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Installation of a wind anemometer in the community of Tinajones, North Peru
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With three wind turbines to install this year, myself and two volunteers (Hanan and Yeara) have been visiting some remote communities in Peru who are currently living without access to electricty. Providing the wind conditions in the communities are sufficient for using wind energy, these communities could be potential recipients.
It is important to remember that these communities are in regions where there is a lack of basic provisions. In the countries where most of our voluntries come from, they are fortunate enough to have easy access to so many things and If they were to build something like a wind turbine back home, they would have all the correct equipment and use of skip hire company. These are facilities not so easily found in remote locations of Peru and is why the work that the volunteers do here is so essential.
In 6 days we visited 3 communities located deep in the mountains, forest and desert regions of Peru. One of these communities was Tinajones, located in an area full of rolling hills and forests, laying host to a community of around 30 families. The purpose of the visit was to see the community's school and assess how a wind turbine could benefit them, but we also wanted to install a wind anemometer to monitor the wind data and better understand how a wind turbine would perform in this region.
Starting from the city of Piura, two buses, a micro and a mini van later we arrived in Tinajones, greeted by the school children and their teacher. With the children at hand, we quickly headed to high ground in order to identify the best location for a wind turbine. This lead up us to a small peak with an incredible 360 degree view of the forest leading all the way to the horizon. The community members pointed out other small communities in the distance, however they were all part of an upcoming plan for rural electrification. Unfortunately, Tinajones wasn't. Having found our spot, we began to unpack the anemometer, much to the interest and intrigue of all the school children, who quickly crowded around to see what was in this wooden box.
Hanan showing school children in Tinajones how an anemometer works
At that moment, Hanan held a quick anemometer master class for the children, however the best demonstration was to see it working. An 8m wooden pole was found, bound to an old tree stump and with the anemometer attached to the top, we were ready to go. For 5 weeks the anemometer will remain in Tinajones to record the wind data and give us a better understanding of whether a wind turbine will generate enough energy to benefit this community. Granted, using an anemometer to record the wind data for 5 weeks is not an ideal solution, but if it shows us whether a wind turbine will work well in their community then it was worth the journey.
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Before and during Earth Hour in the
central plaza in Lima, Peru
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Initiated
by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Earth Hour began in Sydney 2007 with
2.2 million people turning off their lights for one hour to make a
stand against climate change. In 2009, over 4,000 cities in 88
countries took part, switching off lights in houses, offices, shops and
streets. So on Saturday 27th March 2010, the hope was that even more
people would stand up, to take responsibility, to get involved and lead
the way to a sustainable future.
As a country very much affected by climate change, Peru was to play its
part and at 8.30 pm (local time), lights across the country were turned
off for the hour. Important
buildings in Lima turned off their lights,
including the Palacio de Gobierno, Plaza de Armas, Plaza de San Martin,
Lima Cathedral and the Municipal Palace.
We of course did our bit and turned off all the lights in our house,
but looking over the city of Trujillo, not many other people joined in.
It appears that the importance of climate change has not quite become a
priority for most Peruvians. Earth Hour was promoted in Peru, through
billboard advertisements and news and TV reports, but it still felt
like more of a symbol than an actual act of change.
There were rumours that Hidrolina (a Peruvian power company) were going
to cut the power in certain places of Trujillo for the hour, but
nothing quite materialised. Rather ironically though, Trujillo
experienced a power cut for over 20 hours the following day, more than
making up for the lack of committment during Earth Hour.
Sources: WWF and El Comercio newspaper, Peru
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Me and Hanan enjoying the view in
Los Organos
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Myself
and two volunteers recently
visited a beach paradise in north Peru, not for a holiday, but to see
the beginnings of a new green development project – potentially
the first completely self-sufficient site in Peru.
Located
in El Nuro (South of Mancora), a small group of Peruvian entrepreneurs,
architects and developers are planning to build Peru’s first
self-sufficient resort. The underlying drive for the project is to show
Peru that environmentally friendly buildings and complete
sustainability can be achieved and for an affordable price.
