As I type this, the UPS beeps furiously behind me for Growl in a half-dozen diesel generators on the Street outside. I am in an Internet Cafe in Leh, a town nestled in the Himalayan Valley, surrounded by a 6000 metres/bird's eye visors, fast-growing capital of India's northern territory of Ladakh. He obviously got his electric power; power cuts hit several times a day.
Electricity production is deeply unsexy, but profoundly important issue in developing countries. Technology is transforming the lives of busily around the world even as you read this, but the lack of reliable electricity is a massive obstacle even in large cities, the more remote villages.
Various people are imperfect and ingenious ways to cope. I was once on a river in Guatemala, where Captain distributed recently powered phone batteries for residents scattered along the river and collected their old for charging when he returned to civilization. You can find shops selling the equipment small solar power in remote small towns throughout Uganda and sometimes microhydro generators in the Himalayas; and people around the world through the huge (and toxic) number of scarce (and expensive) diesel generators which are their lights.
But there has to be better, and more. In particular I've had my eye on international Fenix for awhile now. The ReadySet battery has two cigars light and two USB displays battery radios, lights and batteries in and of itself can be recharged via solar bicycle or wall power. In addition, they recently released a universal charger, which can include almost any lithium ion battery via the USB connector. (I wish I knew this before would be set out in this trip, I could have left both of my camera-battery chargers at home.)
It gets better and wackier. There is also this BioLite stove, energize your mobile phone and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently awarded $ 100000 in the project, which seeks to use soil microorganisms to power fuel cells, which reportedly can be built from scratch in a few minutes for pennies. I must admit I'm a bit skeptical, but I'll be watching with interest.
In the long run, of course, localized passive projects are not enough for serious economic development; a sizable and stable power supply. But in the interim period, a little energy is generally much better than no and can make a huge difference. So here's hoping that these microbes form a Megahit.
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