Peru pursues Solar for the masses

Peru is looking to its future with new plans to use solar to provide electricity for about 2 million of its poorest residents by the end of 2016.

Peru is the third largest country in South America and has a population of 24 million. Solar power will cover roughly 10% of its population. Image credit: www.letstravelsomewhere.com


The country, which is the world’s second largest exporter of copper, is experiencing strong demand for new electric generation to support its mining and other operations. As such, it needs to add 500 MW of new electric generation annually for the next few years. In all it plans to add in 2.1 gigawatts of new electric generation.


The Solar Power option

The solar being installed will only be a part of the larger target, which includes hydro-electric and gas-fired electric generating power plants. The country, will add in 1 GW of hydro-electric, 800 MW of gas-diesel power plants and 300 MW of renewable energy.

When completed, “The National Photovoltaic Household Electrification Program” and other programs will allow 95% of Peru’s population access to electricity. While that’s not everyone, it’s a pretty high percentage of the population and it’s a rapid ramp up. Right now, about 66% of the country’s population has access to electricity in the mountain-rich country.

“This program is aimed at the poorest people, those who lack access to electric lighting and still use oil lamps, spending their own resources to pay for fuels that harm their health.”
-Peru Energy and Mining Minister, Jorge Merino.

Under the first phase of the program 500,000 homes will get access to power from roughly 12,500 PV arrays, and is expected to cost $200 million, which is only part of the $3 billion that Peru plans to spend on new electric generation.


Powering the rural folks

By bringing access to electricity throughout so much of the country, this could help propel its economy and help more of its citizens get access to health services, refrigeration, water filtering and more. It can also bring more of Peru's rural areas out of poverty.

United Nations Development Programme's 2012 Human Development Index reports that about half of its people are poor and 20% of its people are considered extremely poor.


TheGreenMechanics's two cents:
$3 billion (approx RM9.8 billion) could well benefit the folks in the rural areas of Malaysia, plus, improvement of the power supply system in Sabah. Peru is targetting a completion of this project in 2016. We certainly don't need 10 years (year 2023) to solve the power supply woes in Sabah.


Original article was posted here.

How close to my house can they put that?

This is an illustration of how close should an installation (or in this case a source of pollution) be from your house. Apparently a wind farm needs to be sited further away from your home compared to coal-fired power plant.

Pretty cool way of putting things into perspective.

A seemingly harmless wind turbines must be built far away, while coal power station and gas well (coal seam gas) can be built just stone throw away from residential area.

This graph is believed to be the work of campaigners against coal seam gas project in Gippsland, a large rural region in Victoria, Australia.


Source

All-electric car BMW i3 is officially unveiled

In another big step towards promoting electric vehicles, BMW joined the bandwagon with the launching of the BMW i3 in its production version simultaneously in three locations – New York, London and Beijing.

It costs €34,950 in its home country, Germany, equivalent to RM151,000 here but don't get too excited yet about the direct currency conversion. We have the tariff, duties, and other import permits that will sure jack the price up much higher.

The BMW i3 electric car is unveiled in London

Launching its BMW i3 model, the German group compared the prospects of the electric car market to the technical revolution of the mobile telephone, but declined to give any sales or production targets.

Sleek and distinguished as always

"What the mobile phone did for communication, electric mobility will do for individual mobility. The BMW i3 is more than an evolutionary step -- it is a great leap forward."
- Chief executive Norbert Reithofer, during the launching.

The series-produced model will go on sale in Europe in November to be followed in the United States, China, Japan and several other markets in the first half of 2014.


Price and Features

It will hit the German market at a price of €34,950 ($46,438) and has a range of 130 to 160 kilometres (about 80 to 100 miles).

The Munich-based company trumpeted technological features of the model, which can seat four, including a carbon fibre passenger cell to help offset the weight of the batteries and an aluminium chassis.

BMW said the global market for electric vehicles was showing positive development. "After almost 93,000 electric vehicles were registered worldwide last year, a total of 150,000 units is already forecast for the current year," a statement said.


Germany's electric vehicle policy

Germany set a target in 2008 of having one million electric cars on its roads in 2020 and said it wanted to be a pilot market in the field. But Chancellor Angela Merkel has acknowledged that the country would struggle to reach the target while insisting the goal should not be dropped.

The government offers tax incentives to electric car drivers but campaigners say much more needs to be done to encourage people to switch from petrol or diesel to electric vehicles.


TheGreenMechanics:
The i3 would be a good addition to the currently available locally - Leaf, iMiEV, and the soon to be available Chevrolet Spark.

Source: AFP