Below is an email and report from Vicky Lau (a DB Green member) who is involved in an organisation called the Green Action Charity Foundation who have been doing wonderful projects around rural China. Vicky came to our recent meeting to explain what the charity does and how it started. It was very interesting and sounds like they are doing real grass roots work that is really effective, well thought out and managed, and has a real impact on the lives of people in the villages they have worked- in some cases dragging communities out of poverty into self sufficiency. All with environmental solutions. Some of you may be interested in their work, joining their projects, donating time or money or learning from them to create projects of your own. This might be the kind of thing that schools may like to get involved in. If you have any queries Vicky would be only to happy to hear from you. You can contact her at “missvickylau@gmail.com”
The next project is:
Visit to Shanxi (the yellow earth) :
Spring visit : 27/4 – 3/5/2009
Summer visit : 5 – 12/8/2009
Fall visit : 5 – 11/10/2009
Details : To plant the seeds in Spring, inspect the growth in Summer / Fall.
More info : will be able to see big areas of plantation sites (by ourselves, other groups, and the government !) and do some touritst travel in Shanxi province.
Vicki says “I’d be pleased to invite you and other enthusiastic people in nature restoration, to join our missions!”
She also passed on this:
” …… here’s a news scrap from one of our foundation members, which I hope you or your members find interesting and inspiring :
“Great things are being done here! I recently came across this article which might be relevant to efforts being done here. It is one of the project by United States’ Rocky Mountain Institute on using solar panel weaved /combined onto everyday fabric/apparatus for purpose of light emitting at night for work and study. Pls take a look. http://www.rmi. org/sitepages/ pid485.php
The following email and report is about an LED lighting project that they have done a week or so ago. Vicky has done some other great things for us recently including Cantonese and Mandarin phrases we can use to say ‘No’ to things and putting Michele’s Green Gift Idea into Chinese. I will forward these shortly.
Standby for some dates for tree watering too- John is away and we need YOU!
Cheers,
Kate
P.S. And if your green resolutions (and any others for that matter) have got off to a shaky start then Chinese New Year is the perfect time to reaffirm or start again! I’m glad of a second shot!
Dear Kate et all,
For your info, the Green Action Charity Foundation had successfully carried out the first trial of the LED illumination project in rural village of China.
Please read below, our report and more info about LED products, and see if at all possible to release on your website, etc. We hope it impacts you and your members on any more Green energy ideas.
Cheers,
Vicky
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Green Action Charity Foundation LED Lighting Project for Rural Villages of China – Report 18/1/2009
Dear all,
The Dong Shan LED lighting project is very encouraging.
We arrived Dongshan at about 9:15am, then briefly met with Mrs Chia and seek
her support to call a few teenagers to learn about the implementation.
The kids were from another village and took about half an hour to arrive. In
the mean time, we visited the house and greeted with the grand father,
explaining our intention to install LED lights for his home. He welcomed the
idea and also showed us the electricity bills etc.. With his permission, I
led the kids to tour around the house to see the electric appliances
installed.
Each of the 2 rooms, the kitchen, and corridor, is fitted with a 25W light
bulb. The wiring was probably done more than 20 years ago and showed sign of
serious aging. The living room has a 1.2m fluorescent lamp, a ceiling fan,
and a round fluorescent lamp that doesn’t work most of the time. They have a
20″ TV and a DVD player. They also have a electric cooker. The electricity
bill is about rmb 50 a quarter or 75 kwh. It is indication that they use the
appliances sparingly. The result of our installation should therefore be
measured in the level of increase studying and economic activities that the
lower cost lighting can deliver.
To show the advantage of LED lighting, I contrasted the lighting effect of
an existing 25W incandescent lamp with a 0.3W LED light bar. The light bar
with its directional light control delivered about 3 times the brightness at
twice the distance. I then explained other principles such as the need for
dimming control.
After a 30 minutes briefing and explaining the system we want to install, a
few teenagers took initiative to install the system by themselves. The level
of workmanship and performance was quite satisfactory. At first, we noted
that the boys stayed from behind as we brief the group. But once we started
working, they showed very helpful. Probably they found themselves much
taller than the girls and showed their gentleman manner by letting the girls
occupy the front row but then take up the more challenging jobs as needed.
One small girl in the house now studying in primary two was also very
enthusiastic in building the system and has helped made some connections.
In about 2 hours, the kids have completed installation of 12 modules and a
handheld LED light bar in the living room at my designated locations as well
as wiring to one bedroom. Some modules were left for them to fit the bedroom
and add to other locations as they see fit. Some were kept for further
experimentation in Hong Kong.
The result at night is not known at the moment. Mrs Chia wil take some
photos for us.
There are a few observations for the installation.
- Because the system uses 12V DC power supply, there is no foreseeable
danger in either installation or subsequent daily use. Stapler gun makes
installation of wiring easy. No soldering is invovled and a screwdriver and
a stripper/piler are all we need to make connections. This empowered the
kids to exercise their initiative and creativity. The use of low voltage is
also critical for low cost implementation in large scale.
- The house is very big, and I run out of wires although I’ve already
prepared over 30m for the installation.
- The primary purpose of wiring in the house is for lighting, converting to
LED can remove most of the safety hazards due to aging wires. This can be
done inexpensively by training the teenagers to do the job.
- The ceiling is pretty high. It is desirable to use narrow angle LED
modules for ceilingt mounted modules. The modules we now install for them
are wide angle modules, which has room for improvement.
- Two light bars were built with discrete LED components which the kids
liked because it allowed them to hold in their hands and direct to whichever
place they like.
- The current system runs on a 12V 1000mA power adaptor. There is provision
for addition of 12V car battery and solar panel in future. But we shall see
the feedback of this pilot test site first before proceeding.
That concludes my report.
Best regards.
SC Mok
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Is there any commercially available LED nighting system, e.g. bedside lamp , available in H.K.?
LED lighting products are now easily obtainable in Apliu Street or interior decoration stores. But price and light output are still quite unacceptable. For example, a cabinet lighting system in IKEA sells at about $400 which consists of 4 pieces of light bars with 3 small LEDs and associated driving circuitry. Similar LEDs can be purchased in Apliu Street for $1 to $5. But their brightness is just 1/3 or even 1/5 of what we are using now. However, it is not possible to check their light output strength without elaborate measurement and special instrument. There are also complete products such as torches and night lights. Most of them are poorly designed, resulting in quick deteriation of light output. This is the main reason why we have to go through the painful process of seeking LED sponsoring from world class suppliers instead of purchasing from the market.
On the other hand, if requirement is not stringent, LED products are quite readily available.
SC