The Environmental Protection Agency has provided a $10,000 grant to senior engineering students to help young Kenyans become greener energy users.
The goal of this project is to complete the first phase of a multi-year project to build an educational center and dormitory in Kitale, Kenya. The purpose of the center is to provide housing for regional students as they learn how to produce sustainable water filtering technology, bio-mass utilization, and alternate energy. The project is scheduled to run August 31, 2008 through July 31, 2009
This first phase is necessary to the success of the educational center by ensuring that current manufacturing processes for ceramic water filters, developed under other P3 programs, do not negatively impact the Kitale community. Under current proposal, a technology and resource availability assessment will be conducted. In addition a demonstration of some potential alternate energy technologies utilizing the results of the assessment will also be performed. A goal of this proposal is to find and alternate source of electrical power using only locally available materials. The quantity of electrical power must be sufficient to power the tooling needed to produce the hardware used in manufacturing water filters. These same power sources will be assessed to identify if local bio-mass fuel consumption can be reduced by using the newly available electrical power for individual family’s needs. The saved bio-mass could then be potentially available to power the kilns needed to fire the ceramic water filters. Thus, the adoption of fired clay water filters, used to remove pathogens from the local water supply, will not negatively impact the local people by reducing the fuels needed for residential needs. The team will focus on a creating a total energy balance within the community, thus laying the groundwork for constructing the dormitory and educational facility.
Once Phase I has been completed, the total cost of implementing an educational facility in Kenya, based on the model of the Songhai Center in Benin will be better understood. Phase II’s goal, which is not part of this project, will be to build and staff this new center and dormitory. This new center will provide housing for the regional people to come and learn about sustainable water filter technologies and sustainable alternate energy designs.
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency