2600 years old living fossil saved by photovoltaic

With the installation of 3600 watts of photovoltaic at the remote village of Bara Zizri in Ziarat district of Baluchistan Pakistan, there is hope for the second most ancient Juniper forest on the planet. With one of most fragile ecosystems in Pakistan, the forest has an extremely slow growth rate and faces very harsh climatic and geophysical conditions. The forest ecosystem has important wildlife species and medicinal plants. The main threats are debarking and cutting trees for fuel wood and other uses by the local communities.

Now with the help of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), PCRET (Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies) has installed photovoltaic to produce 3600 watts of renewable electricity that lit up 120 households, 6 schools and 6 mosques in the area.... this should reduce the pressure on the forest. 17 local woodcutters have also been trained to manage the photovoltaic panels and the electric supply, giving them an alternate livelihood.

More on IUCN's efforts...

More about the ancient forest.....

A green thrill

Niklas Palm, a design student at the Umeå Institute of Design, has shared with us his latest creation, the Audi IceKraft_, which is a wind and solar powered vehicle to make your icy rides green. The vehicle has a computer-controlled sail that is connected to an electrical engine that turns the sail to the optimum position. The power comes from solar cells that are covering the entire body of the vehicle.
The driver is positioned on his stomach facing forward and controls the Icekraft_ with two handles attached to the front blades. When for example the left handle is pulled toward the driver’s body, the vehicle leans to the left and creates a carving effect that makes the vehicle turn left.