[LMB] Silvy Vale in India - Walking Cows to power computers

[Martin Bonham]

I just a Computerworld news story which reports that
"The One Laptop Per Child Project (OLPC) is toying with a novel source of power 
for its low-cost XO laptops: cows. "

Anyway, reading this story reminded me of Silvy Vale, which was what prompted 
me to repost it here.

"Sarwal and others are now finalising the design of the cow-powered generator.
The goal is to develop a low-cost energy source that can be used in Indian 
villages. Working in a village close to Mumbai, Sarwal said the group 
considered using solar energy but sunlight near Mumbai was not "consistently 
strong." There was not enough wind or running water nearby to use these as 
sources of power, and the cost of running a gas-powered motor was too high."

http://tinyurl.com/3dxzjk
or
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/7481032854BB0774CC25737F0013BED9

The plan is, I presume, to have cows walking in a circle turning a long arm 
attached to their proposed low lost generator.

"The dynamo used in the system was taken from a Fiat car that is commonly used 
as taxis in Mumbai and therefore both cheap and readily available."


Some picture links from the above story.
http://dev.laptop.org/~arjs/cp1.JPG
http://dev.laptop.org/~arjs/cp2.JPG

Their main website
http://www.laptop.org/


Anyway, reading this story reminded me of Silvy Vale, which was what prompted 
me to repost it here.

That could have been what Silvy Vale did, except that in the future in the Worm 
Hole nexus they have much better power storage, thus Miles's proposed solution 
in _The Mountains of Mourning_ (and also the local geography in the Dendarii 
Mountains means hydro electric works).

"I can send a com unit up here, a small one with a portable power pack that 
lasts a year. Somebody'd have to hump down to Vorkosigan Surleau to replace it 
annually, no big problem. ... "It's not a massive project like installing a 
powersat receptor for the whole of Silvy Vale or anything. The holovid would 
pick up the educational satellite broadcasts from the capital; set it up in 
some central cabin, add a couple of dozen lap-links for the kids"
http://www.webscription.net/10.1125/Baen/1011250002/1011250002.htm


And of course later in Memory we see that that the Geography and Climate of the 
Dendarii mountians are suitable for small hydroelectric plants, when the 
Village wants more power.