Nestled
on the beach is the first house to be built, complete with a
breathtaking ocean view and an infinity pool leading to a perfect sandy
beach. The house uses passive designs to control the temperature (which
is even more admirable when you consider that being so close to the
equator it is always summer there), it only uses low energy lighting
and recycles as much water as possible. But this is just the start of
the project.
With the plan of building 35 more homes
on the site, the decision on how to make everything self-sustaining,
using just the resources available in Peru and at an affordable cost,
is not so simple.
With WindAid
being the first company to manufacture wind turbines in Peru, there now
exists the option of wind energy (before wind turbines could only be
imported at a high cost), especially in locations where there is no
access to the national utility grid such is the situation in El Nuro.
The current proposal is to use wind turbines to generate electricity
and power a seawater desalinisation plant. This will provide the site
with a clean water supply, something the nearby towns of Los Organos
and Mancora only get for 2 hours per day. Solar panels will be used for
hot water generation, brown water will be recovered from the homes and
treated, before being used to water the gardens and there will be a
closed sewer system in order to avoid dumping waste onto the beach or
into the sea.
There is a
long way to go with the project, but to meet people in Peru with these
intentions and aims is encouraging. Hopefully it will make even more
people in Peru aware that sustainability does not have to be a costly
option and that alternative and renewable fuels do exist.
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| Wednesday
24th March 2010 |
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Me,
Michael and Sr. Abel at the Huevito (Little egg) in Buenos Aires
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Posted by:
Yeara Einav Levy |
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For a
few years we (We as me Yeara, and Hanan – my husband) were
playing with the thought of leaving Israel for some time, and living in
another country as volunteers.
Since
Hanan is an expert and hobbyist with small wind turbines, starting with
Hugh Piggot's DIY designs in 2001, it was just natural that we would
look for a NGO that is related to this subject (I'm a chemical engineer
and I have been working for the last 4 years at managing a production
line of sterile drug – not something very useful around here.)
After
a big dilemma - going to Cameroon in Africa with GreenStep or going to
Peru with WindAid – We decided to come here to
WindAid, at Trujillo, Peru (Hanan had some Spanish knowledge,
and I never saw South America. Or North America actually).
We
had all kinds of adventures on the way to here. Our flight from
Washington DC to Lima was delayed because of bad weather and we had to
stay for a few days at the city. 2 out of 3 of our baggage pieces where
missing! – We got them a day after we arrived to Trujillo (8 days
delay. A record for us...).
We
took a night bus from Lima to Trujillo. At the station Michael and
James were waiting for us. Finally we met the people behind the
email…
All
our friends who had traveled to Peru and visited Trujillo, told us a
lot of bad things about the city, and we even heard some robbery
stories. But the good thing from all those stories was that we came
with very low expectations! However, we discovered a very nice,
safe city, with more taxis on the roads than people on the side
walk, (Michael has a nice explanation about that…) beautiful
structures in the city's old center, and very kind and hospitable
people.
We
had a very welcoming and hospitable entrance to the city and the
WindAid organization thanks to Michael and James.
After a good breakfast at Michael's
house, James and Senor Abel (who works with Michael and James) took us
to Huanchaco – a nice seaside village 10 minutes from
Trujillo, where we found a hostel for our first days until we would
settle in and find an apartment . We found a nice room 3 minutes
walk from the beach (The entire town is 3 minutes walk from the beach
really).
On
the first day Michael and Senor Abel took us to visit "Buenos Aires"
which is located on the beach on the way to Huanchaco. This is a
location used to test wind turbines by WindAid, and has an egg shaped
dome building, built by Michael according to a Hindu design -
resembling mother nature - the shape of the curve of the dome is that
of a leaf when it is held in the middle and both ends drop to the
ground...
We
will be in Trujillo for the next 6 months, so can't wait to get stuck
in with the volunteering.
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| Wednesday
17th March 2010 |
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School
children attending an eco rally in Trujillo to educate people about the
environment and climate change |
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Welcome to the WindAid Blog, a spot to exchange ideas and
experiences relating to our volunteer program based in northern Peru.
