PROFILE
THE JOURNEY TO ENERGY FOR ALL WE LOOK AT HOW ONE MAN’S INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS ARE PAVING THE PATH TO SUSTAINABILITY FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ACROSS AFRICA. By: Zakiyah Ebrahim
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he field of engineering has long turned to multiple sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man but as time progresses, we’re learning the critical importance of understanding and developing designs in balance with nature. Ridaa Manuel, founder of Green New World, chatted to Science Stars about how he merged his studies and expertise in engineering with his passion for nature and the environment. An eye-opening experience It was when Manuel visited and travelled from village to village across Malawi in 2016 that he realised what a “third world country” truly meant. “Its people lived extremely simple lives and ‘lived off the earth’. They literally made the bricks for their houses from sand; ate bananas and mangos from the trees that surrounded them; and made boats from trees which they used to catch fish for their meals,” he tells us.
the coal-powered plants and infrastructure that go with it are in a very bad condition due to poor maintenance and lack of expertise, which he witnessed in Malawi. “In both cases, the lack of access to resources like electricity, food, and wealth disempowered its people, but creating a system that provides these resources will empower them to reach their full potential as human beings,” he stresses. It’s not all doom and gloom, he explaind. Africa has an abundance of renewable energy, including solar and bioenergy. “Accessing this form of energy to solve the energy access problem seems to be the solution,” he says. A post on Green New World’s Instagram page indicates that in one hour, earth receives enough energy from the sun to power it for an entire year. Creating a ‘Green New World’ “Green New World was born out of months of deep diving to find my true authentic self and my life’s purpose,” Manuel told us. It was founded in 2020. As a green business, its aim is to design and build low-cost renewable energy technologies (applications) that will be fueled by the resources available to people in sub-Saharan Africa. Ultimately, it will assist in solving and decreasing the energy poverty problem across the continent. Green New World is currently focused on three phases, Manuel previously told the Big Issue magazine. Phase one involves researching and developing these low-cost applications to allow African countries to access different forms of renewable energies from the sun, wind, waste, and water. These technologies will then be sold to the local community to fund further research and development. Currently, it is in search of a philanthropist or business that is willing to purchase them. The parts will be sold via their Instagram and Facebook pages (@greennewworld23) and their soon-to-be-launched website.
Phase two will combine the different But access to electricity in many “Every young person must applications to provide for human of the areas was limited. Living understand that everything energy needs, such as hot water, without electricity is the reality of gas for cooking and other forms approximately 85% of Malawian they are going through, or of energy. This process will lead to households, reveals USAID. “At night, studying, is for their greater the building of a complete off-grid we would walk through the towns purpose in the future” energy system that can then be used and villages, and the entire town to power an off-grid village. In other would be dark. Many people would words, communities won’t have to swarm along the main roads and catch fish in Lake Malawi depend on public utility services (an electrical power grid) for in the dark. Any activities such as doing homework required their power source. candles,” Manuel explains. Manuel says he also travelled across South Africa and engaged with hundreds of people in many townships. By 2017, data showed that almost 91% of the South African population had electricity access, but people living in township regions were not so fortunate. Manuel highlights that 90% (over 600 million) of people in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity or clean cooking fuels. Another challenge is that, due to their terrain, it is hard to connect many rural areas to the central grid. Moreover, most of 24
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The third phase will combine this off-grid renewableenergy system with other sustainable ways of living, such as aquaponics for farming and sustainable houses using natural materials. With these innovations introduced to communities who really need them, Manuel explains it will open up doors to education, hospitals, farming and so much more. In December 2020, Green New World tested its first prototype, a solar panel, and found that it heated water to between 40-80°C and quickly moved on to developing its second
