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Off the grid or on, solar and wind power gain

USA Today-April 13th 2006

File Photo Wind turbines stand over a farm in this July 24, 2001 file photo
The wind whips up in Dale Doucette’s expansive backyard, furiously spinning the blades on his 80-foot-tall silver wind turbine and leaving a broad smile on his square-jawed face.
The gusts nudge the voltage on his battery bank and help power Doucette’s wood-carving saw, as well as the PC, printer and recessed lights in his wife Michele’s home-based chiropractic office.

But overcast skies mean the Doucettes’ 10 solar panels won’t be as productive as usual. So his two teenage sons can use the computer …


Electricity-hungry Africa urged to use hydropower, increase capacity

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA Africa, in urgent need of electricity to lighten millions of households and fuel economic development, should make a better use of its enormous hydropower potential, energy experts and officials heard recently.

The hydropower potential of the continent, mostly in central and western Africa, amounts to 13 percent of the world and can play a critical role in meeting its energy needs while safeguarding the criteria of sustainable development, said Joshua Ofedie, CEO of Ghana’s Volta River Authority (VRA). But the enormous low cost hydroelectric potential, such as from the Inga Falls in the Democratic Republic of the …


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