We want to bring people
together to build wind turbines through direct relations with Peruvian
communities without electricity. Along the way our volunteers will
learn to harness the power of the wind, how to work in community
organising and learn about the people and cultures of Peru.
Within a world
racked by difficulty, we are convinced that we can each be a part of
something positive and we invite you to join us. If you are able,
please join us as a volunteer in any one of our volunteer programs. We
have both long and short-term volunteer opportunities. You can also
share your thoughts, hopes, and ideas as a participant in the blog
section of the website.
However you decide to involve yourself, know that your contribution
matters. We welcome you to the WindAid experience.
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Statistics
summarising energy and the environment in Peru. Source UNDP. |
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To many, the challenges of daily life without electricity are
uncomprehendable and when statistics reveal the reality across a whole
nation, then the task ahead of us (bringing light to those in need
throughout Peru) seems overwhelming.
Peru is not alone in the challenges faced with providing electricity to
everyone, but it is here where we can begin to make a real and
sustained difference.
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Michael
VerKamp, founder of WindAid, receives the award from the BiD Network in
Lima |
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WindAid, the
company responsible for designing and developing the WindAid program, was awarded
1st Place in the BiD Challenge Peru
competition 2009.
The competition was open for SME's and Entrepreneurs from Peru, with
the winners being judged based on their business plans. This involved
entering the business plan, presenting the plan to the judges and a
final exposition at the Hotel Dolfines in Lima on 10th December 2009. After
being selected as one of the two finalists, WindAid was
invited to Den Haag, Holland, competing internationally
with nearly 600 other businesses.
The business plan
for WindAid involves the design and manufacture of small-scale wind
turbines in Peru. The simple and low-cost design ensures that the wind
turbines are significantly cheaper than other forms of energy
generation in Peru, such as diesel generators, whilst having the added
advantage of being environmentally friendly and a renewable technology.
For more information regarding the BiD
Network and the competition visit http://www.bidnetwork.org/page/144968/en, and you can see more about WindAid
wind turbines at their website www.windaid.com.
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| Monday
14th December 2009 |
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Glaciers in Huaraz, Peru, are
expected to melt due to increasing temperatures |
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Peru, ranked third in the world of countries most affected by climate
change, is set to experience firsthand the harsh consequences of
climate change. In the last 30 years, 22% of the surface of glaciers in
the Peruvian Andes has melted away. This loss is equivalent to 7
million cubic meters of water, enough to supply the capital city of
Lima and its 8 million inhabitants for 10 years.
As a result of
global warming, temperatures in Peru are expected to rise such that by
2020 there will be no glaciers below 5,000 m left in the Andean
mountains. This substantial reduction will hugely affect the supply
levels of drinking water for Peruvians.
A belief amongst
many Peruvians is that climate change is not their problem, and should
be fixed by those nations that have been emitting the harmful gases for
so long. Yet it is the Peruvian people who face a lack of drinkable
water and no means to rectify the damage done to the environment so far.
Peru provides
around 80% of its power from hydroelectricity. Yet as the Peruvian
economy grows, all increases in power demand have been met by the use
of fossil fuels, most notably coal power plants.
However
there are many locations in Peru or along its 2,400 km coast line
on which to build wind farms. Areas such as Piura, Ica and Puerto
Malabrigo all enjoy strong and consistent winds, making wind turbines
an ideal and cost-effective solution to rising demands in power.
Small-scale wind turbines can also play a
role in combating climate change and providing for the expanding demand
for electricity. The Peruvian electricity utility grid does not cover
much further than the few main cities, leaving 30% of the entire
population and 70% of the rural population without electricity. A
small-scale wind turbine is cleaner and often a far cheaper substitute
for the diesel generators widely used across Peru and South America.
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| Wednesday
2nd December 2009 |
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©2009-2011 WindAid S.A.C. |
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WindAid provides volunteer projects in Peru for people taking a gap year, career break, retirement or time out from education, employment or training. School and educational programs, corporate programs and programs for youth organisations can be tailor-made to suit specific requirements.
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