My first hydroelectric...

First of all, I would love to thank all of you who have taken the time to read the blog today--a record thus far. I would also like to take the time to encourage readers to sign up to be followers and to break the ice of leaving a comment.

On this day, the current topic is hydroelectric power! This post, inherent to the nature of the topic, will also tend towards the technical. One of my first official duties is to gather data, develop a project profile, raise funds, and install a 12 kW reverse water pump (giving water, getting electricity) in the local Quechua community of Llupa--all within a two-month timeline.

The purpose of this project is to replace our current 12 kW reverse water pump with a newly purchased 20kW water turbine (~$20,000) to satisfy our energy consumption at the lodge and the farmhouse 24/7. The original water pump would then be "loaned" to the community of Llupa to provide enough energy to power 12 to 15 houses (each taking between 0.5 and 1.0 kW). After an analysis of the power consumed by each household, the funds typically paid to the regional/national energy company and eventually funneled off-shore would then be paid into a community-managed central fund, which would then be doled out upon approval of a community-staffed committee to fund various community-development projects under the oversight of Ka'Way Monti NGO and The Way Inn Lodge, effectively keeping the money in the community.

My initial task was to map various waypoints along the stream, collecting GPS coordinates and altitude measurements. But before that could be completed, Alex guided me along the stream pointing out specific loci of interests. Passing adobe-style houses, we descended along the path that runs parallel to the stream. Several items of interest were being counted during this trek--number of houses with electrical boxes and number and locations of various stream diversions for example. We vaguely identified possible locations for the de-sanders and the water pump facility taking into account locations of houses, the relative amount of vertical drop, and the projected relative costs of pipeline vs. electrical wiring--all civil and electrical engineering aspects of the project. The technical feasibility of the project is just one of the four different elements necessary to generate a project profile to eventually present to potential fundraising entities. The financial feasibility, legal feasibility, and social/management feasibility of such a project must also be considered. But first things first...I had to gather pertinent data on the stream itself--the vertical drop/distance between various waypoints and the volume and velocity properties of the water flow.

Armed with Ryan's iPhone 5, I installed Altimeter, an application that promises +/- 5 meter accuracy in its altitude measurements, and set out along the stream. Stopping at various easily identifiable points of interest, I collected GPS and altitude measurements. The reliability of the collected data seemed to pass the personal "makes sense to me" test, with the exception of two particular regions through which altitude measurements oscillated +/- 20 m before equilibrating to a stable result. At the fourth crossing of the road that meanders back and forth across the stream, I concluded my descent. This was the site that Alex and I defined earlier as an idyllic location for our pump station. It was at branching point of the stream and relatively-speaking, according to eye-ball measurements, at a point of balance between the length of piping needed to extend from the de-sanders to the water pump to achieve suitable vertical drop (in order to generate the defined amount of energy to reach the maximum energy output of the machinery) and the length of electrical wiring needed to access the the electrical boxes of the maximum number of houses as determined by the maximum energy output. As the descent had concluded, I made good use of the trek home, by collected an additional set of geographic data throughout my ascent at each waypoint within 0.1' of the original GPS coordinates of each locus.

With initial data in hand, I calculated the distances (in meters) between each waypoint using a distance function derived from the Pythagorean Theorem, the culmulative distance relative to the point of origin, the relative altitude drop between each point, and finally the culmulative altitude drop at each point relative to the origin. Below is an altitude vs. distance graph of the results of the down run, up run, and average mean of the two runs.

At least two more sets of measurements will be collected, one set of which I will conduct today, but according to calculations on this initial data set, the project will be technically feasible. If we use our initially-determined locations for both the de-sander and the pump facility, we will generate 80 meters of vertical drop (more than enough for our projected power provision). In fact, if future data (both topological and water flow measurements) is consistent, we can reduce the length of pipeline, and its financial burden, by a distance of at least 150 meters, increasing the financial feasibility of such a project.

