A South African graduate and four other young African scientists from Zimbabwe, Ghana, Ethiopia and Togo are among 25 academic individuals to receive prestigious awards for their research at this year’s Green Talent Awards. Held under the patronage of the German Research Minister Professor Johanna Wanka, the awards are aimed at recognising young talented researchers for the … [Read more...]
Stop ironing, save the planet
Before one can even contemplate getting off the electricity grid it is necessary to reduce one’s electricity usage – in many instances quite dramatically. This generally entails a change in lifestyle and the giving up of much-loved appliances, such as tumble dryers and air conditioners. Having brought the daily usage of electricity to below 5kWh, and supposing there were not … [Read more...]
Now we’re cooking with gas!
Eighteen years into democracy, millions of South Africans are still left without electricity or fuel to power the most basic necessities. But, says biogas enthusiast and GSB doctoral student Fawzy Basardien, change is in the pipeline – provided the advantages of renewable energy are recognised in time. Basardien, who is completing his PhD in Entrepreneurship at the UCT … [Read more...]
Free energy from your own waste – biodigesters make sense
In the pursuit of a greener, healthier lifestyle we are constantly on the lookout for new ways to turn our wasteful lives into a more logical nature-simulating exercise, as Nature is always our best teacher. In nature there is no waste – everything is re-used to benefit some other organism, often as food. Of all the eco devices that we can now implement to lead lives that … [Read more...]
Prisoner poo powers Rwanda’s jails
Officials at Rwanda’s prisons were looking for a way to reduce energy costs, save money and cut down on their conventional energy source: burning firewood harvested from local forests. Their sustainable solution? Recycling the inmates’ own waste to generate energy. The country’s 14 jails have all installed biogas burners, which are 75 percent powered by prisoner poo, the BBC … [Read more...]
Waste into cooking energy
Energy can never be destroyed - it can only be changed from one form to another. Why then do we believe that waste is the end of the line? "How people have disposed of their excrement over the ages makes a fascinating story. Today what characterises a first-world culture is flush toilets. They remove germs, and with that much of the burden of disease and poverty." So says … [Read more...]
