Senegal is finding a way to use its sanitation problems to help solve its power problems. In one of the first projects of its kind in Africa, Senegal’s government and charitable organizations are installing new toilets that turn waste into compost or break down matter with worms in a bid to lower health risks.For the existing septic tanks, they are providing small portable pumps that allow access to backstreets to remove waste safely.
These actions are just the start of the project, eventually it hopes to use waste material collected in this way to power an electrical plant, using new technology to find a renewable means of tackling the problem of frequent blackouts. In time it is hoped that residents would actually be paid for the waste that will fuel the plant.
The ultimate goal of the project is to use the waste at a small power plant for conversion into drinking water and grid electricity.A Gates Foundation representative said they hoped the plant would be fully operational in a few months.