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ENERGIA News Issue 2.1, February 1998

The Bulletin Board

Conferences

The Energy for Life Debate
What will your energy future be like? We would like to invite you to participate in a discussion.
The voice of young people is currently hardly heard in the energy debate. The network “Young Energy Specialists and Development Co-operation” (YES-DC) has therefore initiated a discussion among young energy specialists around the world under the heading “Energy for Life”. Especially we want to make the voices of young women heard!
The objective of the Energy for Life debate is to mobilise young energy specialists from around the world to Develop a Vision of a Sustainable Energy Future in the year 2025. The output, the ideas of this “future generation” will contribute to international discussions in the field of long-term energy policy making and international co-operation.
To join in the discussion you need some knowledge of energy issues, you need to be young - young women especially are encouraged to participate- and you need to have access to e-mail or fax. Start by taking half an hour to think through the following questions, answer them from your perspective and send your replies to us.
Please note that we are for your own ideas on the following questions:

• What is the main energy problem in your society? Be practical: what is the main energy problem for you and your family and friends? For those who live in the rural area and those who live in the urban areas? For the men and the women? For the rich and the poor?
• For what purpose do you think your society wants to use fossil fuels in the year 2025?
• If the price of solar electricity is about the same as what you pay now for your electricity (grid, batteries,...) or lighting (kerosene, candles), would you immediately install solar power in your house? What would be your main reasons? What would be the reason for not doing so?
• If you had 1 Million US Dollars to invest in an energy project in your country, what would you do?
• Close your eyes and imagine what your ideal energy situation would look like in the year 2025. Describe briefly.
• What is your name, address, age and involvement in the energy sector?
• Do you want your name listed when presenting the final results?
• Do you know any other young energy specialists who would like to join the Energy for Life discussion? Please send a copy of the questions to them and ask them to reply either directly to us or through you.

Please send your reply as soon as possible by Email or fax to:
Frank van der Vleuten, Fax +31. 33. 494 0791, Email f.vleuten@etcnl.nl
Energy for Life, P.O. Box 2802, 3500 VG Utrecht, The Netherlands; http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/5284/energy4life.html, http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/yesdc

Solar Energy International presents:
Women's Photovoltaic Design and Installation Workshop.Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. March 2-7, 1998
A PV Design and Installation workshop geared specifically towards women. Learn how to use photovoltaic technology to produce electricity from the sun through practical design and installation. There will be women guest instructors from the renewable energy field.
Topics Include:

• Home Applications
• Basics of Electricity
• Solar Site Analysis
• Electrical Wiring
• Safety Procedures
• Tours of PV residences

For more information contact:
Solar Energy International, P.O. Box 715, Carbondale, CO 81623 USA; Tel. +1.970.963.8855, Fax +1.970.963.8866, Email sei@solarenergy.org

Conference Announcement: ICWES 11
The 11th International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists, Science and Technology for Global Ecology will be held in Chiba, Japan, on July 24 - 27, 1999.
The Conference is open to all engineers and scientists, to those interested in the programme subjects, and to those interested in promoting the achievements of women.
The draft Technical Programme, on the theme “Science and Technology for Global Ecology” includes:

1. Science and Technology for Global Ecology; Human Impact; Energy, Industry Transportation and Information; Quality of Life; Biotechnology; Education and Ethics
2. Women and Science
3. Symposium: “Women's Roles in Today's Environmental Issues

The Conference is organised by the Science Council of Japan, the Society of Japenese Women Scientists and the Japanese Women Engineers Forum.
To ensure that you are placed on the mailing list please contact:
Dr Akiko Tsugawa, ICSWE-11 Conference Secretariat, International Liason Office, Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan, Tel./Fax +81.3.3812.2413, E-mail tsugawa@adm.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Publications

América Renovable: Revista Especializada en Energías Renovables y Medio Ambiente, is a new Latin American journal on renewable energy and the environment. It has just published its second issue.
For more information, contact:Grupo de Apoyo al Sector Rural, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Fax +5114.611785, Email grupo@pupc.edu.pe

Internet Resources

Help! We are looking for Internet volunteers who can help us search for material on women and energy. Although there are many renewable energy sites on the web, only a very small number refers to women and energy. Below are some sites which link women and energy in some way.

Solar Energy International (SEI) is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to empower others to use renewable energy and environmental building technologies through education and technical assistance. SEI also has a “Woman and Renewable Energy Program” to facilitate technology transfer and project development for women in less developed countries.
http://www.solarenergy.org

Norma Blazquez at the Latin American OFAN office and others have set up a Spanish website: INCITA. This means inventing accessible science and technology. It is in Spanish. It will be linked to the central OFAN site.
Log on at: http://www.laneta.apc.org/incita for the Spanish OFAN site, or
http://www.wigsat.org/ofan/ofan.html for the OFAN site.