FAITH, HOPE & CHARITY

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BY IKE SEÑERES
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Technologies for small communities

IN THEORY, it is now possible for small communities to produce their own gas, their own electricity, their own water and their own connectivity.

Although that statement may be difficult to believe at the outset, that is indeed a valid statement.

To understand and accept that statement, however, it is necessary for me to explain what I mean by the term “produce” in general, and what I mean by the “production” of these basic utilities in particular.

To begin with, I would have to clarify that “production” does not necessarily mean creating something out of nothing. In other words, producing something may require the use of some material that could be processed or converted into something.

Although I am using “gas” here in a general sense, I am actually referring to “cooking gas”, being one of the indicators used in measuring the incidence of poverty under the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). Deprivation of electricity and water are also MPI indicators, leaving only connectivity as a non-MPI indicator.

By stretching our imagination however, it could be said that the devices that are needed in order to bring about connectivity could be considered as non-deprivation of “appliances”, yet another MPI indicator. That would actually make perfect sense, because as of now, radios and television sets are included as samples of “appliances” in the MPI.

Just to give you a clearer picture of where I am coming from, the MPI uses the negative sense of “being deprived”, instead of the positive sense of “having access”. For example, if a household is “deprived” of these four basic utilities, then they would come closer to being considered as “poor”. That is actually the same as saying that they do not have “access” to these four basic utilities, but that is how it is in the measurement of development, we have to stick to the language used.

The MPI uses an approach that is very much different from the conventional method of measuring poverty by determining whether or not a household could afford to buy an imaginary “basket of goods”, which is actually another way of saying that the household does not have “access” to these goods.

Looking back at only a few years ago, it was necessary to add animal waste to human waste in order to produce biogas. This old approach caused production problems, because zoning laws in many communities would not allow the presence of animals.

That situation has changed however, because there are enzymes that are now available to replace animal waste in the necessary mixture. With that new development, it is now possible to make biogas from human waste, even if there are no animals around. Kitchen waste could actually be added to the mixture, but that decision would depend on whether there would be a higher price for organic fertilizer, being a by-product of kitchen waste.

By now, it is already a well known fact that small communities could already “produce” their own electricity by tapping several sources such as wind, solar, hydro and dendro, the latter referring to the use of firewood or any other cellulosic material. For that matter, electricity could also be produced by using biogas to power a turbine.

As far as I am concerned, however, there is really no need to choose among these many options, because it would be better to have many alternative sources that would back up each other. Everything adds up, and the more sources there are, the merrier it would be, so to speak. Not to forget, there is always the generator to fall back on if everything else fails.

There are many ways of “producing” water, but it seems that “repurposing” would be a more appropriate term to use in this context. For example, waste water could be “repurposed” so that it could be used as secondary water for agriculture, gardening, for washing cars and for flushing toilets. With further filtration, it could even be “repurposed” so that it could again be used for drinking, for bathing, for washing clothes and even for cooking.

Using an extreme example, some countries like Singapore have already repurposed sewage water so that it could be used for drinking. Amidst speculations that desalinated water may cause kidney problems, “repurposed” sea water could still be good for agriculture, among others. Among other options, rainwater collection with additional filtration is actually an endless source.

Connectivity is a generic term that refers to any means that would connect communities to online and mobile networks. While we often hear of the term “bandwidth”, it is the carrier of the signal that is “created”, and not the “bandwidth”. We also hear of the term “broadband”, but that is not “created” either, because it simply refers to the broader capacity of the carriers.

Connectivity is usually provided by the big telecom companies who make money by carrying the signals. However, if there are no available carriers in a small community, it could actually “create” its own signal by using technologies such as TV white space. If that is not possible, they could always fall back on signals provided by satellite companies./PN
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