How You Can Help in Honduras by Lance Winslow & Dr. Nathalie Fiset - HTML preview

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Solar Power, Geothermal, Biowaste & Hydro

Out in the mountainous terrain of rural Honduras bringing in electricity is not an easy task. Setting the country up on a power grid is simply not feasible at all. There are other opportunities however. In the dry season solar power is possible as there is less fog or clouds. In the wet season those who live by rivers, tributaries or streams could use small, inexpensive, simple hydro-electric systems or make energy from bio-waste from both humans and animals.

In some parts of Honduras there is ample potential for making geothermal energy there is a lot of energy under the country there and it often causes seismic and volcanic activity in that region of Central America. The energy needs of the growing nation must be considered. Areas near the coast might wish to use ocean wave technology to create energy or a combination of energy sources and then feed that out into the smaller cities and towns.

Rural areas will be on their own of course and they will need to conserve their energy needs while using simple technology, which is easy to maintain and highly efficient. There are enough simple technologies out there to make this feasible and new research on the horizon to find even more and bring those technologies to market for out of the way places such as rural Honduras.

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The new schools that are built will also need power, solar power makes the most sense. An inexpensive unit on wheels could provide power for the school on weekdays and the church in the village on Sundays or be moved as needed to the buildings in the center of a village.

Luckily with all the rivers and water flows, Honduras also has an abundant opportunity for hydro-electric power, but that is not possible everywhere in rural Honduras. Many of the open sewage pits could be designed to create energy from bio-waste, as when you are in remote regions it makes sense that nothing go to waste.