Kenya is a first in many a renewable energy innovation. The latest addition to this space is a solar-powered motorbike, a prototype of its kind in the transport sector. With the innovation of rural transportation interfacing with renewable energy, a lot of benefits are set to be realized in the rural transportation and trade sectors.

Zipline, a robotics company based in California, recently launched the use of medical drones to transport bloods to remote hospitals in the Western province of Rwanda, that have challenges with lack of proper infrastructure and quick access to medical supplies. The launch at Kabgayi hospital, in the Southern Province of Rwanda was in the presence of HE Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda.

Last month, South African Airways and Boeing celebrated flying the first-ever plane in Africa to be fuelled by biofuel from tobacacco. Project Solaris aims to produce local cleaner biofuel to power planes in South Africa, whilst providing local jobs. It means the aviation industry is also set and able to use biofuels, a measure that will help lower carbon-emissions. The South African Airways project will also produce biodiesel for cars and for other industries.

That UAVs can fly brings immediate advantages in terms of how they may travel, and the locations they can reach — often surpassing what’s possible with conventional means of transport. Meanwhile, refinements in computer systems has led to advanced navigation and control systems being embedded within UAV systems — a development that’s been crucial in enabling UAV services to function effectively. With improvements in performance, even consumer grade UAVs are able to carry and deliver small packages over considerable distances. 

It's 4pm, I am at Nyarutarama. I login to a smart phone app, put in a location and send a motorcycle request to the nearest motorcycle, 2 minutes later the moto guy arrives and calls to let me know that he is waiting for me, at the same time I receive a notification letting me know that he has reached my place. He drops me at Remera with a meter to calculate the number of kilometers run and I pay 300 Rwfs (US $ 0.39), it was really a nice experience. Welcome to the new time-efficient and convenient motorcycle booking and travel system in Rwanda—Safemotos!

WWF International recently launched a report Crossing the Divide: How to Close the Emissions Abyss to coincide with discussions by UN climate negotiators, focusing on emissions reductions in the pre-2020 period. The report highlights the ‘gigatonne gap’ of emissions reductions needed to meet 2020 commitments. In the report, national contacts in various developed and developing countries provide an analysis of the current situation on energy and climate change, and then provide ways their governments could do more to close the emissions gap

The Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (LRT) project launched in December 2011. The rail is a first in clean initiative in the horn of Africa to enhance public mobility. The light railway of Ethiopia is the first urban metro light rail scheme to be built in a sub-Saharan country outside of South Africa. 

The tyranny of distance is a term from an Australian history book that refers to the vast geographic gulf that separates humanity.  It’s ironic that although the Internet brings us all together in some ways, we feel even more keenly the physical gaps that separate us from each other.   

Although there is a great deal of focus on using renewable energy to replace grid power systems, there has been less analysis on renewable energy usage for the transport sector.  This cost report from  the International Renewable Energy Agency provides an outlook on decarbonising this important sector by 2020.  The report focuses primarily on  biofuel and electric, battery-powered vehicles.