Emailing "Tiny, Life-Changing Turbines from Engineers Without Borders"
If your village was among one of many without power in the developing regions of the world, you wouldn't even be reading this. That can soon change thanks to some bright engineers.
Wired.com has a
great article on Engineers Without Borders, a group that's bringing predominantly eco-friendly power generation in the form of small wind turbines to "off-the-grid Guatemalan villages by this summer."
The effort comes amidst recent efforts to bring new light and power to small towns in the developing world. An estimated 1.6 billion people worldwide are without electricity, and many of them are forced to light their homes with kerosene. Using one of these lamps is like smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, says the World Bank, and the lamps present a significant fire risk. That's why many startup companies, such as d.Light, are trying to bring cheaper LED lights to homes, but they still need a solution for producing power locally.
Standing at 2' wide by 3' feet tall, "she" only generates 10-15 watts but it's plenty to provide power for LED lamps and other power-sipping gadgets. Maybe even
charge an OLPC...