Urgent: search for car for tests

[Fady and Damien]

good evening everyone

We are students in Saint Etienne.

We do not have a car, but we have a slot on a power bench before the end of the month. And we are looking for someone with a car equipped with the pantone system (which works well preferably).

As part of our exams, we had to present a car on the power bench to test torque and pollution power to see if the system actually improved performance ...
Unfortunately, the car we expected to present, is no longer available, so we are looking for another already equipped because we do not have time to mount it on another car.

So if you have a car equipped and you are willing to put it on a power bench, please contact us (fadytsouria@yahoo.fr), it is very important for us (this counts for our exams).

The measurements would take place on a weekday in Saint Etienne at the end of May.

In advance thank you

[bobono]

When oil becomes scarce ... 10: 24 18 / 06 / 08


Havana, Cuba.

At the Organiponico d'Alamar, a community agricultural project, a collective of workers runs a large urban farm, a market and a restaurant. Hand tools and labor have replaced the oil-consuming machines. Fertilizers are produced by earthworms and composting. Water is saved by a drip irrigation system and the community is supplied by a variety of healthy products.

In other communities in Havana, where there is a scarcity of land for projects of this magnitude, people have created gardens on parking lots and planted vegetables on the roofs of houses and in the patios.

Since the beginning of the 90 years, the urban agriculture movement has swept the entire island, and the capital is on the verge of self-sufficiency.

A small group of Australians participated in these efforts and went to the island in 1993 to teach permaculture techniques, a system based on sustainable agriculture that is much more economical in terms of energy consumption.

This need to introduce agriculture in the heart of the cities began with the fall of the Soviet Union and the loss to Cuba of more than 50% of oil imports, a large part of its food and 85% of its economic exchanges. The transports were paralyzed, hunger appeared and the average Cuban lost about 15 kgs. In reality, when it all began, it was out of necessity. People started to grow vegetables where they could, "a guide told the team that was filming 30 to show how Cuba survived the oil shortage.

The team included members of The Community Solution, an NGO based in Yellow Springs, Ohio, which provides training on Peak Oil - the moment when global oil production will begin its irreversible decline. Some analysts believe that the phenomenon could occur in the next ten years, which would give Cuba the status of a model to follow.

"We wanted to find out what was happening in the Cuban people and the Cuban culture that allowed them to survive in these difficult times," says Pat Murphy, executive director of Community Solution. "Cuba has a lot to show us about how to deal with the energy crisis. "

The oil shortage has not transformed only Cuban agriculture. The country has also turned to small renewable energy units and developed a cost-effective public transport system, while preserving its health system through a prevention policy and the application of local solutions that saves low resources.

The period following the fall of the Soviet Union is known in Cuba as the Special Period. Cuba lost 80% of its export markets and its imports fell by 80%. GNP fell by more than a third.
"Try to imagine a plane that would suddenly lose its reactors. It was really a crash, "says Jorge Mario, a Cuban economist. A crash that plunged Cuba into a state of shock. Power outages were frequent, up to 16 hours a day. The daily caloric intake of Cubans fell by a third.

According to a report on Cuba written by Oxfam, an international humanitarian aid NGO, "In the cities, buses were no longer circulating, generators were no longer producing electricity, factories were no longer running. For many Cubans, if not most, the main daily occupation was finding enough to eat. "

Partly due to the persistent embargo of the United States, but also to the loss of external markets, Cuba could no longer import enough food. Moreover, without alternative to their highly mechanized and energy-consuming agriculture, agricultural production fell sharply.

As a result, Cubans have started to grow organic vegetables, develop organic pesticides and fertilizers that replace petroleum products, and have begun to vary their diets. Since they could not run their old cars anymore, they started walking, cycling, taking the bus, carpooling.

"There are an infinite number of small solutions," says Roberto Sanchez of the
Foundation for Nature and Humanity in Cuba. "Crises or change or problems can trigger those solutions that are primarily accommodations. We adapt. "

A new agricultural revolution

Cubans are also replacing their farm machinery with animal traction, and urban gardens are reducing transportation. It is estimated today that 50% of vegetables consumed in Havana are produced within the city, while other Cuban cities and towns provide between 80 and 100% of their needs.

In moving towards gardening, individuals and neighborhood organizations took the initiative to inventory unused land, clean it, and cultivate it.

When Australians specializing in permaculture arrived in Cuba, they set up the first permaculture pilot project thanks to a grant from 26.000 dollars granted by the Cuban government.

From this initiative was born the center and pilot project of urban permaculture of the Foundation for Nature and Humanity in Havana. "With this project, the people of the neighborhood have been able to see what was possible on rooftops and patios," says Carme Lopez, director of the urban permaculture center, standing on the roof of the center among the vineyards, potted plants and compost bins made from tires.

