Soil Energy and Students Bring Low Cost Power to Developing Nations
Science and innovative lighting solutions by students from Harvard University bring low cost alternative energy electricity to Africa.
An IPS News interview and report, " Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that make use of the energy given off by soil microbes are amongst the technologies that hold promise for bringing power to developing states, where electricity is often scarce.
The cells also form part of a project that has just won a grant of almost 200,000 dollars in the 'Development Marketplace' competition, for which results were announced at 'Lighting Africa 2008' this May 5-8 conference took place in the Ghanaian capital of Accra. The project, developed by six students at Harvard University in the United States, was one of 16 winners selected from 52 finalists competing to bring innovative lighting products to the 74 percent of Africans without access to electricity.
South African Hugo Van Vuuren, founder and managing partner of Lebônê, says the cells are very simple to make and can be built locally. He sat down with IPS environment correspondent Stephen Leahy to chat about the grant soon after the results of the competition were announced.
Some excerpts:
IPS: How exactly does the microbial fuel cell work?
HV: A microbial fuel cell taps into the energy that soil microbes generate when they break down organic matter. Literally, this is energy from dirt: no special microbes or conditions are needed other than enough moisture for the bugs to do their work.
Essentially all you do is dig a hole, layer an anode, some soil, sand and a cathode -- and connect the anode and cathode to a circuit board to charge a battery that can power an LED (light emitting diode) light, run a radio or charge a mobile phone.
Harvard biology professor Peter Girguis developed the technology, called Living Power Systems, and is our technology partner.
IPS: How can the cells be of use in Africa?
HV: In Africa the problem is not lighting, it's actually energy. There are all kinds of high-efficiency LED lights available now. The important thing is to create very low cost, off-grid energy.
IPS: What are the drawbacks of the MFC?
HV: Low power. A cubic metre of organic matter will generate only enough energy to light one high-efficiency LED light.
Unlike solar, it produces energy 24 hours a day and will do so for years. Units can be easily linked together to generate 10 to 15 times as much energy. An additional advantage is, these systems are underground and there is nothing to steal.
MFCs will never generate as much energy as wind turbines, but are an ideal solution for replacing kerosene lighting in households in much of Africa.
IPS: What would a system like this cost?
HV: We're counting on boosting the efficiency of the system during our testing and trials over the next 18 months. When we're ready to scale up production in three years a system including MFC, battery, circuit board and some LED lights will cost less than 10 dollars.
An IPS News interview and report, " Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that make use of the energy given off by soil microbes are amongst the technologies that hold promise for bringing power to developing states, where electricity is often scarce.
The cells also form part of a project that has just won a grant of almost 200,000 dollars in the 'Development Marketplace' competition, for which results were announced at 'Lighting Africa 2008' this May 5-8 conference took place in the Ghanaian capital of Accra. The project, developed by six students at Harvard University in the United States, was one of 16 winners selected from 52 finalists competing to bring innovative lighting products to the 74 percent of Africans without access to electricity.
South African Hugo Van Vuuren, founder and managing partner of Lebônê, says the cells are very simple to make and can be built locally. He sat down with IPS environment correspondent Stephen Leahy to chat about the grant soon after the results of the competition were announced.
Some excerpts:
IPS: How exactly does the microbial fuel cell work?
HV: A microbial fuel cell taps into the energy that soil microbes generate when they break down organic matter. Literally, this is energy from dirt: no special microbes or conditions are needed other than enough moisture for the bugs to do their work.
Essentially all you do is dig a hole, layer an anode, some soil, sand and a cathode -- and connect the anode and cathode to a circuit board to charge a battery that can power an LED (light emitting diode) light, run a radio or charge a mobile phone.
Harvard biology professor Peter Girguis developed the technology, called Living Power Systems, and is our technology partner.
IPS: How can the cells be of use in Africa?
HV: In Africa the problem is not lighting, it's actually energy. There are all kinds of high-efficiency LED lights available now. The important thing is to create very low cost, off-grid energy.
IPS: What are the drawbacks of the MFC?
HV: Low power. A cubic metre of organic matter will generate only enough energy to light one high-efficiency LED light.
Unlike solar, it produces energy 24 hours a day and will do so for years. Units can be easily linked together to generate 10 to 15 times as much energy. An additional advantage is, these systems are underground and there is nothing to steal.
MFCs will never generate as much energy as wind turbines, but are an ideal solution for replacing kerosene lighting in households in much of Africa.
IPS: What would a system like this cost?
HV: We're counting on boosting the efficiency of the system during our testing and trials over the next 18 months. When we're ready to scale up production in three years a system including MFC, battery, circuit board and some LED lights will cost less than 10 dollars.
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