Wind Power for Development

Via TreeHugger and Materialicious, I've come across this article in Wired about a very cool new project from Engineers Without Borders.

A group of volunteer engineers are finishing the design for a
home-brewed wind turbine that will bring electricity to off-the-grid
Guatemalan villages by this summer.

After the U.S. engineers finish the design, local workers in the town
of Quetzaltenango will manufacture the small-scale turbine. It will
produce 10-15 watts of electricity, enough to charge a 12-volt battery
that can power simple devices like LED lights.

"They're replacing kerosene lamps, if anything at all," said Matt
McLean, a mechanical engineer by day and leader of the wind-turbine
project by night. "The biggest driver is just keeping the cost way
down. We're shooting for under $100, which is a challenge, but we're in
that range."

As the article notes, an estimated 1.6 billion people around the world are without electricity. If this project works--and I sure hope it does--it has the potential to revolutionize the sustainable development field. Imagine if all you needed to bring electricity to a home was a $100 windmill that could be attached to the roof of a home or nearby trees? This is an amazing project by some amazing people. Here's how you can support them.