Four Unconventional Low-Carbon Energy Solutions for Sub-Saharan Africa

By: 
Erskine Mdone

All over the world, the race is on to find alternatives to fossil fuels. And while wind, solar and geothermal tend to hog the spotlight, there are a host of other technologies that don’t enjoy as much commercial attention but may be uniquely suited to some markets.This week, we examine four unusual technologies that could bring electricity to Sub-Saharan Africa at low environmental and monetary cost.

Exploding Lake
Exploding Lake
Photo courtesy of 2005 American Geosciences Institute

“Exploding” lakes. Named for gases trapped under the surface, these bodies of water contain large deposits of highly flammable methane and carbon dioxide. Sub-Saharan Africa is endowed with three such lakes: Lake Kivu in Rwanda and Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun, both in Cameroon. (Rwanda is currently developing a project on Lake Kivu.) The lakes pose significant threats to people living near them; energy projects, if they can safely extract the gases, can both feed the grid and make local inhabitants safer.

From sewage to electricity
From sewage to electricity
Photo courtesy of inhabitat.com

Sewage sludge to electricity. Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from inadequate access to sanitation and electricity, on the one hand, and highly polluted rivers on the other. In fact, 38 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Chad and Mali, are lagging behind in achieving their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to sanitation. They’re also experiencing very poor electrification rates; this technology could kill two birds with one stone. The process first requires collecting sewage matter, which would improve sanitation and reduce water body pollution. Next, it requires a Microbial fuel cell (MFC) to convert the sludge to electricity and a mechanism to transport that power back to the grid. According to a paper in the Bioresource technology journal, degraded sewage sludge generated electricity for 250 hours in one experiment. This research represents a significant breakthrough around a technology that could hugely benefit Sub-Saharan Africa.

Tidal turbine
Tidal turbine
Photo courtesy of SeaGreen

Wave power. These projects capture energy produced by ocean surface waves. To date, wave power farms have only been set up in four developed countries (Portugal, Australia, the US and the United Kingdom), but the current estimated world potential for wave power is two terawatts (TW). South Africa is presently entertaining the idea, and countries such as Angola, Namibia and Mozambique – which all suffer electricity deficits – could very well employ wave power, thanks to their access to the Southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans, respectively.

Wearable thermoelectric device.
Wearable thermoelectric device.
Photo courtesy of KAIST

Body heat. The average person produces 100 watts (W) of energy, enough to light up three 30W light bulbs; the trick is converting that body heat into electricity. In the 1980s, Japanese watchmaker Seiko attempted to harness the power of the human body with its Seiko Thermic watch. More recently, Valdimir Leonov and Ruud J.M Vullers constructed a blood oxygen sensor that’s powered by human body heat, and the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has recently developed a wearable thermoelectrical device. Although the technology is still in its infancy, it might not be long before body heat – for instance, emitted by kids playing after-school soccer in Sub-Saharan African villages – could be used to power electrical lamps, helping the kids do their homework under the dark African sky.

Date: 
Monday, June 22, 2015