13632: Burnham adds to Lyall's comments on chabon and dry cleaning and PCB's (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: thor burnham <thorald_mb@hotmail.com>

Posted by Thor Burnham:

As to the charcoal issue (and it may even apply to the drycleaners and the
Klairin makers) wouldn't one of the simplest ways to ease the pressure on
the forests be the consistent provision of electricity in Port-au-Prince? I
may be out in left field on this one, but it seems obvious. The biggest
demand centre for chabon is the capital city. Ease the demand there and you
will ease the demand for trees in the rest of the country.

Small hotplates, electric burners and stoves could replace both charcoal and
the alternative fuels in the cooking of food, couldn't they? The problem is
that electricity where i live comes on after 8 p.m at night and is shut off
at about 5 a.m. (of course we all know how consistent this is) This means
that meal production times exist outside the times that electricity is
provided. Sure it allows you to sleep with a fan, re-charge your inverter
batteries, your cellphone, (if you have them), and let your fridge get
cold,(if you have one) but it means that by necessity you need an
alternative fuel to cook food. And, since most people exist on a day to day
basis, it means they buy enough chabon to cook for one or two days at a
time. This is the reality for most people, is it not? Why not subsidize the
sale of high efficiency electric hotplates and work on providing consistent
and cheap electricity? Or would a million hotplates overload the system?

Or is it too much to expect from EDH?

For the Drycleaners, Clairin makers and bakeries, I would guess that wood is
still the cheapest fuel source for them, particularly when an investment in
a large Delco or natural gas/propane equipment is cost prohibitive. Wouldn't
electricity provide the best alternative? Or, is the investment in
electrically run machines too much?

However, it gets even more problematic because the electricity service as
currently constituted has serious problems.
   -even if you have access to a line there is a good chance your
transformer will eventually blow up due to the welders and all the illegal
hookups. if this happens, you're screwed because EDH won't exactly "come a
runnin" to replace said transformer. (it should also be investigated as to
how many people get poisoned by the PCB's that spew out all over the place
when the transformers blow. since it happens so often, I wonder to what
extent it exists as a public health issue)
    -those that can afford it have purchased their own transformers for
their own lakou's because of the consistent demise of their local
transformer.
    but, maybe Lyall is right. maybe the best solution is to quit pretending
there will ever be a functioning "grid" and move directly to the promotion
of any and all alternative fuels as soon as possible.

Or maybe they could promote the growing of leguminous trees that grow eight
feet in a year, replenish the soil and then can be used for firewood. (Saw
it in the economist a few months back) Maybe not.

best,
Thor Burnham



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