్తు పెట్టుకోవాల్సిన ఒక అంశముంది. జీవవైవిధ్యాన్ని పరిరక్షించడంవల్ల అనేక ప్రయోజనాలు ఉంటా యి. ఆహార భద్రత మెరుగవుతుంది. సంక్షోభ నివారణకు ఇది ఉపకరిస్తుంది. అన్ని దేశాలకు కూడా నేరుగా లబ్ధి చేకూరుతుంది. దీనిని దృష్టిలో ఉంచుకొని అన్ని దేశాలూ సహకరిస్తాయని భావిస్తున్నాం.

జన్యు పదార్థాల ఎగుమతి, జన్యు మార్పిడి పంటలు వంటి అంశాలపై అభివృద్ధి చెందిన, వర్ధమాన దేశాల్లో విభేదాలున్నాయి. వీటిని ఎలా పరిష్కరించాలనుకుంటున్నారు?
జన్యు పదార్థాల వల్ల కలిగే లబ్ధిని అందరూ పొందగలిగే విధంగా కొన్ని ఒప్పందాలను కుదుర్చుకోవాలని జపాన్‌లో జరిగిన సదస్సులో నిర్ణయించాం. ఉదాహరణకు ఒక దేశంలోని జన్యుపదార్థాన్ని వేరే దేశంలో వినియోగిస్తున్నారనుకుందాం. అప్పుడు ఆ రెండు దేశాలమధ్య ఒప్పందం జరిగితే ఇరుదేశాలూ లబ్ధి పొందుతాయి. ఇలాంటి ఒప్పందాలకు 92 దేశాలు అంగీకరించాయి. లేఖలు కూడా ఇచ్చాయి. అయితే ఇలాంటి అంతర్జాతీయ ఒప్పందాలకు ఆయా దేశాల చట్టసభలు కూడా అంగీకరించాలి. ఇప్పటిదాకా ఐదు దేశాల్లోనే ఇందుకు మార్గం సుగమం అయిం ది. వచ్చే రెండేళ్లలో చాలా దేశాలు ఈ బాట పడతాయని భావిస్తున్నాను. దీనివల్ల అందరికీ ప్రయోజనం ఉంటుంది.

కానీ, ఈ ఒప్పందాలు వెంటనే అమలులోకి రాకపోవటం వల్ల భారత్ వంటి దేశాలు తీవ్రంగా నష్టపోతున్నాయి కదా.. ఉదాహరణకు ఒంగోలు జాతి పశువుల జన్యుపదార్థం విదేశాలకు తరలిపోయింది. దీనిని ఉపయోగించుకొని కొన్ని కంపెనీలు వేలకోట్ల రూపాయలు ఆర్జిస్తున్నాయి. కానీ భారత్‌కు ఏమీ దక్కడం లేదు. ఇలాంటి సమస్యలను ఎలా పరిష్కరిస్తారు?
ఇది చాలా కీలకమైన ప్రశ్న. ఒంగోలు పశువుల జన్యుపదార్థం తరలివెళ్లి వందల ఏళ్లు అయిపోయింది. గతంలో జరిగిన నష్టాన్ని వర్తమానంలో పూడ్చటం చాలా కష్టమైన విషయం. కానీ భవిష్యత్తులో ఇలాంటి నష్టం జరగకుం డా చర్యలు తీసుకోవాల్సి ఉంది. ఉదాహరణకు భారత్ జన్యు పదా ర్థం ఆస్ట్రేలియాకు తరలిపోయిందనుకుందాం. అప్పుడు ఈ రెండు దేశాలు త్వరగా ద్వైపాక్షిక చర్చల ద్వారా ఈ సమస్యను పరిష్కరించుకుంటే మంచిది.

ప్రస్తుతం లబ్ధి పొందుతున్న దేశాలు తమ లాభాన్ని ఇతర దేశాలతో పంచుకోవటానికి ఇష్టపడకపోవచ్చు కదా..?
లబ్ధి పొందుతున్న దేశాలు తమ లాభాన్ని ఇతరులతో పంచుకోవటానికి విముఖత చూపిస్తాయనటంలో ఎటువంటి సందేహం లేదు. కానీ మారుతున్న పరిస్థితుల్లో ఆ దేశాలు కూడా ఇతరులతో సహకరించాల్సిన పరిస్థితులు ఏర్పడుతున్నాయి. తాజా అధ్యయనాల ప్రకారం చూస్తే వాతావరణంలో వస్తున్న మార్పుల ప్రభావం జీవ వైవిధ్యంపై కూడా తీవ్రంగా పడుతోంది. ఉదాహరణకు కోరల్ రీఫ్‌ను తీసుకుందాం. గత ఐదేళ్లలో అనేక మార్పులు వచ్చాయి. ఇదే విధంగా గ్రీన్‌హౌస్ వాయువుల వల్ల కూడా వాతావరణంలో మార్పులు వస్తున్నాయి. అందువల్ల అందరూ కలిసి ముందుకు వెళ్లకపోతే మొత్తానికే ముప్పు వచ్చే ప్రమాదముంది.

