Want to develop the country? Develop a sustainable energy program first!

The valley around the Indus River in Pakistan is one of the steamiest regions on earth. Temperatures teeter regularly in the low 100s. But what should be a solar energy hotbed, is instead an energy wasteland. Only one-third of Pakistanis who inhabit this region have reliable access to electricity. How can any country expect to make social, cultural, and political progress without a well-informed, technological-proficient population?

The World Bank has long hoped to bridge the gap between developing countries’ abundance of natural resources and the discourse keeping them from competing on the global economy. They’ve invested $11.6 million towards gathering data to help guide those developing countries on a sustainable path, but so far – no answers have presented themselves.

While first-world problems like unemployment, healthcare, and gun control rage, many parts of the world are still afflicted by power blackouts and tainted water wells. Simple luxuries we take for granted. So hospitals can’t open. Schools close. Small businesses go bankrupt. Asia and Africa account for roughly two-thirds of the 1.2 billion people currently living ‘off the grid’. These are people who’ve never heard of Facebook or Google!

This outrageous number often scares investors away from developing countries. Instead, they dump their private equity in the U.S. and European markets which, though certainly unpredictable, are much more reliable.

The world’s poorest populations are punished as a result. If temperatures rise by 4 degrees C, 7.2 degrees F by 2090, which according to a recent studied published by the World Bank they’re expected to, then crops across the African continent will burn. Rice paddies in Southeast Asia will drown. People will die and villages will be wiped out.

How do we expect the developing world to develop without any people?

The challenge they face right now involves simple math: fossil fuels are cheaper than green energy alternative. Although the world’s wealthiest countries have donated considerable sums of money to renewable energy programs throughout the third world, there’s simply no way to combat the affordability and availability of fossil fuels.

Because these people have worries other than their carbon footprints. Most don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

That’s why NRGLab is lending a hand to the developing world. By helping them create an independent energy infrastructure, we can begin the healing process.

The future isn’t set in stone. And we’re dead set on making sure it’s greener than today.

The things in life we take for granted

Imagine living in Honduras. The streets are cluttered with uncollected garbage. Diseases like malaria run rampant. In fact, your next door neighbor just died of a mosquito bite. Every so often, you have to hike to a fresh water supply miles away. Electricity? Not a chance. Traffic accidents are solved by quick cash exchanges because the police couldn’t care less. Children can’t get to school because the only bridge out of the village just collapsed. And the storms! Lackluster government warnings result in thousands of people losing their homes on a semi-regular basis.

Now stop imagining.

 

Remember that you are you. You’re a citizen of the first world. You live in an apartment, house or condo. Trash day is every Thursday. If you get sick, you take a trip to your doctor, who writes you a prescription and that’s that. Your next door neighbor hasn’t returned your leaf blower in months. He might be a deadbeat, but he’s definitely not dead. Tap water? Ew. Gross. You only drink bottled, or water that’s been through a Britta filter. You complain when your Smartphone doesn’t keep its charge. The police seem to be lurking behind every blind spot along the highway, waiting to catch you going 5 mph over the speed limit. A big yellow bus picks your son or daughter up for school every morning. And storms usually knock out the cable, but not much else.

Oh, the things in life we in the developed world take for granted!

The Earth is a big, big place, and the sooner people come to this conclusion, the sooner we can begin to address global issues. 

More often than not, politics get tangled up in subcommittees. Narrow-mindedness and personal vendettas result in nothing getting done. Sure, everyone wants to pay lower taxes. Everyone wants better schools and smoother roads. But aren’t these issues trivial compared to spreading equality and ensuring basic human rights throughout the world? 

Liberals and conservatives have their philosophical differences, but surely there are some things everyone can agree upon. We want to protect our children and afford them every opportunity to succeed. We want to feel safe in our own homes. We want to watch our children grow up, and their children, and their children after that.

 

NRGLab hasn’t forgotten the little things in life. That’s why we want to bring sustainable clean energy to the developing world. We believe that if you were born in Honduras, you should have the same opportunities as if you had been born in the United States. With the SH-Box, a low-cost, zero-emissions generator, EVERYONE can have access to reliable power. And that’s only the beginning. 

We have the ability to make the world a better place. First, we need to appreciate the things in life we take for granted. Then, and only then, will our leaders feel truly compelled to put aside politics and work towards world peace.

Be happy, people. Be happy and good to one another.