Preparing for El Nino 2014

El Nino is coming. For the Southeast Asia especially Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, we will receive severe impact if it is a strong one. Let's start preparing for the worst scenario! Infographic provided by marufish.com give a good insight on how we can prepare for the drought and haze of El Nino.

Scholarship for Africa and LDCs on MSc in Carbon Finance at University of Edinburgh, UK

Scholarship available on world's first MSc in Carbon Finance

Applications are invited to join the MSc in Carbon Finance at the University of Edinburgh Business School, for the academic year commencing in September 2012.

One Deutsche Post DHL Scholarship worth £8,000 is available for students on the MSc in Carbon Finance who are normally resident in any country in Africa or any least developed country. The scholarship will be awarded on the basis of academic merit and the benefits to the student. Applicants must have received and accepted an offer of a place on the programme, and must apply for the scholarship no later than 2 July 2012.

The MSc in Carbon Finance focuses on the business opportunities and financial flows driven by society's response to climate change. Graduates will be equipped for a career in climate change investment, carbon markets, consulting, or related policy and regulatory roles. The programme includes specialist courses in energy finance, carbon markets, climate science and policy, carbon accounting and low-carbon investment, as well as a carbon consulting project and individual dissertation. Courses are taught by leading researchers and practitioners with extensive experience of energy, carbon and financial markets, and students will benefit from interactions with the University of Edinburgh's other world-leading Masters programmes in Carbon Management, Carbon Capture and Storage, Sustainable Energy Systems and Global Environment and Climate Change Law (note: further Deutsche Post DHL Scholarships are also available on these related programmes). The MSc in Carbon Finance particularly encourages applications from students with some relevant work experience.

For more information see http://www.business-school.ed.ac.uk/msc/carbon-finance

why you have to say no to some cheap LED light bulb from China?

When I order the first batch of LED light bulb from Aliexpress.com, I was putting a high expeout this eco and energy saving goods. I choose the 7W instead of the most popular 5W LED corn type with the seller said it has MORE LED in the bulb. And I check the internet website saying 7W LED bulb can be equivalent to 20W CFL. So, I did some homework and study before the purchase. I am so confidence that this is the RIGHT bulb that I need. And start waiting for its long long delivery through Chia Air Mail.

The LED bulb arrived few weeks later. It is weakly packed. The first bulb that I checked, its top cover was loosen, and I need to fixed it myself. Still, I wish the light will be bright and nice. The first time I put the LED bulb into the E27 socket. It is working, and every of them working. However, I start noticing that the bulb is way too dim. The seller claim it has 650 Lm, but in reality it is just about half of that. It can't light up my room properly, and not as bright as the 18W CFL.

Later, I found the light turn out to be blueish, not like normal Day Light or Cool White. My room just become some fancy party type of atmosphere. After a while, I start to felt dizziness in my head. And it get worst. I suspect it is due to the new LED bulb. I change every of them back the normal CFL. The discomfort gone. Yes, this low quality LED bulb is the culprit.

The LED light become so hot after using for short time, it is not COLD as claim by the seller. The bulb is solely build by cheap plastic and whole thing felt like low grade plastic toys. Definately, this is a bad purchase.

As the price of LED bulb back in Alor Setar, Malaysia, still very expensive. Their quality is not promising as well because most are made in China too. However, I still not giving up to search for suitable LED bulb that satisfying.

I hope this review on the LED light bulb help some buyers to make more careful purchase in the future. Do share with me if you have any other findings on the LED bulb currently available in the market.

Review by marueco from Alor Setar, Malaysia.

An Eco lover that wish to be self sufficient.

LED Light Bulb Cool White 220V E27 166 pieces LED

In order to reduce my house carbon footprint and to be environmental friendly, I decided to change the CFL light bulb to LED. It sounds great and energy cost saving too.

However, I am ready the rare example in Malaysia who plan to do this as we all "pandai kira-kira". The electrical cost is so cheap in Malaysia where it is subsidize by the Malaysian government. However, the price of the LED light sold here is far too expensive compare to CFL.

So, I went to check all local online shopping site looking for cheaper LED light bulb. Yet, the online seller are selling the China bulb way too expensive from their pricing back in the Land of Dragon.

At the end, I decided to purchase them from Chinese online shopping portal call Aliexpress, which is the sister site of Taobao, a very popular Chinese shopping portal.
In order to reduce any mistake done from the purchase, I purchase the LED in small quantity.

Some concern about purchasing China LED light bulb

1. They always over claim about their product just to reach sales.
2. Product information always not clear or faulty, especially the beautiful photos.
3. Too many non branded LED where quality is a question
4. There might be lost or damage in the transportation.

I solely depends on the buyer reviews and some accreditation mark to decide from which shop to make the deal. Unfortunately, most buyer seldom give clear and good feedback. This is the weak point compare to Amazon.com

So, I pick on of the top seller to made my order. And I choose the delivery from Hong Kong, where based on my pass experiance, shipping from Hong Kong is faster. The order is 10 pieces of 360° 7W 220V E27 166 pices cold white LED blub. It reach Malaysia within 2 weeks, far much faster than another order from China, which is yet to received even after a month.

