The disaster in Japan, with the Fukushima power plant’s three nuclear reactors now in meltdown, and coupled with monumental troubles in the turbulent Middle East, and with large, oil-exporting countries like Libya in Africa are creating whole new stresses.[break]
It also doesn’t seem that the price of energy is set to decrease anytime soon.
In Nepal, we have two major, and regular, problems: electricity and fuel. What does the future hold for us to make these two essential items available and affordable?
The word “hydroelectricity” has been on the tip of everyone’s tongue for decades now, given Nepal’s yet massive water resources.
The Khimti and Karnali projects are being slated as the dispellers of the nation’s energy and economic woes. But does this help solve our power issues, as well as our necessity for fuels?
Since earthquakes and tidal waves struck and tormented Japan, the world seems to be reversing its idea of “going nuclear” as the method for meeting escalating energy demands.
Germany and Italy are amongst two of the biggest and developed countries to have resoundingly turned their backs on the idea.
Germany is even moving more towards becoming a model of green power for all to follow.
Here at home
For Nepal, the potential to make “extra” hydroelectricity is huge, and the market for its sale vast, with our two neighbors, China and India, demanding more for their ever expanding industries.
In theory, that would mean that producing enough hydroelectricity could create a very large export industry, with the potential of replacing Nepal’s only existing export—manpower.
However, the idea of damming the length and breadth of Nepali rivers, which is what would be required to meet this idea, doesn’t sit comfortably well with many minds. The vast disruption of environments and societies would be too much for any country to handle.
Plus, it’s incredibly expensive. Where would the money for all that steel and concrete come from, for instance?
Japanese officials now admit that its nuclear disaster has hit record levels, with nuclear rods melting through the ground, making an area of 900+ sq km uninhabitable.
While the Arab world’s demand for liberty is sending oil prices soaring towards US$150 per barrel, what are the hopes for the worldwide demands on resources, power and its accessibility for the masses into the future?
Two recent innovations, if researched and developed properly, could change everything, and sooner than later.
These two are run-of-the-river hydro turbines, and the air car. These aren’t fanciful dreams, by the way, but very close to full production potential and distribution possibility.
Hydropower
The reality of global warming and dwindling natural resources has spurned intensive research into alternative methods of renewable energy with wind, solar and hydropower choices being the main focus. Many companies have brought about some novel ideas.
The most exemplary – especially for Nepal, with such obvious hydro potentials – are known as run-of-the-river systems.
These, for the most part, are turbines that go directly into a river, with the river’s natural flow powering and turning the turbine.
The Khimti Project is also a run-of-the-river system, but much bigger, requiring large construction work.
The smaller version looks no different than wind turbines or airplane propellers, which are waterproofed.
The flow of the river itself turns them, giving small models a capacity starting at 15kw and with the smallest being no bigger than a Cessna’s propeller.
This means that a necklace of turbines could be laid out along the course of a river; and for some rivers, say, the mighty Karnali, this could mean hundreds, even thousands of them, working and generating power without the necessity of a dam.
Now think of this concept on a nationwide scale.
To an ignoramus like me, it seems a great, progressive 21st Century development requiring no damming or flooding of vast swathes of land, displacing communities and disturbing environments.
On top of that, the money saved by not having to build dams of expensive concrete and steel would pay for many of these turbines.
Already this system is in its practical testing phase in the UK, Canada and America. Variations are being developed: some locked to riverbeds, others to moveable buoys and rafts, while others are attached to a bridge’s pylons.
[In addition, see the July issue of National Geographic for graphics and details on the many options.-Ed]
A turbine’s blueprints and concept actually seem quite straightforward, and I would envisage that in no time, companies could start building similar turbines in Nepal. It’s not rocket science.
Fuels
An air-powered car – yes, that’s right: air-powered – is being developed by the crazy French Formula 1 designer Guy Negre with Luxemburg’s MDI Company.
It was all set to be commercially distributed by none other than India’s motor giant Tata, with 6,000 slated to flood onto the streets this year under the name of Tata MiniCat.
It was planned to sell for about US$8,000 apiece. The vehicle allegedly can travel up to 300 km on one single charge of air and with a refill costing no more than 100 Indian Rupees.
And this little beauty is made from fiberglass, not metal. And its other most amazing characteristic is that it causes zero emissions!
However, it’s not yet been possible to get the temperature for the air pressure to maintain and regulate.
The plan for now, it seems, has been shelved. But in the old adage of “looking at the glass as half full,” this highlights just how close the world has come to revolutionizing the smelly, old combustible engine.
Let’s imagine further, if you will, a near possible dream: Cars replaced by cheaper MiniCats, pumping out zero emissions. With operating prices slashed, due to zero need for fuel consumption, there will be smiling, happy road users no longer complaining about rising fuel costs, or having long waits in miserable queues for a liter of gas.
We could also all start using electric cars, too, like the Reva, reducing carbon emissions greatly, as well as minimizing our dependence on fuels.
But these electric cars require electricity which, for us, is a luxury as well as still being too expensive for the masses. And, simply put, electricity would be our export. So using it less would be better, for the returns would be greater that way than using it domestically.
Given time and investment, I imagine it wouldn’t take long for the development of this technology: To operate not just small run-arounds like the Mini-Cat but bigger machinery as well, like buses.
In an ideal world, Kathmandu would be closer to becoming a smog-free zone. And that’s well before we even start talking about benefits to the world in general.
Parting shots
All I did was take a layman’s interest in the state of energy development, post-world disasters of the past and now. I wished to know if alternatives existed, and I used our dearest friend Google to see what’s happening.
Our world has developed with monumental strides in the last few decades, with inventions like the Internet, mobile phones, computers, and advanced automobiles, all taking on ever-expanding shapes and abilities.
Every invention since Industrial Revolution keeps being revolutionized.
We’ve lived in a time with modern “alternatives” for society. But now, we’re swiftly entering a new age where we are even redesigning these alternatives. Everything that was ungainly before is now compact, more practical; in short, better.
Remember the first aeroplane, mobile phone, laptop, or iPod? They were very cumbersome, yet today they are sleeker, more elegant, diversely practical, and most importantly, cheaper. It is the nature of technology.
I simply request that it’s perhaps a good time and idea for us all to investigate more to see if we, too, have the potential for cheaper and better alternatives than before. Within it, there may well be a secret key that could unlock a world of potentials for all the people of this nation.
Let’s begin with Nepal, for starters!
Pat Kauba is a freelance writer and photographer with a love for investigating alternatives. He can be contacted at patkauba@gmail.com
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