Developing Nations
SKYRON’s turbines are also ideal for assisting third world countries in initiatives to heighten their population’s standard of living through the provision of remote electricity and water pumping capability. In this case, SKYRON will work with NGO’s to supply turbines for both on-site generation requirements.
The main goals of such program are two-fold. First, to improve the health of the inhabitants through access to new potable water sources free of water-borne disease. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) April 2007 report, lack of access to potable water supplies will result in an increase in disease and massive relocation of populations. 1 This is supported by the World Health Organization’s data which shows that diarrheal disease accounts for an estimated 4.1% of the total daily global burden of disease and is responsible for the deaths of 1.8 million people every year. Of these, it is estimated that 88% of that burden is attributable to unsafe water supply, sanitation, and hygiene, and is mostly concentrated on children in developing countries.2
The issue of providing access to potable water is more than a just charitable activity. It has become a strategic initiative on the part of far-sighted business leaders. The first to recognize the future value of water has been T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oil tycoon. Pickens’ new company, Mesa Water, has been buying up ground water rights in Roberts County, Texas - 200,000 acres in all. He says that over a 30-year period, he expects to make more than $1 billion on his investment of $75 million. Pickens wants to take the water from the Ogallala Aquifer and pump about 200,000 acre feet of groundwater annually to El Paso, Lubbock, San Antonio, or Dallas-Fort Worth.3
The second part of the NGO goal is to improve the quality of life through access to on-site electricity generation. From lighting to equipment power, the benefits of on-site generation directly support the missions of many NGO’s in their outreach efforts to build hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure.
1. http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf
2. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/burden/en/index.html
3. http://www.dailywealth.com/archive/2007/jan/2007_jan_13.asp