Today, access to power is a major challenge for population in emerging countries, particularly those who live in rural areas. As economic growth models based on fossil fuel-based energy show their limits, the future of these populations depends on our capacity to exploit renewable energies.
In particular, solar energy has significant potential in the long term as it is both a dynamic and innovating market; in an environment where those remote areas do not benefit from an access to a transport or distribution network, storage of electricity often represents a prohibitive technical and financial hurdle.
Several colleagues, interested by this theme, decided to create an association, Power Adventurists, a non-profit association helping populations from the developing world having accessibility to electricity thanks to solar energy.It aims to promote and raise awareness on projects linked with the energy.
They discover The Barefoot College and were moved by its mission:
The Barefoot College was founded in 1972 is a non-governmental organization and aims to offer populations from rural areas a training adapted to their education, whilst highlighting their creativity and promoting the following values:
- Sustainability: making those populations self-sufficient on a long term basis
- Environmental friendliness: by relying on solar energy in particular
- Social cohesion and peer education
The Barefoot College trains « Barefoot Solar Engineers » and favours grandmothers, the Solar Mama, to follow the course because they are in line with the need of sustainability, which is one of the core values of the foundation: Those grandmothers will not leave the village they come from and they will be able to pass on their skills to their friends and families.
The colleagues decided to help raising awareness and money for this College in participating into a great adventure: the Rickshaw Run! It is a race of 3000km in 13 days through India on a Tuk-tuk. We will follow their adventure via their blog or their facebook page. During their race, they will visit the Barefoot College.
EPEX SPOT is really pleased to sponsor this race and be part of this project.
If your company would like to help us raise money for this good cause, do not hesitate to go directly to their website to donate.