Making Yarn, Making Electricity

It’s always incredible to hear about how something as traditional as making yarn can be turned into a way to transform people’s lives. In India, one man has found a way to do just that.

RS Hiremath has reinvented the spinning wheel. His “e-charkha” has taken India’s charkha (spinning wheel) and transformed it into an opportunity to provide clean electric power to the poor, generating energy stored in an maintenance-free acid battery attached to the bottom. With a long tradition of spinning yarn and weaving, Indians will benefit as the e-charkha will help to provide both income and electricity to some of the poorest people in the country.

Via Inhabitat, via iGovernment and The Hindu