October 19, 2000: Headlines: COS - Kenya: Solar Energy: Alternate Energy: Science Wire: RPCV Mark Hankins says: Kenya is the ideal place for solar energy
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October 19, 2000: Headlines: COS - Kenya: Solar Energy: Alternate Energy: Science Wire: RPCV Mark Hankins says: Kenya is the ideal place for solar energy
RPCV Mark Hankins says: Kenya is the ideal place for solar energy
RPCV Mark Hankins says: Kenya is the ideal place for solar energy
Developing Solar Power in Kenya
by Jennifer Glass
October 19, 2000
Kenya used to be known as the jewel of East Africa. Tourists used to flock there for safaris and beach holidays, and the country was considered one of Africa's few economic success stories. But a lingering drought has left Kenya parched, and its devastated the economy. Once a food exporter, the country now faces the prospect of a famine. The drought has also strained Kenya's limited power supplies. The country depends on hydro for nearly all its electricity, but water levels are way down. The government's response is power rationing, which leaves many Kenyans without electricity for long stretches of each day. In our ongoing series on renewable energy, The World's Jennifer Glass reports on how solar energy is starting to fill the void.
[Excerpt]
Kenya is the ideal place for solar energy -- it's sunny most of the year. Mark Hankins runs Energy Alternatives -- a business that helps individuals and businesses design and finance solar energy systems.
Hankins: On a per capita basis, Kenya uses solar electricity more than any other country.
Glass: Why is that?
Hankins: Very simply put, Kenyans want to get TVs. Rural Kenyan people want TVs and the Chinese Great Wall, black-and-white TV came available, 40-50 dollars per TV. There's a pretty wide broadcasting network in Kenya, so people want a TV they buy a battery to power the TV black and white, and once they get tired of hauling the battery back and forth for charging, they buy a solar panel.
When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
| Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help? |
| The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005. |
| Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia." |
| Is Gaddi Leaving? Rumors are swirling that Peace Corps Director Vasquez may be leaving the administration. We think Director Vasquez has been doing a good job and if he decides to stay to the end of the administration, he could possibly have the same sort of impact as a Loret Ruppe Miller. If Vasquez has decided to leave, then Bob Taft, Peter McPherson, Chris Shays, or Jody Olsen would be good candidates to run the agency. Latest: For the record, Peace Corps has no comment on the rumors. |
| The Birth of the Peace Corps UMBC's Shriver Center and the Maryland Returned Volunteers hosted Scott Stossel, biographer of Sargent Shriver, who spoke on the Birth of the Peace Corps. This is the second annual Peace Corps History series - last year's speaker was Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn. |
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Story Source: Science Wire
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Kenya; Solar Energy; Alternate Energy
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