There have been many discussions about insufficient electricity in Gambia. Two strategies are to produce more electricity and to consume less of it.
I've been reading up on the LED technology for energy-efficient lighting. For the same amount of lighting, LED's consume 20% of energy as an incandescent lamp but last for over 20 years! The catch at this time is that the intial cost is very high. Over time it is less expensive though. Most experts predict that all home lighting will be based on LED's in a few years.
One LED is so small that it is possible to create small reading lights with a handful of LED's.
There is an organization called Light Up The World Foundation at http://www.lutw.org, who believe this technology is quite appropriate for developing countries.
This technology has the potential to make it economically feasible to light up the books, so the books may light up the minds of young children. I'd love to hear your opinions on the relevance of these lights to Gambia.
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Posted - 23 Sep 2006 : 20:34:08
