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Series
4: Programme 10 (of 11) - 'Volt Face' |
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Damage to the environment will
stop only when people have alternative sources
of fuel and power with which to secure their livelihoods
and quality of life. Here we find several examples
of sustainable sources of energy for water-lifting,
industry and transport that can improve the local
economy without damaging the environment. |
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| Peasants
and Monarchs - Mexico |
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Effective conservation needs to
begin with improvements to the lives of local
people, enabling them to use natural resources
more sustainably. This approach has been demonstrated
in Mexico, where a Special Biosphere Reserve was
created to protect the monarch butterfly, but
gained the cooperation of local peasant farmers
only when they were supported by a local organisation
to increase their yields and incomes. |
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| Coconut
Crude - Vanuatu |
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In recent years the demand for
coconut products has been falling and with it
their price, leading to declining incomes in regions
that depend on this trade. On the islands of Vanuatu,
however, an entrepreneur has succeeded in using
coconut oil for motor vehicles, helping to revitalise
the market while also benefiting the environment.
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| Power
Pods - India |
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In the search for alternatives
to costly and polluting petroleum-based fuels
there has been renewed interest in using plant-based
oils. In India's dry regions the honge tree grows
abundantly and healthily compared with other trees,
and so the use of oil from honge seeds is being
revived as a fuel to power generators and pumps.
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| Current
Thinking - UK |
The race against global warming is
on. Clean alternatives to fossils fuels are needed
to reduce pollution, end the unsustainable consumption
of finite natural resources, and give power to
people in this generation and those of the future.
Engineers in the United Kingdom are finding new
ways of doing this by tapping the oceans' immense
power to generate energy in a form that can be
put to work in homes and industry. |
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| Stream
of Life - Zimbabwe |
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In the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe
a community has solved water and energy needs
by way of an integrated project. A small stream
has been harnessed to provide energy for a local
school and 300 households. At the same time clean
water for drinking is provided via pipes and a
filtration tank, and there is water for irrigation,
even in the dry season. |
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| Sunny
Side Up - Cuba |
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Solar energy can bring electrification
to places the national grid cannot reach. In Cuba,
a local company has started assembling solar energy
systems and these are being used to bring electric
light to rural villages. In Las Tumbas village,
solar power benefits the local primary school
and means the health clinic is able to provide
a better level of service. This has had a direct
impact on improving people's lives.
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