Power by Meg

Where does the power come from? What is the carbon footprint?

These are frequent questions in our lives back home and some of you may be interested to know how they are answered up here. 

Even in Kathmandu energy is scarcer and more precious than it is in the US.  A hotel room with a hot shower is more expensive than one without and the cheaper of our two hotels had 8 hours of scheduled power outage every day.  There was a tidy chart posted by the front desk so you'd know when to expect power that day.  

As you go up the mountain power becomes more and more expensive and less and less common.  Many things you see only in the homes of ardent environmentalists at home are commonplace here- simply because they help people save money and have things they could't otherwise have.   For example I don't think we've seen any bulbs that weren't compact florescent, and huge black water containers warming water on roofs are commonplace, frequently accompanied by solar hot water heaters.  As we got higher, many  hotels had solar water heaters out front, big shiny aluminum contraptions that boil a pot of water when the sun is out.   Once the water is boiled, it goes into big thermos' wher it stays hot for hours till someone orders tea.  

A few of the larger towns have hydro-electric plants and power lines but everywhere else the power comes from solar panels and propane tanks.  Some of the solar panels come up via helicopter or porter, but many are made in China and are carried over the mountains through Tibet on yaks.  You pay by the hour for charging your phone or camera and one lodge owner reminded us that we should do any charging we needed while the sun was out.   

Despite the near freezing weather, hotel rooms are not heated.  You warm yourself In the main room of the lodge in the evening  over a heater that might use wood, electricity, propane or yak dung, then dive into your sleeping bag.   Even the yak dung has a cost.  If it is on your fire, it is not fertilizing your fields.   

As a result of all these factors people here use a fraction of the power most people in the US do.  It really makes you think about what human beings really need.