Production // Current TV

A history of the Israeli nuclear weapons program - The Third Temple's Holy of Holies

This paper is a history of the Israeli nuclear weapons program drawn from a review of... more

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In Benin, solar powered irrigation pollutes less and produces more

In 2007, the nonprofit Solar Electric Light Fund began helping women’s collectives in the west African nation of Benin water their vegetable gardens using solar power. The system they used was simple enough: solar-powered water pumps, paired with drip irrigation. Each of these two technologies have been shown to improve the lives of people living in poverty, off the grid. But few people had ever tried combining them.

“Neither of them were particularly innovative in their own right, but bringing them together truly was,” says Bob Freling, SELF’s executive director. “I found precious few examples of solar drip irrigation. Frankly, it was puzzling, because it seemed like a perfect fit.”

This technological innovation means the women’s collectives can keep producing crops during the region’s six-month dry season, provide greater food security to their families, and start thinking about sending their kids to school. It also could help communities survive and adapt to climate change. The project is now expanding: At least eight more villages in Benin will start using the solar irrigation systems.

Drip irrigation delivers water directly to plant roots, increasing crop yields and using 40 to 80 percent less water than traditional irrigation systems. It’s particularly well suited for dry places, like the semi-arid Sahel region of which Benin is part. But it also requires power inputs, which can be hard to come by in off-the-grid communities. When SELF began working on the project, one of the pioneers of drip irrigation, Dov Pasternak, was working to spread the irrigation technology across west Africa. Pasternak had designed a vegetable garden that used diesel generators to pump water into the irrigation system, but Freling says “That was going to be a non-starter for us.”

Although Pasternak was skeptical of the affordability and longevity of solar systems, he agreed to work with SELF, and soon, Freling says, became "a die-hard believer in solar." The system installed in the pilot villages pumps water into a holding tank from a surface stream in one and from an underground source in the other. Gravity pulls the water to the plants, a mix of vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, okra, and cabbage. Because it’s powered by the sun, the system self-regulates: more water goes to the plants when it’s sunny, which is when they’re most thirsty.

Since the beginning of the pilot program, SELF has worked with researchers at Stanford’s Center for Food Security and the Environment to monitor the impacts of the program on the communities using the irrigation systems. The women involved the project document their plantings, their haul from the gardens, the portion they feed to their families, and the portion they sell. Already, the women report that they’re better able to provide for their families: Women growing vegetables with the technology fed their families 3 to 5 more servings of vegetables each day during the project's first year. The women in the project use the extra income to buy staples for their families, and the community as a whole benefits from the increased availability of vegetables during the dry seasons.

More at the linkIn 2007, the nonprofit Solar Electric Light Fund began helping women’s... more

JanforGore
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Why Is Global Shipping Slowing Down So Dramatically?

If the global economy is not heading for a recession, then why is global shipping... more

Revelation1217
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4 months ago
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Le fasi produttive di un modulo fotovoltaico

a grandi linee i diversi step che determinano la costruzione di un modulo... more

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5 months ago
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An Overview of Film Finance - Baseline Intelligence

Film Finance Attorney, Author, and Lecturer John Cones provides an overview of... more

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8 months ago
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Marking Time in Making Films - Baseline Intelligence

Film Producer, Consultant, and Teacher Norman C. Berns explains the long road it truly... more

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8 months ago
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Scientists attempting to dissolve all insects

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Novek
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8 months ago
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Changing our global approach to farming is the key to survival

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JanforGore
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9 months ago
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40 comments

Article: Encircling the Peak of World Oil Production

The peak of world oil production, followed by an irreversible decline, will be a... more

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Full With Noise: Theory and Japanese Noise Music

"Full with Noise,..." is about noise music, specifically the version that... more

worrg
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1 year ago
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Before You Bemoan the Decline of American Manufacturing

Mark Perry explains: The chart above shows the incredible increases in U.S.... more

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1 year ago
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Freegan - strategies for sustainable living beyond capitalism

Freeganism is a total boycott of an economic system where the profit motive has... more

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Song A Day For A Year - by Martin Byrne (and friends)

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Mitsubishi gets tax incentive for Illinois plant

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has announced that it will be investing $45 million to produce... more

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1 year ago
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Embrace

Writer Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla, who is also a director, started production of the film... more

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1 year ago
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BP's former head of drilling picks up £1m golden hello at Petrofac

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Birth (of the Image) of a Nation: Jean-Luc Godard in Mozambique + Kuxa Kanema documentary

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Climate Change affects Production and Taste of Tea

India accounts for 31 percent of the global tea production, with Assam contributing 55... more

AngelAlina
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1 year ago
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How to put a Fashion or Beauty Shoot Together?

Was recently asked, “How do you put a Fashion Shoot together?”

Benjamin_Kanarek
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Surviving a Highway Wreck: The Long Way Round

The trip halts when Ewan and Charley's production team experience a potentially... more

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