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Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer, Patron of atmosfair
"save the climate by going atmosfair"
China: Hydraulic rams for irrigation
| Total savings: | approx. 2.000 t CO2/year for 10 years | |
| Technology transfer: | Dissemination of an old, but widely unknown technology | |
| Local environment: | Avoidance of diesel emissions and pollution | |
| Further advantages: | higher yields and improved water supply | |
| Project partners: | BORDA (Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association) | |
In the mountainous hinterland of Zhejiang – province 80% of the population are small-scale farmers, cultivating mainly rice and tea. Irrigation techniques are important to achieve sufficient yields on limited plots. In addition, pumps are usually required for water supply of local communities.
atmosfair partner BORDA, a non-profit development organisation based in Bremen, has been active in the region for more than 20 years. In cooperation with the technical university of Hangzhou, BORDA focuses on the dissemination of hydrams in the area, which are a suitable alternative to the dirty and CO2-intensive diesel pumps.
What is a hydram?
- Graphic clickable.
The hydraulic ram was invented more than 200 years ago, but soon displaced by diesel and electric pumps. Der hydraulische Widder wurde bereits vor 200 Jahren erfunden, dann aber bald von Diesel- und Elektropumpen verdrängt. Hydraulic ram pumps (“hydrams”) use the energy of a large amount of water falling down a small height (“drop”) to lift a small amount of that water to a much greater height (“lift”), using the “water hammer” effect: Every few seconds, the discharging valve closes suddenly. Water then opens the interior delivery valve and surges into the air chamber, where air is compressed. When the compressed air rebounds, the interior delivery valve is closed and water is pumped through the delivery pipe to a higher point.
The atmosfair-BORDA project
Hydraulic rams are saving diesel and therefore moeny in the long term. However, the initial investment of approx. 4.000 EUR is too high for the local population. They do not dispose of the necessary means; neither do they have access to credits. The project is therefore funding 30-50% of every device as well as technical support for installation and maintenance. In the past, the project was funded by ODA from Germany. Now, through the contributions from atmosfair, the successful work of BORDA can be sustained, combining climate protection, the dissemination of renewable energies and sustainable poverty alleviation.
Current state
During the first official „Gold Standard Stakeholder Meeting“ which took place in Songyang on 21.06.07 representatives from the local communities welcomed the planned project. There is a long waiting list of villages requesting hydrams and hoping that the project will continue.
Detailed field experiments under the presence of independent experts, where the flow rate of different types of hydrams were compared to diesel pumps showed that hydraulic rams can save a great amount of Diesel resp. CO2-emissions.
atmosfair is currently developing the project as programmatic CDM project and will subsequently submit the Project Design Document to the verifier.