అభివృద్ధి చెందుతున్న దేశాలు ఎఫ్‌డీఐలను అనుమతిస్తే దాని ప్రభావం జీవ వైవిధ్యంపై ఎలా ఉంటుంది? ఉదాహరణకు భారత్‌లో తాజాగా ఎఫ్‌డీఐలను అనుమతిస్తూ నిర్ణయం తీసుకున్నారు. దీని వల్ల ఎలాంటి సవాళ్లు ఎదురవుతాయి?
అభివృద్ధి చెందిన దేశాలు తమ పర్యావరణానికి సంబంధించిన సమస్యలను అభివృద్ధి చెందుతున్న దేశాలపైకి తోసెయ్యాలని ప్రయత్నిస్తున్నాయి. విదేశీ పెట్టుబడుల ప్రభావం కూడా దీనిలో ఒక పార్శ్వం. దీనిని అనుమతించిన వర్ధమాన దేశాలు అనేక ఇబ్బందులకు గురవుతున్నాయి. చైనా దీనికి ఒక పెద్ద ఉదాహరణ.

అంతేకాకుండా ఇలాంటి పెట్టుబడుల వల్ల అంతర్జాతీయంగా కూడా అనేక సమస్యలు ఎదురవుతున్నాయి. ఉదాహరణకు వ్యవసాయంలో సబ్సిడీలనే తీసుకుందాం. అభివృద్ధి చెందుతున్న దేశాలు వ్యవసాయాధారితమైనవి కాబట్టి అక్కడ సహజంగానే సబ్సిడీలు ఉంటాయి. విదేశీ పెట్టుబడుల ప్రవాహం మొదలయ్యేసరికి ఈ సబ్సిడీలను తగ్గించాలనే డిమాండ్ మొదలవుతుంది. దాంతో సన్న, చిన్నకారు రైతులు దెబ్బతింటారు. మత్స్యకార్మికుల విషయంలో కూడా ఇలాగే జరుగుతుంది. ఎఫ్‌డీఐలతో వారు ఉపాధి కోల్పోతారు. చిలీలో ఇదే జరిగింది. దీంతో అక్కడి ప్రభుత్వం వారికి ప్రత్యేకంగా కొన్ని జోన్‌లను కేటాయించింది. ఇలాంటి సమస్యలను ముందే ఊహించి తగిన చర్యలు తీసుకోక పోతే ఇబ్బందులు తప్పవు.

జీవవైవిధ్యాన్ని కాపాడే విషయంలో ఆదివాసీలు, ఇతర తెగల ప్రజలు ఎప్పుడూ ముందుంటారు. జీవ వైవిధ్య సదస్సులో వీరికి సంబంధించిన ఏ అంశాలను ప్రస్తావించనున్నారు?
ఇది చాలా ముఖ్యమైన అంశం. స్థానిక ప్రజల హక్కులపై సదస్సులో ప్రముఖంగా ప్రస్తావిస్తాం. స్థానికులకు తాము నివసించే ప్రాంతాలపై ప్రత్యేక హక్కులు ఉండాలని.. నేషనల్ పార్కుల వంటివి ఏర్పాటు చేయటం కన్నా స్థానిక ప్రజలకు పరిరక్షణ బాధ్యతలు అప్పజెప్పడం వల్ల చాలా మేలు జరుగుతుందని భావిస్తున్నాం. అందువల్ల ఈసారి సదస్సులో కొన్ని ప్రత్యేక ప్రదర్శనలు కూడా ఏర్పాటు చేస్తున్నారు.

