Power from the People: The developing world generates innovative strategies for renewable energy
May-June 2009
by Elizabeth Ryan
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image by Tom Reilly / TED
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At a time when phrases like “climate crisis” and “global warming” are bandied about to the point of fatigue and sustainable energy is becoming a necessity rather than a talking point, perhaps it’s time we took a cue from the developing world, where solutions to dire energy shortages are readily emerging.
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Over the past four years, for instance, residents of the Indian village of Kinchlingi (population 75) have used a boxy, bicycle-like apparatus that generates enough energy to supply their village with water for drinking and washing. According to Alternatives Journal (Jan.-Feb. 2009), just three hours of pedaling produces enough biodiesel for a month’s worth of water. The human-powered pedals act as a stirring mechanism that converts seed oil into biodiesel to fuel the water supply pumps. Villagers are also exploring ways to use the fuel for farm machinery and electric lighting.
Bike parts found their way into a very different energy project in Malawi, as part of a hodgepodge windmill built by an innovative teenager. At 14, William Kamkwamba was inspired by a fifth-grade-level U.S. textbook, Using Energy, that he found in the library. He taught himself how to build a windmill that generated enough power for his family’s house, which was previously lit by toxic paraffin candles. Positive Living (Autumn 2008) reports that friends and neighbors expressed little faith in his project, but Kamkwamba believed that “if it was written in the book, then it was true and possible.”
He had to improvise a bit to assemble the parts—gathering broken pipes, old shoes, his father’s bicycle, an oil barrel, and a car’s fan belt, among other things—but the effort paid off. His family switched to lightbulbs, and additional windmills produced enough electricity to power a television. William has since been named a fellow at TEDGlobal and hopes to build a large windmill to power his entire village.
On the other side of the continent, West African leaders recently gathered in Ghana to consider proposals capitalizing on the area’s “solar riches,” according to Reuters (Sept. 24, 2008). It seems obvious that the sunniest land on the planet—a swath of the Sahara Desert—should use its natural renewable source, which is why one project calls for the construction of a solar-thermal energy plant in northern Niger. The pollution-free power generator would use a combination of mirrors, boiling water, and turbines to harness sunlight, and would transmit that power to the coasts to provide electricity for residents. While initial expenses are high, the plant would help combat the strains of rising fuel costs. Similar technology has already been proven to work in Spain and the United States.