Engineer Creates Energy from Plant Waste
Generating energy from plants is nothing new. We've all seen the 2nd grade science experiments that power light bulbs with with lemons or potatoes, and even U.S. agri-businesses are getting in on the fun by marketing corn-based ethanols as an alternative to traditional petroleum based gasoline.
These methods can be politely described as a waste of perfectly good food. Why use that ear of corn to power a car when it could be thrown on the grill next to a tasty burger? That's why Dr. Joseph Adelegan, a Nigerian engineer, has created a way to derive power from the waste parts of the cassava plant (also known as yucca or tapioca).
Cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates in the human diet. The root of the cassava is a staple food throughout Africa, South America, and the Caribbean, but most of the plant ends up as waste product, and gases released during processing are polluting both the air and water sources. Dr. Adelegan has designed special zero emissions plants that collect the cassava waste. The waste is then turned into a biogas that generates electricity by turning small turbines.
The amount of electricity produced will be sufficient for basic lighting and low-power electronics, but larger appliances like refrigerators will still have to be powered from the grid. The project is starting small with a goal of powering lights in 2000 homes, many of which currently use kerosene lamps for lighting, which release large amounts of noxious gases and pollutants into the air. [Source: CNN]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ahow628 said 2:13PM on 7-18-2008
Why would I believe anything that comes out of Nigeria? I suppose he also asked you to send $10,000 so that he could transfer $20 million to your account since some famous rich guy recently died...
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Andy said 4:15PM on 7-18-2008
I prefer my own green, I’ve got trailer that I pull with my Prius, I tow an extra battery on it along with two solar cells which are constantly recharging the car. I can get from LA to SLC on less than five gallons. Some day I'll be providing gas stations with my service, “rental batteries for hybrids”, a quick exchange you've got a battery for another 100 miles. We're also working on what we call the "Bug Eyes" it's a globe shaped solar collector, the size of a softball, it contains a gyro much like the navigation device of jets encased in a collection of magnifier’s that refract photons into capacitors which load and fire like your electronic ignition. It can generate as much as three, 2’ x 4’ panels at once, we hope to increase the output to 1kw, that will give us the ability to run an 18 wheeler and eliminate the big batteries all together.
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