- స్పెషల్ డెస్క్ 

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Biodiversity all about social growth: IAS official

Sustainable development is not possible without social development and involvement of people, especially at the grass-root level (farmers). Bio-diversity is also about social growth and cannot orbit on its own.
The upcoming CoP-11 event is not about black-topping roads, painting attractive hoardings and beautifying the city. It is about involving concern-ed people from different sections of societies, said former IAS officer K.R. Venugopal. According to him, sustainable development with active involvement of the people should be the starting point of the CoP-11.
“The conference should involve topics specific to mankind. Any development has to be people-centred, and it is all about living in harmony with nature, as with caste, creed, community and religion,” he said.
Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/hyderabad/biodiversity-all-about-social-growth-ias-official-439

Biodiversity successes to be showcased

The state Biodiversity Board and forest department will be showcasing the success stories of biodiversity committees on the side-lines of COP-11. Examples of access benefit sharing, where locals are paid royalties by companies, include access benefit sharing for tribals in Khammam for Perantalapalli bamboo products, the fishing community’s access benefit sharing in Krishna district, Amarachinta biodiversity committee of Mahbubnagar getting access benefit sharing from a company exporting neem leaves to Japan etc.
Handmade traditional bamboo products are sold with the help of Integrated Tribal Development Agency and forest department at Perantallapalli of Velairpadu mandal where the Kondareddy tribal families are known for their expertise with bamboo products, toys and gift articles.
According to National Biodiversity Authority secretary C. Achalendar Reddy, the Hyderabad-based Bio India Biologicals Corporation had exported neem leaves accessed from Amarchinta in Mahbubnagar and had paid a royalty of Rs 53,000 to NBA. The authority had transferred Rs 20,000 to Amarchinta BMC and the same was utilised for planting saplings, fencing and awareness programme. S. Gangadhar of the corporation, who is working with the society says, “During COP-11 we are organising Empowerment of Local Bodies and conservation and sustainable utilisation of bio reso-urces through access benefit sharing in a side event. Former secretary of the State Biodiversity Board, Mr Ramana Murthy said, “In Krishna district the local fishing community has done good work on access to fish resources.”

Tirumala Hills, a fountainhead of biodiversity

The Tirumala Hills are largely known for their devotional and spiritual activity but the region has come to form a unique fountainhead of biodiversity in the country.
The Unesco has declared the 4,756 sq. km of the Seshachalam hill ranges spread over Kadapa, Kurnool and Chittoor districts as the Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve and also promoted a biosphere lab at Tirupati, attached to the AP Forest Department with monitoring by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
The core zone of 750 km of uninhabited region is home to 38 species of mammals, wild animals and 178 varieties of birds, twelve amphibians, 27 species of lizards and three snake groups. The golden lizard (gekko) is a specialty of the Seshachalam hills. Zoologists and researchers have identified civet cats, slender loris, 63 varieties of green and colourful parrots.
The oncoming CoP-11 global bio-diversity conference will also address the burning issues of the Seshachalam Biodiversity Reserve, according to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) executive officer L.V. Subrahmanyam.
“The TTD is committed to environmental protection and hence we have initiated steps like a ban on plastics, fostering of tree plantations, water conservation through check dams and also wind power generation,” the official said.
The Seshachalam hill ranges and forest are also known as a major source and hub of medicinal plants. The hill range spread over 5.5 lakh hectare is home to 1,450 types of herbs and medicinal plants, 11 of them are unique to this location only and not found anywhere in the world.
The Tirumala reserve is also a custodian of valuable wood like red sanders and sandalwood. The TTD also promoted a sandal wood plantation, for use in the temple of Lord Venkateswara. The massive ghat roads built in 1944 and 1973 reveal that rock formations in the seven hills are as old as 2,500 million years. “The red and white granite formations are both picturesque and carry the legacy of millions of years,” says Mr S.V. Sivaram Prasad, assistant conservator of forests, Seshachalam Biodiversity Reserve.
Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/regions/nellore/tirumala-hills-fountainhead-biodiversity-479

Biodiversity loss 'linked to world's language loss'