Well, I guess that sums up my initial investigation into the feasibility of my first hydroelectric project. The technical data collection and subsequent analysis I feel will be the easiest aspect of this project for me. Financial analysis, fundraising, and social management of the project might prove more challenging, but then again, what's the fun without a challenge.

Until the next time... Be the change you want to see in the world around you.

Blessings,

Robert.

Post-Initial Extracto de Coca Report

So it has been a couple days since my last blog post, but I would like to start out by thanking all of you who have already perused the blog posts to date and encourage you to leave comments or to sign up to "follow" this blog. Also, please consider checking out the two website links posted previously. The following addition to the blog is a narrative of the technical process and results of my extractions I described earlier.

We left off a few days ago, during which I was describing my intention to develop an elixir for physiological difficulties due to the altitude of the lodge. This was quite the fun experiment! Nostalgic remembrances of the scientific activities of my youth flooded my mind as I ground, extracted, filtered, and reduced the resulting volume of natural plant materials to produce some product that possessed positive physiological effects. Seventeen short years ago, I was performing a similar task on a variety of nutshells and nut meats with hopes of finding an extract with biological activity against various cancer cell lines and/or antagonistic microorganisms--a project that would spur my scientific curiosity and garner me 2nd place in chemistry at the International Science and Engineering Fair my junior and senior years in high school.

100 g of dried leaves

The plant material post-grinding

The ethanol/plant mixture

My filtration apparatus

For the first extraction with 100 g of plant material, I performed the thermally accelerated extraction using the wood stove in the ceremonial yurt with two other plant additives, namely the leaves of a lemon balm plant and stevia. In addition, I added an excess amount of a basic "activator," a general term used for any additive that assists in the extraction of alkaloids from plant materials. After the separation of the biomass from the solvent used for the extraction (95% ethanol/water), I then washed the plant material, raising the volume higher than desirable, so an additional volume reduction was necessary. The wood stove proved to be too irregular and uncontrollable heating method, producing a color change from green to brown. After scratching my head for a bit, I attempted to shift the equilibrium by adding additional activator (a commonly used weak base), which produced the desired return of the chlorophyll-esque hue of the concoction. Upon achieving the desired final volume, I transferred the extract to an amber colored container and went searching for guinea pigs.

The dropper bottle (for dispensing), one of two bottles of the first extract (center), the second larger amber bottle of the pure oil (2nd batch, right)

These test subjects were not too hard to wrangle, and all were VERY pleased with the effects--a general boost in overall physiological vitality. In my second batch, I switched from the wood stove to a gas stovetop, removed all additives but the activator of which I used only a tablespoon for this iteration. After removing all the ethanol I could safely, the result was a smaller volume, higher potency, oil. This oil then will serve as the concentrated base from which to make more dilute tinctures of the product. Overall, I would say that this project was quite pleasantly successful and will prove to be a valuable tonic to newly arriving retreat guests having difficulty with the two-miles of altitude that we experience at the lodge. I also plan on utilizing the entire plant material, so maybe I'll experiment with making coca-paper from the residual plant solids.

The left over plant material.

The relative success of these extractions also led to another opportunity to contribute during the retreats that we hold. A three-session extract preparation course has now weaseled its way into our retreat schedule to be taught by yours truly. To successfully teach such a mini-course, I do have to search out more accurate volume-measuring tools to utilize in the dilution process--something that might prove difficult in a rather isolated Andean city, but I'll make do with what I have.

Well, I guess that brings some closure to my initial extraction experiments. I plan on describing two more projects I've been investigating during the past two days, but that will have to wait until later today. Until the next time, my friends...

Be the change you want to see in the world around you...

