Saturday 11 December 2010

The ICE toolkit for a developing world is online now and available for all to see

What exactly is the toolkit?
The toolkit is an open-source set of materials and ideas to help engineers plan and deliver infrastructure for international development, poverty alleviation and the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It's a first in the civil engineering field and the work of ICE Past President Paul Jowitt and his Apprentices.

How can you access it?The full toolkit is now freely available to all engineers worldwide. For more information on the toolkit, please email apprentices@ice.org.uk

"Engineering is at the heart of most human endeavour, and to integrate it in this way to specifically address the problems of the developing world is admirable and to be encouraged. I salute this brilliant and original idea." 

Bill Nighy
, Actor and Oxfam Global Ambassador


The cards on sustainable infrastructure are particularly clear about the challenge we need to help address to ensure access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
Source: Morella, Foster and Banerjee 2008



Monday 6 December 2010

Desertec Foundation going for fast global implementation of concept: clean power from deserts for climate protection and global energy security.

"Within 6 hours deserts receive more energy from the sun than humankind consumes within a year" Dr Gerhard Knies.
The DESERTEC Foundation was established on 20 January 2009 as a non-profit foundation with the aim of promoting the implementation of the global DESERTEC Concept "Clean Power from Deserts" all over the world. 
Sketch of possible infrastructure for a sustainable supply of power to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EU-MENA) (Euro-Supergrid with a EU-MENA-Connection proposed by TREC). For illustration: the red squares indicate the space needed for solar collectors to produce the present power for the world (18.000 TWh/y, 300x300 km2), for Europe (EU 3.200 TWh/y, 125x125 km2) and for Germany or MENA (Middle East and North Africa, about 600 TWh/y, 55x55 km2).
The square labelled "TRANS-CSP Mix EUMENA 2050" indicates the space needed for solar collectors to supply the needs for seawater desalination and about two-thirds of the electricity consumption in MENA in the year 2050 and about one-fifth of the European electricity consumption by Concentrating Solar Thermal Power Plants (2,940 TWh/y in total).  5 March 2009. Source: http://www.desertec.org/downloads/DESERTEC-Map_large.jpg . Author: TREC.  This file is licensed  under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Genericlicense.