Loss of biodiversity is actually responsible for the decline of languages and culture across the world, a new study has claimed.
In their study, researchers at Penn State University in the US identified that high biodiversity areas on Earth also had high linguistic diversity -- in fact, 70 per cent of the world's languages were found within these hotspots.
And, data showed as these key environmental areas were degraded over time, cultures and languages there also became extinct, say the researchers.
"Biologists estimate annual loss of species at 1,000 times or more greater than historic rates, and linguists predict that 50-90 per cent of the world's languages will disappear by the end of the century," they said.
"We used improved language data to really get a more solid sense of how languages and biodiversity co-occurred and an understanding of how geographically extensive the language was," the 'BBC' quoted lead author Larry Gorenflo as saying.
The researchers said their study achieved this by also looking at smaller areas with high biodiversity, such as national parks or other protected habitats.
"When we did that, not only did we get a sense of co-occurrence at a regional scale, but we also got a sense that co-occurrence was found at a much finer scale. We are not quite sure yet why this happens, but in a lot of cases it may well be that biodiversity evolved as part-and-parcel of cultural diversity, and vice-versa," he said.
In their study, the researchers pointed out that, out of the 6,900 or more languages spoken on Earth, more than 4,800 occurred in regions containing high biodiversity. Dr Gorenflo described these locations as 'very important landscapes' which were 'getting fewer and fewer' but added that the study's data could help provide long-term security.
"It provides a wonderful opportunity to integrate conservation efforts -- you can have people who can get funding for biological conservation, and they can collaborate with people who can get funding for linguistic or cultural conservation," he added.
The findings have been published in the 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' journal.
Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/sci-tech/others/biodiversity-loss-linked-worlds-language-loss-159

అభివృద్ధితో ‘వైవిధ్యం’ హరీ!

ప్రపంచ వ్యాప్తంగా పట్టణాల సంఖ్య పెరిగిపోవడం జీవ వైవిధ్యానికి పెనుఘాతంగానే మారుతోంది. భారత్ వంటి జీవ వైవిధ్య కాణాచివంటి ప్రాంతాల్లో సైతం ఈ పట్టణీకరణ అనేక జీవ, జంతుజాతులకు ఆవాసం లేకుండా చేయడమే కాకుండా అరుదైన వృక్షాలు కూడా అంతరించిపోవడానికి వాటి ఆనవాళ్లు సైతం లేకుండా పోవడానికి కారణమవుతోంది. పెరుగుతున్న జనాభాకు అనుగుణంగా వౌలిక సదుపాయాల కల్పన ఏ దేశానికైనా అత్యవసరమే. అలాగని అరుదైన జీవ వైవిధ్యాన్ని పణంగాపెట్టి అర్థరహితంగా అభివృద్ధి కార్యక్రమాలను రూపొందించుకోవడం ఎంత మాత్రం పర్యావరణ సమతూకానికి దోహదం చేసేదికాదు. ఆసియా ప్రాంతంలోని చైనా, భారత్ సహా అనేక దేశాల్లో పట్టణీకరణ శరవేగంగా పెరిగిపోతోంది. అనేకచోట్ల తీరప్రాంత కారిడార్ల నిర్మాణం జోరుగా సాగడంతో అరుదైన సముద్ర జాతుల ఆవాసానికి ముప్పువాటిల్లుతోంది. పట్టణాల విస్తరణ వల్ల అనివార్యంగానే జీవ వైవిధ్యంపై ప్రతికూల ప్రభావాన్ని కనబరుస్తోంది. దీని ఫలితంగా ప్రపంచ వ్యాప్తంగా అనేకచోట్ల జీవ వైవిధ్య ఉనికికే ముప్పువాటిల్లే పరిస్థితి తెలెత్తుతోంది. అభివృద్ధి అవసరమే అయినా దాన్ని ఓ ప్రణాళికబద్ధంగా ఉపయోగించుకోవడం వల్ల మనిషి తన క్షేమాన్ని ప్రకృతి, ఇతర జీవ జాతుల సంక్షేమాన్ని పరిరక్షించుకున్నట్టు అవుతుంది. పర్యావరణ పరిరక్షణ విధానాల విషయంలో రెండో ఆలోచనకు తావుండకూడదు. మన ఉనికి అంతా ప్రకృతి చుట్టూ పరిభ్రమించేదే కావడం వల్ల, ఆ ప్రకృతి సమతూకం కొరవడితే ముప్పు తథ్యమన్న స్పృహను మనిషి కలిగి ఉండాల్సి ఉంది. పట్టణ ప్రాంతాల అభివృద్ధి కారణంగా ఇప్పటికే ప్రపంచ వ్యాప్తంగా ఎన్నో సుముద్ర జాతులు అలాగే ఈ భూగోళం మీద సంచరించే అరుదైన జీవ జాతులు అంతరించిపోయాయి. ఒక రకంగా చెప్పాలంటే ఈ మూగజీవాల ఆవాసాలు సైతం మనిషి కబ్జా చేస్తున్నాడు. ఫలితంగా అనేక జంతుజాతులు నిలువ నీడలేక అంతరించిపోతున్నాయి.
ఇప్పటికే 25 పక్షి జాతులు, 139 సముద్ర, భూ చరాలు, 41కి పైగా జంతుజాతులు ముప్పు ముంగిళ్ళలో ఉన్నట్టు అంతర్జాతీయ అధ్యయనాలు చెబుతున్నాయి. ఇలా అభివృద్ధి పేరుతో అడవులు నిర్మూలించడం వల్ల కూడా అనేక రకాలుగా పర్యావరణ సమతూకానికి ముప్పు వాటిల్లుతోంది. అనేక విధాలుగా అరుదైన మూలికలకు, ఔషధాలకు నెలవులైన అడవులు అంతరించిపోవడం అన్నది వైద్యపరంగా కూడా మనిషి తన ఆరోగ్యకరమైన జీవనాన్ని అంతం చేసుకోవడమే అవుతుంది. అభివృద్ధిని కాదనలేం కానీ.. దాని పేరుతో ప్రకృతి సౌరభాన్ని ఇతర జీవ, జంతు జాతుల ఆవాసాన్ని హరించడం మాత్రం క్షమార్హం కాదు. ఇటువంటి కార్యకలాపాలకు, అనాలోచిత విధానాలకు స్వస్తిపలకనిదే జీవ వైవిధ్యం కొనసాగే అవకాశం లేదు. ఇప్పటికే అంతరించిపోయిన వృక్ష, జంతుజాతులను తిరిగి సృష్టించే అవకాశం లేదు. ఉన్నవాటినైనా పరిరక్షించుకోగలిగితే ఈ సృష్టి పుష్టిగా ఉంటుంది. ఇది అందరూ కళ్లు తెరవాల్సిన సమయం. అంతర్జాతీయంగా పర్యావరణ సదస్సులు ఎన్ని నిర్వహించినా, జీవ వైవిధ్య పరిరక్షణపై ఎన్ని ఒడంబడికలు కుదుర్చుకున్నా అవి ఆచరణ యోగ్యం కాకపోతే ఫలితం శూన్యం. జీవ వైవిధ్య పరిరక్షణకు సంబంధించి ఇప్పుడు మాటల్లో కాదు చేతల్లోనే మనిషి తన నిజాయితీని నిరూపించుకోవాలి

