Solar Power and Regenerative Agriculture in Burma

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.