The purchasing experiance is nice until I received the goods. .....

To be continue.......

Energy Saving LED light or CFL?

How many light bulb do you have in your house? Unfortunately, there are nearly 80 of them in my house. All are CFL type, which 5 years ago, it is sounds very "environmental friendly". (Please check my old article about CFL usage in Bangladesh). However, now day, people realize that in fact it is not that environmental friendly and having similar risk as the normal Florescent light where it contain mercury.

The CFL is mean to stand about 5000-8000 hours, however in reality the CFL bulb in my house seldom last 2 years. CFL bulb replacement is happening every now and then. Luckily, the cost of CFL bulb is not that expensive, around RM13-18 each. However, the trouble occur when the replacement of the CFL bulb, where it always broken easily when unscrewing them and cause the contamination of mercury indoor. With the current blooming of cheap LED light, I am very keen to replace all my light bulb to this "Low Risk" and "Energy Saving" light bulb.

I did some study on the LED light in the local market. I noticed that the price tag of the branded LED light is 5-6 times higher than CFL. The Philips LED light bulb cost more than RM90 in TESCO. When visiting local wholesale electrical shop, 9W Philips cost RM78, while 5W Philips LED light cost RM68. Still, it is far too expensive as the "long lasting" feature is yet to be proven. Panasonic LED light blub claim it can be used for 40 years (of course testing with very limited usage per day).

In the process of sourcing reasonable LED light, I brought some samples from local wholesale electrical shop, where 3W LED light bulb cost RM18, while 4W cost RM 28. Both of them are too dim and unable to reach the similar level of lumens (Lm) emitted by CFL. Then, I order some LED light bulb from China, 7W 166 piece of LED Cool White, is cost RM 18 each. The shipping from China took about one month.

When open the box, the seller just did a very poor job where its packaging is rather too simple and post high risk of damage goods. The LED light looks solid on the screen, however, it is actually build with plastic parts and very fragile. Tested the first batch of the LED light and they work perfectly fine. However, the 7W light bulb still not in par with the 13W CFL, and the cool white LED emitted blueish light. As I already get use to the bright CFL, these LED still feel a bit dim to me.

After turn on the LED light for a few second, I start noticing some dizziness with the light. I know that some people is sensitive the CFL and it cause some sickness symptoms, however, I am fine with CFL. But, these LED did cause dizziness and nausea to me. I am not sure if the blueish light cause the problem or its flipping frequency is annoying me. I will probably unable to find the answer and the only solution is to replace the LED back to CFL again.

But, how to deal with all the LED bulbs that cost me a few hundred buts to shipped from China? Probably will place it some strategic location to prevent the unwanted visitors.

  

Looking for Home Solar Kit in Malaysia

Solar Powered Your Home? Everyday when I look at the sun shinning into my house, I always wondering how to make it power my electrical appliances to save the electric cost. And the chance come by now, I will be moving into a new house and it is still under renovation.

Since last January, I have been spending time to source the suitable Solar Home Kit in the internet. Many hits went to the China made system which is has very "reasonable" price that fit my budget to start my solar home dream. However, after considering the difficulties in the logistic of product import, warranty, installation, and lack of confidence of the China supplier. I decide to look for the solar kit in Malaysia.

Malaysia government just starting the FIT system in 2012, and it really helps to boots the number of people looking to make good investment in selling their green power. There are quite a number of company providing the services and products. However, they are likely to be more on the On-Grid and non of them located near my place, which is a small town at the north. After spending weeks of searching, I have listed a few company that can provide small stand alone solar system.

In Malaysia, your google search on solar related keywords will lead you to one local company called Solar Power Mart (solarpower-mart.com/), and SCorigin  (www.scorigin.com), which looks like a same company. They provide very comprehensive information and YouTube movies on their solar system. It is a very resource full website.

Searching the online market place did help me to locate some potential solar supplier. In Mudah.my, I found Pg Solar and a few companies who provide solar kit and products. There a quite a number of active sellers from Sabah and Sarawak as well. I think the east Malaysia has a better solar market than Peninsular as there are many remote areas not well connected.

The story will continue............

PRE-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS IN AFRICAN CLIMATE CHANGE AND POLITICAL STABILITY

PRE-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS IN AFRICAN CLIMATE CHANGE AND POLITICAL STABILITY

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

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DEADLINE: 31 MARCH 2011------------------------------------------
   
The Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) program at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin will offer up to three pre-doctoral fellowships for the 2011-2012 academic year. The CCAPS pre-doctoral fellowship program aims to stimulate the development of the next generation of researchers and thought leaders on the topic of climate change and political stability in Africa.

ELIGIBILITY: Pre-doctoral fellowships are available to advanced PhD students, with preference given to those who have made substantial progress towards the completion of their dissertation. U.S. and international PhD students are encouraged to apply.

CCAPS will consider applicants working on a broad range of topics related to climate change, political stability, and security in Africa. Suitable topics may include, but are not limited to: climate change vulnerability in Africa; potential impacts of climate change on political stability or security in Africa; and strategies for addressing climate change challenges in Africa.

The call for applications and information about the fellowship and application guidelines are available at: http://ccaps.strausscenter.org/fellowship.