Friday, September 14, 2012

Body disposal technology widens green funeral choice


12 Sep 2012, 07:42 PM
By Nina Chestney

LONDON (Reuters) - Burnt, buried or frozen and turned to powder are some of the options for dealing with the remains of a loved one whose last wishes include lessening death's environmental impact.

Our demise can have a big environmental impact. Around three quarters of people in the United Kingdom alone are cremated after they die but cremation uses about the same amount of domestic energy as a person uses in a month.

Globally, cremation emits over 6.8 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, accounting for around 0.02 percent of world carbon dioxide emissions, experts estimate.

It also causes mercury pollution when tooth fillings are vaporised. Currently, up to 16 percent of all mercury emitted in the United Kingdom comes from crematoria, which could rise to 25 percent by 2020 without any action, according to government figures.

The UK government is forcing cremators to fit mercury filters by the end of 2012 to halve mercury emissions although statistics are not yet available on progress towards this goal.

TECHNOLOGY

Some companies are trying to cut overall emissions from funeral technologies by developing alternatives to cremation.

In India, Hindus traditionally cremate dead bodies by burning firewood in an open ground.

The wood required comes from 50 to 60 million trees a year. When burnt, they emit some 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year, according to Mokshda, a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation which is working to reduce the environmental impact of funeral pyres.

The group says it has developed an alternative system which reduces heat loss, requires much less wood than a conventional pyre and cuts emissions by up to 60 percent.

In the UK, Scotland-based Resomation Ltd has developed a process which breaks down a corpse chemically in an alkaline solution.

Although the process uses very high temperatures to heat remains in a pressurised container, the firm claims the process uses one seventh of the energy of a standard cremation and cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent.

Resomation still has to be approved by the UK government for use in Britain but the firm has installed resomators in the United States, where some states allow it.

Suffolk-based Cryomation Ltd has developed a technology which freezes a body using liquid nitrogen until it is brittle, removes metal elements and turns the remains into a powder which could be composted, buried in a natural graveyard or scattered.

