Solar Power and Regenerative Agriculture in Burma

We returned to Burma around Christmas time and it’s been a whirl of activity ever since, with many notable successes!

In January, I attended a week-long workshop on “E-Cooking”, that is cooking with electricity. For many people in the West, it might seem strange that E-Cooking would be a viable option in developing countries, but not so. In Asia, the electric rice cooker is to be found in almost every household that has access to grid power, and the induction hot plate is also catching on quickly. One of the key elements in the workshop was a new type of Lithium batteries, which include a built-in controller that avoids damage to the battery caused by over-discharge, (a common problem with batteries in Burma). We’ll see whether electric cooking, using batteries, actually finds a place in the energy mix of developing countries or not. For the moment, I was happy to learn that someone was working on the issue and that the energy options for the poor are constantly expanding.

Back at home, we had to deal with our own water situation, as the well we drilled two years ago was still producing water tinted red with silt from deep down in the earth. I never liked the idea of using well water for irrigating our plants, as that might contain salts that would ultimately contaminate our soil. So, when a neighbor offered to let us build a cistern on his land, which would be filled from an adjacent stream, we jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately, the clay walls rapidly began to collapse, and we had to build a stronger stone cistern. But now we a glad that we did, as this gives a secure source of pure water in copious quantites. Like most of our neighbors, we are now able to irrigate our crops, using overhead sprinklers and the tile in the shower also needs less frequent scrubbing!

For some time now, I have been in contact with a British/Burmese NGO called “Helping the Burmese Delta”, who build schools in the Ayerwaddy Delta area. They are about to install a solar system at their new High School and they wanted a solar training for three of their lead people. So, it was a pleasure to provide a week-long training for such a small group – more time to make sure that each participant was getting the most out of the training. I will be rejoining them in the Delta in May for the actual installation – stay tuned.

I have spending a good deal of time on my worm project, which is coming along nicely, as I gradually figure out what they like and don’t like. This is a big subject and I will cover it completely in a future report.

The big project of Spring 2018 was of course, the construction of our new Solar Roots Training Center building. It’s almost finished and should be wrapped up in another 2 or 3 weeks. (Right now it’s Water Festival, when everything closes and it will be another week till normal service is restored!) Please keep following our reports and find out how the Training Center turned out.

Best wishes,

Bruce and Thida

Links:

• A worthy NGO building schools and supporting health care.

After far too many frustrating hours of waiting for photographs to upload for GlobalGiving reports, I have decided to combine our two Burma projects into one, thereby saving considerable time and energy, (and brain cells!). From now on, the two projects will be merged and called “Solar Lights and Cookstoves for Burma”. We will still continue activity in both areas and all recurring donations will still be received. (There is no need for recurring donors to make any adjustment).

Solar Roots main areas of focus continue to be Solar PV training, Cookstoves, and Organic Agriculture. We have just returned to Burma for another 5 months of exciting projects in 2018. Soon I will be attending a Workshop in Yangon on  “E-Cooking”, which is cooking with electricity. At first this may not seem like a particularly “appropriate” technology for developing countries, but consider the following:

Cooking with electricity:

-       Produces zero emissions in the kitchen

-       Is clean compared to the soot and grime of biomass

-       The energy can be produced from the cook’s own Renewable Energy system

-        Electric Cooking devices are becoming cheaper, more efficient and more user-friendly                                        

At home, we cook mainly with electricity, using an Electric Wok, an Induction Hot plate, a Rice cooker and an electric kettle. These devices handle all the cooking jobs that we require. I am not trying to suggest that cooking with electricity is the panacea for all our energy and pollution woes, but I think that it might play a part in some of our future energy strategies. Not appropriate in every situation and not accessible to the poorest segment of society, but as part of a multi-faceted Renewable Energy strategy, it may just have a role to play.                                                                                               

I am anxious to learn what the proponents and experts in the field have to say about the subject. Please look out for the next Global Giving report, which I hope will contain some good news on this subject.                                                                                         

Thank you for your past support and please continue to support “Solar Lights and Cookstoves for Burma”.                                                                                            

Here are some photos of what we found upon our return to our garden in December                                                                                             

Best wishes from Thida and I to all our supporters for a peaceful and happy New Year in 2018.