Extraction Initiation

I woke up to the rising sun this morning and the crisp chill mountain air:

The sun rises in the east

Today's activities include grinding up coca leaves, performing an ethanol extraction of the spectra of alkaloids, reducing the volume to the thick extract, and making altitude sickness tinctures and candy lozenges. Before you jump to any conclusions, there are many therapeutic health benefits to be found in the lesser known alkaloids present within the coca leaf. These alkaloids work in concert with one another to produce an overall health tonic used by the Andean indigenous peoples for millenia, especially beneficial at high altitudes due to the increased oxygen flow in the bloodstream. Below is a list of the known bioactive alkaloids found in the coca leaf, as well as their effect on the body (the most infamous of which is listed first, but is the one of least interest to me in this process; and yes, this is legal here in Peru):

Cocaine	Stimulating, euphoric, painkiller.
Ecgonine	Gives stamina, regulates the burning of carbohydrates and increases fat burning.
Quinoline	Prevents caries and strengthens the gums.
Globuline	Stimulates blood circulation, against altitude sickness and low blood pressure.
Papaine	Promotes digestion, good for the skin.
Pectine	Anti-diarrhea, removal of toxins
Reserpine	Against high blood pressure.
Benzoine	Anti-fermenting agent, good for skin, mouth and colon.
Atropine	Dry’s up salival glands, relaxes muscle tonus.
Hygrine	Stimulates salival gland.
Pyridine	Stimulates blood circulation, improves the oxygen absorption of brain and muscles.
Conine	Local anaestesia.
Inuline	Improves the production of hemoglobin.
Cocamine	Analgetic painkiller, blocks only pain other sensations remain intact.

Alkaloids are organic nitro-based compounds, which are  produced by  many plants. They form an energy reserve in metabolic processes of the plant and helps the plant to defend against insects and diseases, and are often found to have high bioactivity in humans.

Future uses of the extracts include toothpastes, lotions, oils, salves, soaps, and shampoos. I'll let you know how it goes...

Below are some images I captured last year that illustrate the views in each direction from the lodge:

The view from the Way Inn at sunset to the north

A view to the northeast of The Way Inn

A view to the east

The Way Inn Lodge, the ceremonial yurt, looking to the west

Below are two helpful links:

The Way Inn Lodge

Ka'Way Monti NGO

The Beginning is a Very Good Place to Start

Maneuvering through its complexities, I am struck by how truly amazing life really is and how each new moment adds new understanding to the word amazing. Looking out of the farmhouse window at a panoramic view of Andean mountains, yet unscathed by the civilization of man, I realize how truly fortunate and grateful I am to believe that I have something of meaning to record, let alone that anyone would find it meaningful to themselves to spend time reading it.

As context is a critically necessary element of any narrative, I thought I would initiate this record by painting you a picture. The Way Inn Lodge perches  upon the edge of a high plateau, a forty-five minute drive from the city of Huaraz, Peru below. It's rustic architecture imparts a feeling of comfort and tranquility upon those who stay here. Our water descends from the top of a glacial mountain peak filtering through the rock over some number of years into our pipes and out our taps. Our air is thin but clean, and our food is locally or self-grown. Ice-capped mountain peaks rise gloriously in three of the cardinal directions, watching over our activities. Bubbling between the winding dirt road and the property is a free-flowing stream, from which we draw the energy to power our structures through the use of a water turbine. That stream meanders down through the Quechua dommunities of Llupa and Unchus to the bustling Andean city of Huaraz, in which on any given day, you have the opportunity to observe a decorative parade marching and dancing through the main thoroughfare in honor of a cultural or community event.

In July of 2012 members of The Way Inn established a non-profit organization with the focus of local vitalization of the surrounding Quechua communities, the establishment of a permaculture-based ecovillage, and the administration of school of sustainability. It was during this same month that I stumbled across the lodge as I wandered down an obscure mountain road after a six-hour hike to and from Laguna Churup, a crystalline-blue glacial lake 4450 meters in elevation. One year later, almost to the day, I find myself here again--this time with the opportunity of a lifetime to contribute to these causes and more through whatever skills, talents, and efforts that I might possess. It is from this perspective that I record these happenings into this blog. Welcome to Views from The Way Inn.