GOOD & BAD of Mini Hydro Power

ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) through one of its programmes, ASEAN-German Mini Hydro Project (AGMHP), has just soft released their new publication. The new publication is a two volumes picture book containing good and bad practices in developing micro hydro power scheme, especially for rural electrification. The picture book is not yet officially launched, therefore in their website (http://agmhp.aseanenergy.org) only some samples are provided. The samples look promising. There are two chapters uploaded. Full version of the book can be downloaded as soon as the book is officially launched. There might be possibility to directly request the book to AGMHP (maybe at small cost).

I, fortunately, just got the two volumes at hand. They are fantastic. You can expect common failures in developing micro hydro shown in the book (note: cases are mostly coming from Indonesia experience). The book can suddenly make you an expert of micro hydro, and that is the real danger of this book. This book is actually informational in nature. It is not intended by the writer and by AGMHP that as soon as somebody reads the book he/she can become an expert. An expert needs proper education and also long and various field experiences.

This case reminds of a university teacher I met some months ago in a focused group discussion. This guy (he comes from reputable institute in Bandung) said that he already made more than 100 feasibility studies of micro hydro without even visiting the sites. He relies of Google Earth!! That's shocking. Every micro hydro has its own characteristics and one can only see and find it out when one is at the site taking measurements and samples. Google Earth does help, but one cannot rely on it to make a proper justifiable micro hydro feasibility study.

This GOOD&BAD book does not make someone an expert of micro hydro. He or she might later on able to criticize mistakes, but to give solution might be no, unless he/she gets proper education on the specific issue. Anyway, this book is worth to bring along during your visits to micro hydro sites. You can visit the download section of AGMHP website to find out the recent update.

Redefinition of Sustainable

Information technology (electronic, automation, robots, software etc.) has revolutionized the way we live. It is somehow making our lives easier and more convenient, but on the other side it is also slowly destroying our social fundamentals. If we are not careful, the days of the “terminators” are coming and human has to survive in the machine driven world.

Today, 3rd of August 2009, my wife’s company (one of big companies of the US) is going to lay off some staffs. The company does not do lay off due to economic downturn but due to significant change in the “system”. The company sells the product very good in Indonesia. The reason of of the lay offs is just that the company has just used the big software and automated administration system. The new system, although might costly, but reduce human involvement in the administration system. In the long term it reduces a lot of costs and unnecessary problems (very logical !! just like IT use plain logic). The IT has just started ruining some families’ life.

IT is not fair. IT only serves to capitalism. IT supports greed and destroys humanity. A human is at its high value if he/she works and creates and be helpful and be useful for others. IT simplified those important values (as process) for the sake of bigger profit for capital owners. Social fundamentals are destroyed by IT.

I support companies that respect social values and reflecting it in the form of work creation and big employment. It is time to reshape the definition of “sustainable” companies or “green” companies. They should not just focus on the physical environment but also most importantly “social” environment and social values. Socially green company should have direct impact to more people than “environmentally green” electronically automated company. We should buy products from “socially green” company….

Support local products!! Support Indonesian products!!!