- Toyota International
Teacher Program award recipient Pam Ulicny works with Sundance Solar and Educo Africa to provide solar lanterns to South Africa
Shown above: Pam Ulicny's students at Tri-Valley Jr/Sr High School in Hegins, PA soldering parts on the SunBender DIY Solar LED Jar Light Kit.
Hopkinton, NH June 4, 2014 - Pamela Ulicny, a biology and
environmental science teacher at Tri-Valley Jr/Sr High School in Hegins, PA is making her light shine on the impoverished areas of South Africa.
Pam's journey began in April of 2011 when she was selected as
one of only 24 teachers in the U.S. to visit South Africa funded through the Toyota International Teacher Program, courtesy of Toyota Motor Sales and the Institute of International Education. What Pam considered would be a "once-in-a-lifetime experience" has transformed her and the lives of people living in the impoverished townships of South Africa.
Ulicny recalls when she travelled to South Africa and saw
the Soweto Township for the first time. At first sight, says Ulicny, it appears as an endless jumble of shacks made up of corrugated metal, concrete, and just about any material that could be salvaged. It's an enormous sprawl of
'shantytowns' stretching as far as the eye can see. "All I could think of is how wrong it felt to be sitting on a coach bus, looking down at the township and its folk, taking pictures of them as if they were some type of attraction, and then knowing that I was going to eat my fill in a quality restaurant and sleep in a four star hotel that night."
During her trip to South Africa, Ulicny learned about Educo Africa
- a non-profit organization that works with at-risk youth from impoverished South African townships. Educo Africa helps to empower and transform disadvantaged South African communities by focusing on vulnerable youth, their parents/guardians, and their social environment. The organization's philosophy is to provide a holistic circle of support to improve the dignity and power of those less fortunate.
Upon return from South Africa, Pam contacted Mark Gamble,
CEO of Educo Africa. In the fall of 2012, Pam and Mark came up with the idea of fusing science education with the needs of the people in South Africa by finding a low-cost way to provide solar-powered lanterns to people with no access to electricity. The science education unit would directly tie into Ulicny's alternative energy unit in her environmental science class. The unit would incorporate more technology, engineering, and math into what she teaches. The unit also has the possibility to carry over into teaching South African students to design and build their own solar-powered lanterns, using some simple materials they can already access such as a glass jar or other clear containers.
Moving forward with her vision, in November 2012, Pam
partnered with Sundance Solar to design a working prototype of a solar powered LED jar light kit. After a few months, they had a circuit board designed and produced in order to create a functional do-it-yourself kit. The product that they developed is a simple way of turning a glass jar into a functioning lantern and is available to teachers and the general public today. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the SunBender DIY Solar LED Jar Light Kits are donated to providing solar lighting solutions in South Africa.
ABOUT SUNDANCE SOLAR
Sundance Solar
specializes in solar energy products including solar educational kits, do it yourself solar energy kits, plug and play solar energy kits and solar system components including solar panels and rechargeable batteries.
Source: renewable-energy-events.blogspot.com
THIS DECISION WILL ENCOURAGE THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF BIO-DIESEL IN THE COUNTRY
The Union Cabinet on January 16, 2015 gave its approval for amending the Motor Spirit (MS) and High Speed Diesel (HSD) control order for Regulation of Supply, Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices dated December 19, 2005. The amendment will allow private biodiesel manufacturers, their authorised dealers and joint ventures (JVs) of oil marketing companies (OMCs) authorised by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG) as dealers and give marketing/ distribution functions to them for the limited purpose of supply ofbio-diesel to consumers.
The Cabinet has also decided to suitably amend the National Policy on Bio-fuels for facilitating consumers of diesel in procuring bio-diesel directly from private bio-diesel manufacturers. This decision will encourage the production and use of bio-diesel in the country.
MoP&NG announced a Bio-diesel Purchase Policy, effective from January 1, 2006, to encourage production of bio-diesel in the country for blending it with diesel with the objective of increasing energy security and meeting other emission and environment objectives. Under this policy, OMCs are to buy bio-diesel (B100), meeting fuel quality standard prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), at a uniform price, as decided by the OMCs from time to time, for blending with HSD to the extent of five percent, at identified purchase centres across the country.
PSU OMCs under the MoP&NG have been actively pursuing the bio-diesel programme and entered into MoUs and formed JVs for cultivation of bio-fuels species on revenue wasteland and degraded lands in the state. These JV companies have been formed with the objective of increasing production and marketing of bio-diesel in the country. They have sought permission to undertake activities like sourcing, trading, supply, distribution, marketing etc. of bio-diesel to consumers.
"As the price of diesel is already deregulated and determined by the market, there is no economic justification in preventing private biodiesel manufacturers, their authorised dealers and JVs of OMCs authorised by the MoP&NG from selling biodiesel directly to consumers subject to their product meeting prescribed BIS standards," said MoP&NG in a press release.
The post Govt allows direct sale of bio-diesel by manufacturers appeared first on World Of Bioenergy.
##solar Impulse, claimed to be the world's only solar-powered aircraft, will make a stop over in Ahmedabad on Tuesday as a part of its maiden global journey.
"Solar Impulse will take off from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and land in Ahmedabad after making a first stop over at Muscat in Oman. It will make a pit-stop in Ahmedabad," a release issued by the aircraft project's PR firm said here.
After making a landing here, the solar-powered aircraft's founders and pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andr'e Borschberg are likely to stay in the city for two days before leaving for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the release said.
The Swiss solar-powered aircraft's flight got delayed by a day due to bad weather conditions in the UAE. The aircraft was scheduled to land in Ahmedabad today, but now it will make a stop over here tomorrow, it said.
Piccard and Borschberg, during their stay in the city, will reach out to the government, NGOs, universities and schools to spread the message of clean technologies.
The aircraft is also likely to hover above Ganga river in Varanasi to spread the message of cleanliness and clean #energy, an official associated with the project said.
Solar Impulse is claimed to be the first aircraft to fly day and night without a drop of fuel, propelled solely by the sun's energy, as per the project's website.
WATCH: Swiss solar-powered plane to fly across the world without fuel
The single-seater aircraft made of carbon fibre has a 72 metre wingspan, larger than that of Boeing-747 and weighs just 2,300 kg, equivalent to the weight of a car, it said.
The 17,248 solar cells built into the wing supply electric motors with #renewable energy. The solar cells recharge four lithium polymer batteries totalling 633 kg each, which allow the aircraft to fly at night and therefore have virtually unlimited autonomy, it said.
This round-the-world flight will take-off from Abu Dhabi and make a halt at Muscat (Oman), Ahmedabad and Varanasi in #india, Mandalay in Myanmar and Chongqing and Nanjing in China. After crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii, the aircraft will fly across the US stopping at Phoenix, the Midwest and New York City, said the website.
The test flight of the aircraft was conducted in the US in 2013.
Source:Indian Express