Since then, the movement has spread rapidly through Havana neighborhoods. So far, the Lopez-managed urban permaculture center has trained more than 400 district people to permaculture and is distributing a monthly publication, "El permacultor". "Not only has the community discovered permaculture," says Lopez, "but we also learned about the community, helping out wherever it was needed. "

Permaculture student Nelson Aguila, an agricultural engineer, produces food for his neighborhood in his rooftop garden. On just a few dozen square meters, he raises rabbits, chickens and cultivates many large pots of plants. Circulating freely, there are gerbils (a bug - the ignorant note of the translator) that consume the waste of rabbits and are in turn an important source of protein. "Things are changing," says Sanchez. "It's a local economy. Elsewhere, people do not know their neighbors. They do not know their name. People do not say hello. Here, it's different. "

Since the transition from intensive petrochemical agriculture to organic farming and gardening, Cuba now consumes 21 less pesticide than before the Special Period. They have successfully produced pesticides and organic fertilizers on a large scale, and export part of them to other Latin American countries.

Although the transition to organic production and animal traction was an obligation, Cubans now find benefits. "One of the good sides of the crisis was the return to animal traction," says Miguel Coyula, a community development specialist. "Not only are we saving oil, but moreover (the oxen) do not pile the ground like a tractor, and their hooves return the earth. "
"Cuban agriculture, conventional, the" green revolution ", has never managed to feed the people, says Sanchez. "Yields were important, but agriculture was geared towards growing plantations. We exported lemons, tobacco, sugar and we imported the basic products. Thus, the system, even in its best days, has never managed to meet the needs. "

Drawing conclusions from this permaculture experiment, Sanchez says "you have to follow the natural cycles, so you put nature at your service, instead of working against nature. To work against nature, you have to spend huge amounts of energy. "

Energy Solutions

Most of Cuba's electricity is generated from imported oil, so shortages have affected virtually the entire population on the island. For years, power cuts were imposed several times a week. Without refrigerators, food rotted. Without the fans, the heat became unbearable.

Solutions to the crisis were not simple. Without money, the country could not invest in a nuclear power station or new conventional thermal power plants, or even in large-scale wind or solar energy. The country therefore preferred to turn to energy saving and the establishment of small renewable energy structures.

Ecosolar and Cuba Solar are two pioneering organizations in the field of renewable energies. They assist in the development of renewable energy markets, market and install systems, conduct research, publish newsletters, and conduct energy-saving studies for large consumers.

Ecosol Solar has installed 1,2 megawatts of solar photovoltaic as well in small foci (200 watts capacity) as in larger entities (from 15 to 50 kilowatt capacity). In the United States, 1,2 megawatts would be sufficient to supply about 1000 homes with electricity. This number is significantly higher in Cuba, where the number of household appliances per household is lower and turn to the economy. The houses are also much smaller.

About 60% of Ecosol Solar's facilities are for social programs to provide electricity to homes, schools, medical centers, community centers in the countryside. It has recently installed photovoltaic solar panels in rural 2 364 primary schools where the transmission of electricity by line was too expensive. In addition, the company develops compact models of water heaters that can be installed outdoors, pumps powered by solar panels and solar dryers.

A visit to "Los Tumbos", a rural community in the hills south-west of Havana, shows the positive results of this strategy.
Previously without electricity, each household now has a small solar panel that powers a radio and a lamp. Larger systems feed the school, the hospital, the community hall, where locals gather to watch a TV show called "Mesa Redonda". In addition to keeping the population informed, the TV room also has the advantage of bringing the community together.

"The sun has fueled life on earth for millions of years," said Bruno Beres, director of Cuba Solar. “It wasn't until we (humans) arrived that the Sun was no longer enough. The problem is therefore in our societies, not in energy resources. "

Transport - A carpooling system

Cubans also faced the problem of providing transportation in the context of an energy shortage. The solutions were found by the genius of Cubans, who often quote the phrase "necessity is the mother of all inventions. With little money and little oil, Cuba manages to transport large masses of people at rush hour in Havana. Using the inventive spirit, virtually all forms of vehicles, large or small, have been used to make this urban transportation system work. Suburbanites wander in hand-made wheelbarrows, buses and other motorized or animal-drawn vehicles.

The vehicle we drive, called "camel", is a very long semi-trailer pulled by a truck and carrying 300 passengers. There are also two-seater bicycles and rickshaws in Havana and, in smaller towns, horse and truck cartons.

Yellow-uniformed officials are seen stopping government vehicles and trucks running almost empty on the streets of Havana and picking up people looking for transportation. (translator note: separate number plates allow these officials to identify these state vehicles) Chevrolet 50 years pass by carrying four people in the front and four in the rear.

