Updating, and filling out the Benefit-Cost Analysis for our Pabal pilot.
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Kevin Parcell
Feb 17, 2012, 7:26:33 PM2/17/12
to Occupy: Reconomy
I'm engaged in the study of HTML 5 editors (the newest code for
websites), among other technologies, towards an understanding of what
can and cannot be accomplished on mobile systems, so that I can
complete the software specification that Matthew Slater has asked me
to provide.
My first experiment is improvised as a test and consequently is buggy
(and perhaps incomprehensible) as it pushes some of the limits, but I
thought you might like to see the results anyway. I also shared this
as a Valentines/Generosity Day greeting. It's posted at http://wunderdog.net
and links from there to my personal website with no hint that any of
you are associated!
I've also just posted an update at http://reconomy.net of the benefit-
cost analysis for the pedal-power stations, and I'm copying the
relevant paragraphs below. It includes a comparison of the quantity
of calories consumed producing electricity with the calories of food
that can be purchased with the income.
Cheers,
Kevin
As an illustration of cost-effectiveness, our pedal-powered generator
might produce about 100 watts of direct current electricity when
pedaled at a comfortable, sustainable rate, or about 100 watt-hours of
electricity per hour (depending on the stamina of the pedaler). The
minimum wage in India is currently about 33¢/hr [16]. However, the
price to consumers of electricity from the grid in India is typically
about 30¢ per 1000 watt-hours of alternating current. Consequently, we
pay our workers about 15 times as much for electricity produced from
pedaling than the cost of that same energy purchased on the national
grid. Thus, our system is not designed to replace the grid but to
compete with more-expensive off-grid systems, especially kerosene
lanterns that are the main means of lighting for those not supllied by
the grid. About 100 million families live off-grid in 80,000 villages
in India - 400 million people of the 1.5 billion people globally
without access to electricity - and most depend on light from kerosene
[17a].
The 2003 Mills study, conducted at Lawrence Berkely National
Laboratories, determined that the simplest and most common wick-based
kerosene lamps burn approximately one liter of kerosene in 25 hours
[17b], which cost India about 32¢ per liter in 2011 (retail plus
subsidy) [17c] (and with each lamp producing around 250 Kg of carbon
dioxide per year [17b]).
In India, about 500,000 people live on no more than 22 rupees a day,
about 50¢, which has a purchasing power of $1.25. That amount will buy
around 2000 calories of food, and this is the basis for the World Bank
setting this income as the poverty line [3]. A pedaler producing 100
watt-hours of electricity pedaling for an hour consumes about 344
calories [17d]. Putting the numbers together, if we pay the minimum
wage for an hour of about 33¢, then that hour of pedaling nets the
laborer a gain of about 1100 calories - a healthy return.
One hour of pedaling provides about 50 hours of light from our family-
sized LED lamp, delivering a 2:1 cost advantage at minimum wage;
however Mills compared the amortized cost over three years of usefull
illumination (lumens) from a 1-watt LED lamp powered by rechargeable
NiMh batteries to the simple kerosene lamps and revealed a 75:1 cost
advantage. This far-better lighting reduces the number of lamps
necessary, further improving the cost advantage. Battery performance
has also improved continually since 2003, while the cost of LED lamps
has dropped. This trend is expected to continue while the cost of
kerosense is anitcipated to continue to rise.
That 50 hours of light from an hour of pedaling can supply the typical
needs of ten families per day for one light each, signifying a minimal
requirment of one of our pedal-powered generators for every 100
households. Thus, if each family uses only one of our lamps, this
system can employ up to ten million people pedaling one hour each per
day, as well as provide full-time employment for up to one million
entrepreneurs operating their independent People Power Stations, and
additionally employ many more supplying these businesses with
equipment and services.
This pedal-power solution has zero carbon emissions, and substantially
reduces indoor smoke that causes pulmonary disease, as well as
elimimates a common source of house fires and burns. Additionally,
pedal-power is weather-immune, unlike solar lighting solutions.
Together with the health and ecological advantages, the proof of
concept achieved through the Swavalamban study, BoPEEI's quality
products, and our network of support from Vigyan Ashram, NIPune, and
WBR, the potential for the Reconomy strategy to achieve positive
community impact on a broad scale is clear.
websites), among other technologies, towards an understanding of what
can and cannot be accomplished on mobile systems, so that I can
complete the software specification that Matthew Slater has asked me
to provide.
My first experiment is improvised as a test and consequently is buggy
(and perhaps incomprehensible) as it pushes some of the limits, but I
thought you might like to see the results anyway. I also shared this
as a Valentines/Generosity Day greeting. It's posted at http://wunderdog.net
and links from there to my personal website with no hint that any of
you are associated!
I've also just posted an update at http://reconomy.net of the benefit-
cost analysis for the pedal-power stations, and I'm copying the
relevant paragraphs below. It includes a comparison of the quantity
of calories consumed producing electricity with the calories of food
that can be purchased with the income.
