The UN special envoy to the Earth Summit, Jan Pronk volunteers to conduct the first solar powered haircut of the Summit.
Greenpeace set out to prove that current renewables technology
can provide practical, clean-energy powered solutions for the
world. To do so we developed the Positive Energy Store, and are
showing it off all this week at the Earth Summit, where delegates
can get a cool drink, or shop at one of the five businesses set up
in the mobile unit: without a single wire plugged into the
electrical grid.
To help us launch the project, the UN special envoy to the Earth
Summit, Jan Pronk volunteered to conduct the first solar powered
haircut of the summit. We have a number of appliances in the stall
running on renewable energy. He enjoyed a freshly created juice
from an electric juicer, before logging onto the internet using a
solar powered computer to sign the online petition. This petition
calls for the massive uptake of renewable energy by the
industrialized nations, and access to clean renewable energy for
two billion of the world's poorest people.
The Positive Energy Store powers small businesses in remote
rural areas with renewable energy. With solar panels, small wind
turbines and micro-hydro, the store can generate positive energy
for the five businesses that are inside. The concept is flexible so
that the Positive Energy Store can be adapted to the needs of the
area it will be placed in. The range of shops can vary, for
example, from a barber, a juice bar, a communication unit with
phone and computer services to a business that leases out charged
batteries to power peoples' homes.
After the World Summit the Positive Energy Store will be tested
in a pilot project in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. During a period
of six months the store will be thoroughly monitored by five local
shopkeepers. Not only will the technical part of the store be
closely watched, the shopkeepers will also be provided with
training on how to operate the Positive Energy Store in a
sustainable and profitable way. The aim is that the entrepreneurs
of the shops will earn back the initial investment.
Why do we need renewables?
As we begin the 21st century, two billion people - one third of
us on the planet - have no access to electricity for basic needs
such as lighting or cooking. Getting people the clean and reliable
energy necessary for essential needs such as clean water, health
care facilities, heating and lighting is one of the most pressing
problems facing humanity today. Global warming, caused by burning
fossil fuels, threatens people's lives around the world. While the
world's poorest people use only a fraction of the world's oil, coal
and gas, they are likely to suffer most from the impacts of climate
change like extreme weather events such as floods and storms if no
action is taken. Rising sea levels threaten to engulf entire
countries in the Indian and Pacific oceans. If we are going to stop
the earth's climate spinning out of control, most of the world's
reserves of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas cannot be used
for energy and must stay underground. We must make the switch to
positive energy at home and globally. Oil, coal and gas cannot meet
the needs of the poorest, but 'positive' or renewable energy
can.
Renewable energy technologies are the most appropriate,
affordable, reliable and environmentally friendly way to get
essential energy services to poorer countries where 80 perecnt of
the world's people live. Energy is the lifeblood of modern society.
But, due to the global impact of current polluting energy supplies
such as oil, coal, gas and nuclear power, we are at a crossroads. A
clean energy future is now urgently needed. Renewable energy is
reliable, inexhaustible power generated by natural processes such
as wind, solar, biomass and small-scale hydro. The increased use of
renewable energy sources can improve the quality of life,
especially in developing countries. Without contributing to climate
change, it can provide an affordable and reliable means of getting
power to the world's poorest people. It can provide electricity for
basic needs such as refrigeration of medical supplies,
sterilisation, lighting and telecommunications as well as for
radios and water pumps. The total cost of getting renewable energy
to the world's poorest two billion people is estimated to be less
than half of the US$500+ billion that is likely to be invested over
the next decade in fossil fuel power stations and infrastructure in
poorer countries. For just US$1.4 billion, clean renewable energy
could be supplied to one million schools and health care centres,
serving some 600 million people.