(see photo of Pete and photo of the generator). In 2002, the government's concept was to power the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with Pete's generators.
Other than wood, where does Afghan civilian power come from. Kabul is a city of 3 to 5 million people (depending on your source). I was astounded; I think of it as a town, not a mega-city. Comparisons give us perspective - last year the population of San Francisco was 809,000. Getting current and accurate data on Afghanistan is difficult; perhaps the logic is that information only feeds the enemy, but then how else do we form an accurate picture of what is really going on?
Only about 7 per cent of the country's population has access to electricity - you heard me correctly - only 7 % have electricity, according to 2007 government figures from IEEE Global. http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Electricity_Supply_in_Afghanistan A year and a half ago (Jan. 2008), Kabul had an average of 3 hours of electricity a day. And nine months ago, Dec. 31, 2008, from David Pugliese's Defense Watch, "some parts of Kabul have electricity once in two nights for only a couple of hours," and "Some citizens say, Kabul is the only dark capital in the world."
In Afghanistan, the infrastructure is in overload with an influx of people who participate in military maneuvers as well as those who contiguously support the military - in some places, this more than doubles the normal population, thus stretching an already-threadbare infrastructure - "snap," and the lights go out.
Now we know, technologically, electricity can be produced without fuel. It's simple as long as you know how. Not only can this system be used for mobile generators, but also in large applications to power multi-story structures, even entire towns.
When Pete Sumaruck's prototype was finished and running perfectly, two Texas politicians - U.S. Congressman Michael "Chet" Edwards, Democrat, 17th district, and Texas State Senator Kip Averitt, Republican, 22nd district, both from Waco, Texas - shelved the project in favor of promoting contracts with the McDowell Research/Ultra-light Battery and contracts for diesel fuel.
One of these two politicians said he worried soldiers would figure out how the new generator worked and go into business making them himself. Ha, there's a twist on Yankee ingenuity.
My question to anyone in the military: do you believe soldiers would walk off their posts to start factories building generators. In thousands of soldiers, perhaps one might, or two. Imagine that these two soldiers are separated by hundreds of miles, never met the other, but each is stationed in a place where they see one of Pete's generator's in use.
There is talk among the soldiers of a special generator used to cook their food. A group of the soldiers stands around looking at the wonder unit, but it appears much like any other generator, except no diesel. Hummm. And the soldier's barracks are powered by another portable generator; sleep is easier because this generator is quiet, no diesel motor sound.
From Ken Rasmussen, an expert on alternative energy, June 17, 2009, from his website http://www.commutefaster.com, "going electric would solve other issues too, not the least of which is noise. I thought attacks were supposed to sneak up on the enemy. But with a big diesel engine revving, how stealthy is that?"
The imagined soldier finishes his tour of duty, but can't get that generator out of his mind. Pete Sumaruck would champion anyone to get involved in economical, pollution-free energy. The more power generated without oil-based products, without coal, natural gas and nuclear, the better off we all are"much more than an understatement.
If the Army had developed Sumaruck's all-electric generators in 2002, much would have been saved. Do we want to forget that diesel is flammable. It can be fire in liquid form. With Pete's system, not only would portable generators not explode on impact, but by now military vehicles would be powered by electricity, and without a batteries, click here, and the danger of roadside bombs would have diminished.
If the military was driving all-electric vehicles, then car manufacturers would have followed suit. If begun in 2002, would this have saved Detroit, all those jobs, all the government bailouts. One can only imagine the possibilities.
A race of sorts is now on
- Oct. 05, 2009, from indianexpress.com http://www.indianexpress.com/news/electryfing-kabul/524952/ India has build a 260 kilometer transmission line (towers) for power, to Kabul. Some see this as a political manipulation to establish an Indian presence in the region where none had been before. And, "A successful transmission of 40MW of power imported from Uzbekistan," will come online by January, 2010, http://www.bv.com/wcm/press_release/08052009_3410.aspx but will hardly make a dent in Afghanistan's need for power. Compare this to 619 MW from Oyster Creek Power Plant in state of New Jersey, which services 600,000 homes and businesses.
The American company, Louis Berger Group has combined with Black & Veatch in a joint venture and awarded a contract for the Afghanistan Infrastructure and Rehabilitation Program. The Berger Group's mission is to develop infrastructure for Afghanistan; the company has been in that country since 2001 and was, "the first US contractor to fully engage in Afghanistan." So you see, Berger was entrenched; they wouldn't want any new technology to alter their plans.
