The Pyramid Project
The Pyramid Project |
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Taxicab Conversion
“Iquitos" Iquitos is so far away from anywhere, deep in the Peruvian Amazon jungle, that there are no roads that connect it with the outside world. This means that anything that isn't manufactured here (that's nearly everything) has to be carried in by boat or airplane. So... that means that nearly all the vehicles are light weight motorbikes. Even the taxicabs are motorbikes that have been converted to carry more passengers. Here look...
“And?" The problem is that Iquitos is the noisiest city in the world. If you are on a cellular telephone you struggle to hear anything. The people here hold mobiles like walkie-talkies. The offices all suffer. Man, you just can't get no peace! The other problem is that Iquitos has the highest pollution of carbon monoxide and lead. Those two stroke engines, a lack of policing to enforce clean emissions and a lack of action from the oil industry to create a lead free solution... what have we got? Very unhealthy air. Hands up all those that know that lead pollution lowers IQ. Umm, not so many hands up in class here today
“What's
being Done?" Occasionally a police officer will stop taxicabs entering a certain block and thus massively reduce the noise for a few hours along that particular street. This is a pleasant break for the people living there and this idea helps. Also there have been campaigns asking people to reduce their noise in the city...
"WE WANT TO LIVE QUIETLY - RESPECT OUR RIGHTS - DON'T MAKE NOISE!!" Click here to see more of The Iquitos Anti-Noise Campaign
“The
Solution" One solution is to import Amsterdam's love of the bicycle. We will do everything we can to make this happen to the point of opening a bicycle shop and subsidising sales. Trust me this is the preferred long term solution but more than this is needed... The Pyramid Project will employ engineers from around the world and create a think tank right here in Iquitos. We will take the standard taxicab (they are all the same!) and figure out how to convert the gasoline engine to electricity for the minimum cost possible If a solution could be found for around $500/cab and we target a conversion of half the 30,000 here we would need $7.5m. It is proposed that the project will team up with a corporate sponsor who will match the pyramid's contribution dollar for dollar It is not known yet how the above will be achieved but we put faith in the ingenuity of our scientists. As a critical mass of conversions are reached we will ask the local government to create a gasoline exclusion zone around the city centre. (This zone is fine tuned to benefit from the prevailing wind to maintain fresh air 70% of the time). Imagine electric taxicabs gliding around the city centre with just the noise of the wheels on the road - Imagine fresh air in the city centre! This project will prove to the world that electric vehicles are the solution in a busy city
“The
Oil Industry" Now clearly the oil industry may feel this is a threat to their long term survival but then the continued consumption of fossil fuel is a threat to mankind's long term survival. Which is more important? It is time that the industry viewed itself not as an oil industry but as an energy provider. It is in this realm that the industry will reinvent itself, take responsibility and thrive long term. When the roadside infrastructure of battery exchange is setup the downstream oil industry should be in the driving seat For now, even if the batteries are charged at the oil refineries, at least the emissions could be managed and kept away from our busy city centres “Can
you help" The "Taxicab Conversion" project is currently due to start in September 2009. If you would like to help with this project then please get in contact. Donations are also welcomed as they could help us to get started earlier. If you are an engineer, a physicist or just love the part in Apollo 13 when the technician throws a box of Apollo objects across the table and says... "We've got to find a way to make this... Fit into the hole for this... Using nothing but that" ...Hey, we would love to hear from you and so would half a million of our friends in Iquitos because "failure is not an option"
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