Alternative Energy?

[kay90]

There has been a lot of talk about the economic impact of alternative energy sources. This is an interesting analysis of emerging trends related to alternative energy. http://alternativeenergymegatrends.com/


Thoughts?

[Peter1469]

There are several types of alt fuels. Many are still too expensive to displace fossil fuels. Alcohol would be cheaper, but it doesn't have a large distribution system.

http://www.energyvictory.net/

[waltky]

Renewable energy in Africa...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif
Homegrown Solar Farm, Wind Turbines Keep Kenyan Community Buzzing
January 26, 2017 — When the first few residents of this village in the Ngong hills installed solar panels nearly a decade ago, the only aim was to power their own homes. Their town had no connection to the national power grid.


But today the community, south of Nairobi in the Rift Valley, is buzzing with solar and wind energy, which powers everything from the dispensary and church to shops, homes and even a rescue center for girls fleeing child marriage and the threat of female genital mutilation. Residents say they banded together to buy the shared energy system themselves, recognizing that the substantial upfront cost would create benefits for years to come. Those now include everything from vaccines that can now be kept cold at the dispensary to solar-powered pumping of water. "Before we started this solar farm, people from this village used to travel to Ngong town, which is 17 kilometers away, to get basic services and goods such as a photocopy or a haircut. This used to inconvenience us greatly, since you had to part with a tidy sum," said Simon Parkesian, the manager of the community's solar farm.

Residents chipped in

In 2009, some residents of Olosho-Oibor, impressed with the first couple of private solar panels installed in the community, decided they wanted panels of their own, but many people could not afford them. So a group of community members began contributing $10 a month each until they had enough to buy a set of larger solar panels that could serve many nearby homes. They then approached the U.N. Industrial Development Organization for technical help in installing their system. Today, the 125-member energy cooperative has raised $4,900 for panels installed on poles around the community and on rooftops and has installed two small wind turbines as well.


https://gdb.voanews.com/500ECCBA-0EF5-4F56-974F-AF0B6D9611BD_w250_r1_s.jpg
Then-President Barack Obama looks at a solar power exhibit during a tour of the Power Africa Innovation Fair, July 25, 2015, in Nairobi, Kenya. With technical help from the U.N. Industrial Development Organization, a cooperative in Olosho-Oibor installed solar panels on poles around the community and on rooftops. It has installed two small wind turbines as well.

The community also has a 10-kilowatt diesel generator as a backup in periods when sunshine and wind fall short, Parkesian said. Lydia Mboyo, one of those receiving power from the community energy farm, said having lights in the evening has helped her children study and has allowed her to run her small retail shop at night. She now is planning to expand her shop and buy a refrigerator to store perishable food and drinks. "I am also a member of a women's group that makes and sells beaded ornaments abroad, and with lighting we have been able to store our business records in computers. We also listen to the radio for entertainment while beading," Mboyo said.

Technology center

Parkesian said access to power also has spurred creation of a community information and communications technology center that has trained more than 40 people in basic computer skills, and that now offers photocopying and printing services. The center also allows people to charge their mobile phones, which once had to be switched off to save power when not being used to make calls.

As well, the renewable energy network is powering a center for vulnerable girls fleeing early marriage and female genital mutilation, "both problems common in the area," Parkesian said. "The power grid has initiated many projects in the community, but the most important project is the girls' rescue center that houses close to 80 vulnerable girls," he said. The center, opened in 2012, uses renewable energy to light its dormitories and classrooms.

Jackline Mwendo, a nurse at Olosho-Olbor dispensary, said her facility has been able to offer vaccine services since it got power to provide refrigeration. The dispensary's water supply has also improved as a result of using solar-powered pumps, she said, though she is still hoping for additional power to light maternal delivery rooms at night. Parkesian said the cost of maintaining the renewable mini-grid has been significant, and community members have needed to contribute $5 a month for continuing access to power to help pay those costs.

Technical knowledge needed (http://www.voanews.com/a/homegrown-solar-farm-wind-turbines-keep-kenyan-community-buzzing/3694521.html)

See also:

Nigeria seizes $1.2 billion oil bloc in Shell, Eni scandal
January 27, 2017 — Nigeria is seizing back one of Africa's richest oil blocs and will prosecute petroleum giants Shell and Eni in a $1.2 billion corruption scandal that has drawn investigators from the United States, Italy, France, Switzerland and Holland, according to a Nigerian Federal High Court document.


The court on Thursday ceded control of Oil Prospecting License 245 to the government while the West African country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission investigates and prosecutes suspects in the "Malabu Oil scam," according to a statement from the commission. The commission's petition to the court says Dutch-British corporation Shell and Italian Agip — now Eni — bought the bloc in 2011 knowing the transaction was "fraught with fraud" and that the $1.2 billion payment to former petroleum minister Dan Etete and his allies was a bribe. The state oil company got only $210 million from the deal. The government is preparing further charges of "conspiracy, bribery, official corruption and money-laundering" against Shell and Eni, the petition says.

Criminal charges already have been filed against both companies and several executives in an Italian court in Milan. "This is historic. Generations of Nigerians have been robbed of life-saving services while oil men have grown rich at their expense," said Simon Taylor of the anti-corruption body Global Witness. "Companies and their investors must understand they can no longer do backdoor deals with corrupt officials without paying a hefty price."

Eni has not received notification of the court order, spokesman Roberto Carlo Albini told The Associated Press. "Eni denies any wrongdoing," he said. Shell Nigeria spokesman Bamidele Olugbenga Odugbesan said he had no comment. The oil companies paid the $1.2 billion into a Nigerian government escrow account at the London branch of JPMorgan Chase, and former justice minister Mohammed Bello Adoke authorized its distribution.

The commission last month filed charges of fraud and money laundering against Etete, Adoke and businessman Aliyu Abubakar. The petition says Nigeria's former military dictator Gen. Sani Abacha and Etete used front men to form Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd. and illegally awarded themselves OPL 245. After Abacha's mysterious death in 1998, the company directors and shareholding was fraudulently altered to divest Abacha's son, Mohammed, it says. The Malabu bloc was seized by the government once before, by the civilian government of Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001. Malabu Oil sued and an out of court agreement returned the bloc to the company.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/nigeria-seizes-1-2-billion-oil-bloc-shell-114416717--finance.html?ref=gs