GraemeBoyce
I have spent the past five years travelling around the world, meeting leaders in many developing nations, from elected officials to corporate executives, advocating the benefits of solar energy, and implementing change in order to assure growth and success for their children and their children's children. I, along with my senior team, have visited countries across the Caribbean, Central America, South Asia and West Africa.
We talked to decision makers and administrators alike about how solar power will reduce their dependency on fossil fuels and carbon emissions, while providing a reliable and localized method of generating electricity, whether spanning rooftops, parking lots or open fields, as well as jobs and careers, and eliminating expensive infrastructure (such as transmission towers and power lines) in the future.
People in power don't like change. They like things to stay the way they are. Status quo is fine.
Change requires courage and real leadership. Indeed, there are obstacles to implement change for a nation. Rich people will be hurt. Nonetheless, populations are booming in developing nations and their generating stations were erected long ago by typically colonial bureaucracies who needed to supply electricity, whether hydro, coal or diesel fuel, to their factories which dotted shorelines.
Imperialist rulers did not have to supply electricity to communities, to schools and clinics, for example. Over the years, as these nations have each been granted independence - as the costs were simply too great for foreigners to execute change, like ensuring clean and safe environments, efficient roadways and transportation systems, and effective methods of collecting and distributing taxes - sadly, these countries are in a downward spiral, not able to borrow the billions required to upgrade basic facilities, or even millions one step at a time.
Microgrids are the answer, btw. Here are a series of observations I have written based on my journeys...