Editorial: Lessons Learned from Technology Transfer in South Africa

Courtesy  of Scidev.net

"Technology often develops faster than people will take it up. To close the gap and ensure science and technology maximizes its benefit to society, all stakeholders — at community and government levels — must be engaged in the creative process. Identifying a need in a lab or boardroom then developing a suitable product without involving the end-users can lead to low take-up on the ground. . ."

Read more. . .

More on the AmaDrum project:

South African Department of Trade and Industry

PDF Pamphelet

Harnessing the power of children at play

The PlayPump system is an innovative, water pump powered by children at play.  Installed near schools, the device doubles as a water pump and a merry-go-round for children.

While children have fun spinning on the PlayPump merry-go-round (1), clean water is pumped (2) from underground (3) into a 2,500-liter tank (4), standing seven meters above the ground.

A simple tap (5) makes it easy for adults and children to draw water. Excess water is diverted from the storage tank back down into the borehole (6).

The water storage tank (7) provides a rare opportunity to advertise in outlaying communities.  All four sides of the tank are leased as billboards, with two sides for consumer advertising and the other two sides for health and educational messages. The revenue generated by this unique model pays for pump maintenance.

The design of the PlayPump water system makes it highly effective, easy to operate and very economical, keeping costs and maintenance to an absolute minimum.

Capable of producing up to 1,400 liters of water per hour at 16 rpm from a depth of 40 meters, it is effective up to a depth of 100 meters.

For more information visit Playpump's site:  Playpumps International

National Plan for Kenya to use up to 25% Windpower by 2012

A Kenyan firm plans to produce 300 MW of electricity by 2012 by harnessing
renewable wind power in the north of the country, its director told Reuters.
Turkana Wind Power has been studying the viability of wind power projects in the barren, inhospitable region for the last four years, Chris Staubo said.
"Full production will be in June 2012 but we should start production in June 2011," he told Reuters late on Thursday. Once completed, the project could meet about a quarter of Kenya's total energy demand, which stands at some 1,200 MW, just slightly below the installed capacity.

Read more:

Kenya firm plans 300 MW wind farm by 2012