Cheers,
Kevin
As an illustration of cost-effectiveness, our pedal-powered generator
might produce about 100 watts of direct current electricity when
pedaled at a comfortable, sustainable rate, or about 100 watt-hours of
electricity per hour (depending on the stamina of the pedaler). The
minimum wage in India is currently about 33¢/hr [16]. However, the
price to consumers of electricity from the grid in India is typically
about 30¢ per 1000 watt-hours of alternating current. Consequently, we
pay our workers about 15 times as much for electricity produced from
pedaling than the cost of that same energy purchased on the national
grid. Thus, our system is not designed to replace the grid but to
compete with more-expensive off-grid systems, especially kerosene
lanterns that are the main means of lighting for those not supllied by
the grid. About 100 million families live off-grid in 80,000 villages
in India - 400 million people of the 1.5 billion people globally
without access to electricity - and most depend on light from kerosene
[17a].
The 2003 Mills study, conducted at Lawrence Berkely National
Laboratories, determined that the simplest and most common wick-based
kerosene lamps burn approximately one liter of kerosene in 25 hours
[17b], which cost India about 32¢ per liter in 2011 (retail plus
subsidy) [17c] (and with each lamp producing around 250 Kg of carbon
dioxide per year [17b]).
In India, about 500,000 people live on no more than 22 rupees a day,
about 50¢, which has a purchasing power of $1.25. That amount will buy
around 2000 calories of food, and this is the basis for the World Bank
setting this income as the poverty line [3]. A pedaler producing 100
watt-hours of electricity pedaling for an hour consumes about 344
calories [17d]. Putting the numbers together, if we pay the minimum
wage for an hour of about 33¢, then that hour of pedaling nets the
laborer a gain of about 1100 calories - a healthy return.
One hour of pedaling provides about 50 hours of light from our family-
sized LED lamp, delivering a 2:1 cost advantage at minimum wage;
however Mills compared the amortized cost over three years of usefull
illumination (lumens) from a 1-watt LED lamp powered by rechargeable
NiMh batteries to the simple kerosene lamps and revealed a 75:1 cost
advantage. This far-better lighting reduces the number of lamps
necessary, further improving the cost advantage. Battery performance
has also improved continually since 2003, while the cost of LED lamps
has dropped. This trend is expected to continue while the cost of
kerosense is anitcipated to continue to rise.
That 50 hours of light from an hour of pedaling can supply the typical
needs of ten families per day for one light each, signifying a minimal
requirment of one of our pedal-powered generators for every 100
households. Thus, if each family uses only one of our lamps, this
system can employ up to ten million people pedaling one hour each per
day, as well as provide full-time employment for up to one million
entrepreneurs operating their independent People Power Stations, and
additionally employ many more supplying these businesses with
equipment and services.
This pedal-power solution has zero carbon emissions, and substantially
reduces indoor smoke that causes pulmonary disease, as well as
elimimates a common source of house fires and burns. Additionally,
pedal-power is weather-immune, unlike solar lighting solutions.
Together with the health and ecological advantages, the proof of
concept achieved through the Swavalamban study, BoPEEI's quality
products, and our network of support from Vigyan Ashram, NIPune, and
WBR, the potential for the Reconomy strategy to achieve positive
community impact on a broad scale is clear.
Kevin Parcell
Feb 17, 2012, 7:39:39 PM2/17/12
to Occupy: Reconomy
P.s. I spotted and corrected my mistake online with the missing zeros
in the number of poor in India: 500 million, not 500,000.
On Feb 17, 6:26 pm, Kevin Parcell <kjparc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm engaged in the study of HTML 5 editors (the newest code for
> websites), among other technologies, towards an understanding of what
> can and cannot be accomplished on mobile systems, so that I can
> complete the software specification that Matthew Slater has asked me
> to provide.
>
> My first experiment is improvised as a test and consequently is buggy
> (and perhaps incomprehensible) as it pushes some of the limits, but I
> thought you might like to see the results anyway. I also shared this
> as a Valentines/Generosity Day greeting. It's posted athttp://wunderdog.net
in the number of poor in India: 500 million, not 500,000.
On Feb 17, 6:26 pm, Kevin Parcell <kjparc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm engaged in the study of HTML 5 editors (the newest code for
> websites), among other technologies, towards an understanding of what
> can and cannot be accomplished on mobile systems, so that I can
> complete the software specification that Matthew Slater has asked me
> to provide.
>
> My first experiment is improvised as a test and consequently is buggy
> (and perhaps incomprehensible) as it pushes some of the limits, but I
> thought you might like to see the results anyway. I also shared this
> and links from there to my personal website with no hint that any of
> you are associated!
>
> I've also just posted an update athttp://reconomy.netof the benefit-
> you are associated!
>
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