A Born Inventor: Malawian Boy Creates Windmill Energy

At age 14, William Kamkwamba decided to take initiative in finding ways to create electricity for his family home in Malawi. With the help of a library book titled Using Energy, Kamkwamba learned the basic mechanics of an electricity-producing windmill. Innovative and resourceful thinking led him to use scrap metals and materials gathered at a local scrap yard to build a windmill. He was successful in his attempts. The windmill he built powers four lights and two radios in his home!

This simple yet innovative creation has dramatically changed Kamkwamba’s life. Word spread rapidly about Kamkwamba’s inspiring tale. And as a result, he now has support to build more of his dream projects and to attend school in South Africa. One of his dreams is to build a larger windmill that will help irrigate the farmlands in his entire village. Thanks to a few journalists, bloggers, and TEDGlobal, Kamkwamba now has the means to fulfill his dream to improve living conditions in his home country.

- Clare O.

SOURCE: TED

Energy Efficiency Combats Poverty

Hugh Walen, CEO and co-founder of non-profit Energy in Common which helps to address energy-poverty through microfinance projects, wrote an op-ed in the Huffington Post yesterday explaining how small scale energy can address global poverty. He emphasizes the effectiveness of $10 LED lamps in areas where families spend hours a day collecting firewood, spend up to 30% of their household income purchasing fuels that barely meet their needs, and indoor pollution from these fuels is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day and kills more people people than Malaria every year. An LED lamp will pay for itself in two months and eliminates the cost of kerosene. A small business owner will also be able to have longer hours since the lamp can provide many hours of light at no cost. Walen says, "As the bulk of global greenhouse gas emissions increases over the next three decades are projected to come from developing countries, green energy represents a way to bring the poor out of poverty in an environmentally friendly way." To learn more about how energy efficiency can combat poverty please visit the Energy in Common website.

- Clara Hill

SOURCE: "Small Scale Energy Can Address Poverty in a Big Way" - Huffington Post

New Soccer Ball Combines Sport and Utility

As this weekend's World Cup final approaches, four unlikely people have entered the soccer scene, not as players, but as innovators. Jessica Matthews, Jessica Lin, Hemali Thakkar, and Julia Silverman-all former Harvard engineering students-have come up with a new invention that may help brighten the future of poor people around the world: a soccer ball that doubles as a charger for LED lights and batteries.

The "Soccket," as it is called, is currently being tested in South Africa, where local kids have been given the opportunity to play with it. According to the CNN article, some kids could not tell a difference between the Soccket and a regular ball, describing it as "magic" when a light was powered by it.

Fifteen minutes of play generate 3 hours of LED lighting, the creators say. They are looking to market the balls in the poorest areas of the world, where access to electricity is not widespread and thus, the balls will have a bigger effect. According to the World Bank, in most African nations 95% of the population does not have access to electricity. It is hoped that the balls will eventually replace the use of kerosene-burning indoor lights, the fumes of which have the same effect as smoking two packs of cigarettes per day.

The creators are also hoping to create a basketball version of the product and possibly expand into other sports.

-Andrew Oestreich

SOURCES: CNN, soccket.com

Kenyan Windfarms Provide Reliable Electricity

The new windfarm in Kenya will be the largest on the African continent. The Kenyan government plans to construct 365 wind turbines in the northern desert near Lake Turkana. With planned completion in 2012, the development will produce 300 MW, which currently constitutes a quarter of Kenya’s energy consumption. This added energy will help prevent blackouts that occur throughout the country and provide more resources for areas without access to electricity.

The new windfarm supplements a Dutch farm of 6 wind turbines already built in the Ngong hills near Nairobi. Plans for another farm in Naivasha, a tourist town, mean that Kenya is leading the way for other African countries to follow in sustainable energy. Wind is a smart choice for African countries since hydropower is unreliable and solar power is still extremely expensive.

Until now, windfarming was only a viable option for countries north of the Sahara. However, in addition to Kenya, the Tanzanian government sees the benefits of windfarming and has two projects planned for the central Singida region that will produce 100 MW of power. South Africa has also developed a program where feed-in tariffs would be awarded for wind power. This means that customers selling wind power receive above-market rates for using renewable resources.
-Jessica Milstead

Inventor Creates Power Source for Africa

Dr. Cedrick Ngalande is a Malawian inventor for the world’s poor. His main efforts have gone toward developing new methods for rural Africans to generate enough electricity to power small electrical devices like cell phones. Ngalande’s invented an inexpensive power source that is run on sugar and yeast. Because sugar and yeast make alcohol, the generator is able to harness energy by releasing the product of the solution’s expansion through a valve. The prototype, made specifically for Africa, generates power for up to 8 hours at a time.

With the fastest growing cell phone rate occurring in Africa, there are big challenges to using the hand-held technology because electricity is scarce in the region. While many Africans may have mobile phones, they have a difficult time charging them. Some walk long distances to simply charge their phones. But with the help of Ngalande’s generator, charging electrical devices is less of a challenge. In addition to cell phones, Ngalande’s power source can also be used to charge $100 computers which are being introduced in Africa, and even charge or operate medical devices in rural Africa.

Dr. Ngalande is seeking investors to help him manufacture, market and sell his low-cost generator in Africa.

-- Jaimie Hwang

Source: AfriGadget