Having proven the technology, the firm is now seeking 1.5 million pounds to build the first unit.

"The cryomation process has been talked about for far too long but never been delivered," said Paul Smith, business development manager at parent company IRTL.

"Our technology (..) can remove moisture at a cost-effective rate and at a suitable speed to make it a viable alternative to cremation with lots of environmental benefits," he added.
year by Dutch research group TMO said resomation and cryomation had the lowest environmental impact of all funeral methods and burial had the highest.

Indeed, burial is not a "green" option. It takes up space underground, the decaying process emits the greenhouse gas methane and caskets use a lot of steel, copper, bronze or wood.

The effect of formaldehyde-based embalming chemicals when they leak into the soil and air through burial is also thought to be potentially damaging but needs more research.

However, for those seeking a greener burial, there are options. Natural or woodland burials are gathering pace in the UK. Over 260 such sites now operate across the country, since the first one opened almost 20 years ago.

Bodies are buried in a woodland setting, field or meadow in wicker, cardboard, or other environmentally sound coffins.

Environmental concerns, wanting to reconnect with nature, reducing the burden on families to look after traditional graves and cost are the main drivers for people choosing a natural burial, a Durham University study said last month.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)
Source http://m.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/body-disposal-technology-widens-green-funeral-choice_757017.html?page=4

Monday, January 23, 2012

Say No to Western Rejects



Vandana Shiva
Vandana Shiva
I became a volunteer as a young student in the Chipko movement of the 1970s which I think shaped our contemporary history very strongly. But Chipko wasn't the first. Centuries ago, there had been another such movement in Rajasthan where Amrita Devi refused to let her Khejarli trees be cut by the king's army because they are sacred and are key to avoiding famine in the desert. Everything going on in the Durban negotiations on climate change eventually touches on this issue of ecological justice. And we had cracked it thousands of years ago.
The Chipko movement gave us the environment department initially and then the environment ministry. It also gave us a whole new set of laws, the Environment Protection Act, the Forest Conservation Act, the entire legacy that governs us today. I always tell people that I learnt my quantum theory in the University of Western Ontario in Canada and I learnt my ecology in the university of Chipko in Uttarakhand. Unfortunately, our leaders are stuck in the dinosaur age-they think big is better. But we are a civilisation that worships small. Researches by my NGO Navdanya and the United Nations has shown that small farms produce more food. Our leaders are picking up the filth of the West's yesterday. The West today is going solar and we continue to say that coal is modern. People are fighting Walmart around the world and we are saying it's modern.
Our Planning Commission needs to be redone in the footsteps of Bhutan. The Bhutanese Government measures growth not as gross domestic product but focuses on gross national happiness of their people. Their planning commission is called the happiness commission. I think Montek Singh Ahluwalia should go for an internship there.

The Chipko movement gave us the environment department initially and then the environment ministry.
The Chipko movement gave us the environment department initially and then the environment ministry.
Most of our environmental struggles have been based where nature's gifts are, in the mountains of the Himalayas, in the tribal forests in Niyamgiri and Jharkhand. The cities have also had their share of struggles. Bhopal, after all, was an urban movement. But because cities have this false prosperity that comes with higher incomes, there is, for a short while, the sense that it doesn't matter if the air is getting polluted. It is when their child gets asthma that they realise that taking home Rs.2 lakh is not worth it if their child is being tortured every day. Our privileged urban middle class needs to catch up with the rural excluded: women, tribals and peasants who are leaders of the environment movement.
Nevertheless, there is a lot of awakening of the privileged urban people. We work with schools in a programme called the Gardens of Hope and I can see the enthusiasm among the young. So while we have the total blindness of the executive in Delhi, I can see India is not going to go into sleepwalk mode vis-a-vis the environment. The India of the people will continue to struggle to defend the land, water, soil, biodiversity, the seas.
- As told to Shravya Jain

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Himalayan countries urged to own their green tech boom

A woman in Nepal
Renewable energy could help boost economies in the Himalayan region
Flickr/International Rivers
[KATHMANDU] Himalayan countries should support and invest in green technologies if such initiatives are to succeed and bring benefits to the economy in the long term, a meeting has heard.

Eight countries in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region are making progress in development and uptake of renewable energy technologies, which can maintain sustainable economic growth for mountain communities, a workshop in Kathmandu heard earlier this month (2–4 November).

