Here is yet another example of how the rest of the world seems to be outpacing the United States in adoption renewable energy technology. A remote Indian village called Gudda has leapfrogged conventional energy generation technology and adopted a solar power and battery system to run its water purification plant and provide electrical light after dusk.
CNN.com covered Gudda’s achievements in an article entitled, “Solar power makes tiny village beam”. This article also highlighted the contributions of Barefoot College, a rural school emphasizing hands-on skills, which develops solutions for India’s impoverished villages. The college serves over 125,000 people, and by the way, Barefoot College, an 80,000 square foot facility, is also completely solar powered.
In addition to solar energy, Barefoot College, also teaches students how to construct solar furnaces, capable of boiling a liter of water in eight minutes. For details on all of the college’s sun-power application areas, check out their solar power program. I truly commend the college for their approach to teaching India’s rural poor to help improve their own standard of living through technology.
Nonetheless, the CNN article makes we wonder why the U.S. isn’t adopting renewable energy technologies at breakneck pace. Our coal-fired power plants make us look like uncivilized cavemen juxtaposed against the electrification of rural India via photovoltaic arrays.
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