A cart pulled by a donkey and with a taxi license hanging on the flanks passes through the streets. Many trucks have been converted to public transport by simply welding a step at the back, to facilitate the boarding and alighting of passengers.

Health and education - National priorities

Although Cuba is a poor country, with a GDP per capita per year of only 3.000 dollars (placing the country penultimate in the ranking), life expectancy is the same as in the United States ?, and the infant mortality is lower than in the United States. The literacy rate is 97%, the same as in the United States. (that much in the US? should not count the White House - NDT). Education and health including free.

When Cubans suffered their peak oil version, they managed to preserve their health system, which was one of the factors that helped them survive. Cubans are constantly reminded of how proud they are of their health care system.

Before the Cuban 1959 Revolution, there was a doctor for 2000 hab. The rate is currently 1 for 167. Cuba also has an international medical school and trains doctors for other poor countries. Every year, 20.000 Cuban doctors work abroad.

Since 1995, meat is scarce and vegetables are in abundance. The Cuban diet has become healthy, low in fat, practically vegetarian. Their way of life, punctuated by walking and cycling, is also healthier. "Before, Cubans did not eat a lot of vegetables. The basic diet consisted of rice, beans and pork, "says Sanchez of the Foundation for Nature and Humanity. “At a certain point, the need arose, and now they are asking (for vegetables). "

Doctors and nurses live in the community where they practice and are usually housed above the clinic. In remote rural areas, three-story buildings are constructed, with the medical office on the ground floor, and apartments on the first and second floors, one for the doctor and one for the nurse.

In cities, doctors and nurses live in the neighborhood where they practice. They know the families and their patients and, where possible, they care for people at home. "Medicine is a vocation, not a profession," said a doctor from Havana, to explain his passion for his work. In Cuba, 60% of doctors are women.

Education is considered the most important social activity in Cuba. Before the Revolution, there was a teacher for 3.000 hab.
Today the ratio is 1 for 42, with an 1 average teacher for 16 students. Cuba has a higher graduate rate than most developing countries, and if its population represents only 2% of the population of Latin America, 11% of Latin American scientists are Cuban.

In an effort to curb rural exodus during the special period, higher education was spread across the provinces, expanding training opportunities and strengthening rural communities.
Before the special period, there were only 3 institutes of higher learning
Cuba. There are now 50 across the country, including seven in Havana.

The energy of the community

In the course of his travels, the documentary film crew discovered the inventiveness, determination and optimism of the Cuban people, where we often heard the phrase "if, maybe" or "yes, we can".

People talked about the values ​​of "resistance", demonstrating their determination to overcome obstacles. And they lived under the blockade
United States economy? since the beginning of the 60 years, considered as the ultimate test of the capacity of the Cubans to resist.

There is much to learn from the Cubans in their responses to the oil shortage. Community Solution staff see these lessons as particularly important for the developing countries that make up 82% of the world's population and live in precarious conditions. But developed countries are also vulnerable to energy shortages. And with the peak of oil on the horizon, all countries will have to adapt to the realities of a world of
limited resources.

Faced with this new reality, the Cuban government changed its slogan from 30 years old "Socialism or death" to "a better world is possible." The government liberalized agriculture and allowed neighborhood organizations to grow and sell their products. Decision-making power has been decentralized to the base and initiatives at local level are encouraged. He created new provinces. He encouraged the return to farms and rural areas and reorganized the provinces to meet the needs of agriculture.

According to Community Solution, Cuba did what it could to survive, despite its ideology of a centralized economy. Faced with an oil shortage, will America take the measures essential for its survival, despite its ideology of individualism and consumerism? Will Americans come together, as the Cubans did, in a spirit of sacrifice and shared support?

"There is climate change, the price of oil, the energy crisis," says Beres de Cuba Solar, listing the challenges that humanity faces. “We have to be aware that the world is changing and so we have to change our vision of the world. "

[Christophe]

Y must have subject gregance ...

Can you copy / paste your post in the right place please? Thank you.
Also quote the source.

[martien007]

good evening everyone

We are students in Saint Etienne.

We do not have a car, but we have a slot on a power bench before the end of the month. And we are looking for someone with a car equipped with the pantone system (which works well preferably).

As part of our exams, we had to present a car on the power bench to test torque and pollution power to see if the system actually improved performance ...
Unfortunately, the car we expected to present, is no longer available, so we are looking for another already equipped because we do not have time to mount it on another car.

So if you have a car equipped and you are willing to put it on a power bench, please contact us (fadytsouria@yahoo.fr), it is very important for us (this counts for our exams).

The measurements would take place on a weekday in Saint Etienne at the end of May.

In advance thank you

See camel1, he lives in Roanne I believe and he has 2 vehicles equipped pantone with GV. Send him a message in MP;