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]
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