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Guest Post:  Disaster Preparation through Sustainability                                       By: Dianne Foletto, Marketing Director, Stealth Power

10/2/2014

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Disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornados, wildfires, mudslides, chemical explosions, even terrorist attacks affect our access to conveniences and necessary life sustaining resources.  The burdens of disasters include but are not limited to; food and fuel shortages, limited access to health care, property destruction, rescue missions, and homelessness.  Long after the disaster the impact on local and federal budgets remain.

One of the most publicized results of “Super Storm Sandy” was the fuel shortage that affected mostly New York and New Jersey. The storm caused damage to both refineries and pipelines, leaving gas stations without a way to receive supplies of fuel. Other gas stations were without power and unable to pump the fuel they had on hand. East Coasters waited in lines for hours on end.

When the fuel shortage occurred, Governor Chris Christie temporarily lifted restrictions on bringing in fuel from other states and the EPA waived requirements on clean fuel for 17 states along the east coast. Both these actions eventually helped resolve the fuel shortage.  But it begs to ask, what if our first responders had limited access to fuel?  Preparation for the aftermath of these storms will be critical to the survivability for both the victims and the first responders. When vehicles are equipped with mobile electric power, our first responders can worry less about the availability of fuel resources and concentrate more on life saving mission capabilities. 

State, county and municipal governments are facing mounting financial issues including planning for economic uncertainties.  It’s a constant challenge for them to maintain basic services while also being forced to look for ways to reduce operating costs. Disruption in fuel supply exacerbates government’s vulnerabilities to unforeseen events, potentially putting them in a position where they are unable to support emergency management, law enforcement, first responders and the community. 

Basic supply and demand economic principles apply in regard to fuel pricing. Although fuel may be available the price will significantly impact the budget, compromising a municipality’s ability to provide services or reconcile the costs post event.

 During the 2011/2012 12-month period, gas prices increased 41.0%.  This graph clearly shows the correlation between weather related events, the availability of fuel and the impact it has on pricing. 

Emergency vehicles that aren’t retrofitted with mobile power idle reduction equipment have to idle their vehicles to power the equipment they need to perform lifesaving tasks. Vehicle exhaust has been determined to be one of the leading causes of climate change and climate change has been directly blamed for the severe weather.  When disaster recovery teams harness the power of mobile electric power their access to fuel will be less critical and their life saving abilities will extend in capability. Preparation will be a key contributor to our survivability and sustainability.

Stealth Power develops and manufactures smart mobile electric technology.  Originally developed for the military, the system is a proven technology, ranked as a “force multiplier” by the Army Test and Evaluation Center (ATEC). Military field testing revealed significant civilian uses by reducing up to 80% of generator fuel consumption and associated emissions.  Stealth Power easily integrates with other alternative energy sources including solar and wind, it’s scalable and modular with power options from 2 KW hrs. to up to a Megawatt hr.  The system is non-combustible and completely silent when in use making it an ideal technology solution for emerging civilian power applications in developing countries, such as off-grid electricity, irrigation, drinking water and cell towers.

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    Author

    Alfred Watkins is Founder and CEO of the Global Solutions Summit and a member of the Governing Council of the UN Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries.  Prior to these assignments, he worked for more than 23 years at the World Bank.  A complete biography is available here

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