Further investments could provide environmental, social and economic benefits to mountain communities, experts told the meeting, which was organised by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

But it is uncertain whether poorer countries could sustain investment in green technology development without external support and this dependency on donor funding could hamper the progress made so far, experts warned.

Suresh Kumar Dhungel, senior scientist at Nepal National Academy of Science and Technology, told SciDev.Net: "The sad part is that Nepal's efforts are not solely ours, it is all guided by funds from international donor agencies. Policymakers need to realise the importance of a green society."
Golam Rasul, head of ICIMOD's economic analysis division said: "The initial cost of renewable energy is high compared with fossil fuel based energy. The technology we are using now is not very cost-effective. Technologically advanced countries should support research in this field."
Rasul said regional cooperation and transboundary energy trade could offer a way out.
"Bhutan and Nepal have huge hydropower potential but lack technical capacity and large markets, whereas India and Bangladesh are power hungry," Rasul said.
Ghulam Mohammad Malikyar, deputy director-general of the National Environmental Protection Agency, of the Afghanistan, told SciDev.Net climatic environments may need different green technologies, appropriate for local circumstances.
Prem Pokhrel, climate and energy programme officer at the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, Nepal, said that almost a million households in Nepal are benefiting from micro-hydro power plants, improved cooking stoves, domestic biogas plants, and solar home systems. This saves an estimated 12 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
Pokhrel described an 'energy ladder' of rising income, where households transition from wood and animal-based fuels to electricity and other clean energy, as they get richer. This also translated into better health for women and children, said Pokhrel. He added that uptake of clean energy can also help generate better income.

ICIMOD organised a conference on Green Economy and Sustainable Mountain Development: Opportunities and Challenges in View of Rio+20 in September, which produced a concept paper 'Green Economy for Sustainable Mountain Development'.
One of the key recommendations to the national governments from the concept paper was to "adopt alternative forms of energy such as hydropower, wind power, biogas, and solar energy to reduce negative impacts from the use of fossil fuels and fuel wood".

Link to 'Green Economy for Sustainable Mountain Development: a concept paper for Rio+20 and beyond'

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Solar Arrays Powering Data Centers

When people think of green living, chances are, computer data centers aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. But IBM (NYSE:IBM) is changing all that with the installation of a 6,000 sq foot array of solar panels, located in Bangalore, India, that can deliver as much as 575 volts to run a server. The new solar powered system can run the India based company’s, 50 kilowatts of computer equipment for approximately 330 days out of the year for about 5 hours a day.
This bodes well as an alternative power source when Bangalore has difficulty getting power to all of their customers. In addition, it looks like IBM could possibly install batteries to store the juice coming in and with a larger array and plenty of roof capacity, could run the data center 24/7.
The implications of this are huge in terms of how remote parts of the world could now be connected to the rest of the world using this solar supplied system. Clients in underdeveloped countries are paying attention and IBM’s creation has their interest.
IBM plans on packaging what the techs have created and selling it to these clients sometime next year. In addition to reducing carbon emissions and the amount of diesel fuel these systems normally take, it will also take the strain and demand off of the already overworked grids and give them an alternative source of power for their computer data centers.
In places where the grid can’t be relied upon exclusively, a backup diesel-powered generator will still be needed. The biggest impact is expected to be on countries that, before now, have had no chance of being connected with the rest of the world due to lack of electrical supplies. This system is going to change all that.Image representing IBM as depicted in CrunchBaseImage via CrunchBase
Using IBM’s solution to a lack of electrical supplies, a telecommunications company, or even a bank could set up a data center in a remote place and have what amounts to their own DC mini grid within the data center. It really opens up options that just weren’t there before.
Solar powered technology has been around for many years, but no one had ever engineered it for computer use…before now. IBM has taken the bull by the horns and discovered a way to solve a problem that has kept many countries out of the mainstream of the computer world for decades.
No one has ever attempted to package solar power, power conditioning and water cooling into an all-in-one system that can run huge configurations of electronic equipment, and that is exactly what IBM has done, and done successfully.
In addition to that gigantic leap forward for those countries that had no chance of joining the computer era, the system it has created gives a source of reliable, efficient, clean power to industrial-scale electronics that are high energy intensive. It is never too late to discover ways to reduce the world’s fuel consumption and carbon emissions. This is just the beginning of what could be an enormous global change in how countries are able to run their computer data centers and where those data centers can be located.