Clean tech companies are nowadays coming up with innovative products to address the global energy and climate challenge, and most African countries are among the beneficiaries though there are still extra miles to go to reach the set targets. Cleanleap has interacted with Powerspot about a prototype that they recently designed and manufactured to help provide access to electricity. What has been the feedback about their prototype in Africa? Is it reliable? Find out more details in this article.

Less than 2 per cent of the Kenya's agriculture is irrigated, largely due to the prohibitive cost of equipment and diesel. This leaves farmers extremely vulnerable to drought and puts the country’s food security at great risk. The Sunflower water pump hits all the right environmental notes - running on clean and renewable energy. It retails at around USD 400 which, in comparison to its diesel-fuelled counterparts - costing roughly USD 2,800 - is a near night and day difference. Furthermore, as there are no fuel costs, the initial investment can be recouped in 1-2 years. As such, Sunflower presents a compelling economic case.

Keith White is the founder and CEO of Ambient Water, an atmospheric water generation technology company providing solutions that produce water from the humidity in the air. Its flagship systems include the Ambient Water 400, which is capable of producing up to 1,500 liters of clean water per day. Angela McClowry from Cleanleap, recently interviewed Keith to discuss atmospheric water generation and its role in a cleanleap.

Orphfund is a small hardworking NGO where 100% of funds given go directly to their projects within Africa and Asia. Their focus is on helping children who are in the most need, orphans with no-one to care for them. They do this by building and developing Children's Villages which offer housing, schooling, water, sanitation, and training facilities. Working in areas like Sierra Leone Orphfund employ a number of cleanleap technologies to provide basic services like water and sanitation, through to solar power used to teach the children computers and sewing, through to farming to generate food and income.

Chris French manages GHD’s Water Technology Group in the Melbourne office. As a Principal Water Engineer and Project Director, Chris has led or contributed to a wide range of water, sanitation and hydropower projects in Australia, China, Lao PDR and Vietnam. Lindsey Beck recently interviewed Chris to discuss water and its role in a cleanleap.

Huge dams have been touted as effective in providing drinking and irrigation water, all cheaply and sustainably. Recent studies reveal otherwise as most of these projects in sub-Sahara turn out to be more costly than planned. A recent study has quantified claims that large dams also lead to more malaria being spread in the sub-Saharan, thus adding more weight to concerns on whether these projects should be pursued actively in favor of the alternatives.   

Solar power is about more than lighting your home… Regular access to hot water for bathing, cooking, and cleaning is something that most of us in the Western world take for granted. However, people in rural communities throughout the world struggle to safely and economically heat their water on a regular basis. Solar hot water systems offer a sustainable and low cost solution to this widespread issue, with the potential to bring hot water to those who do not currently have it. 

ADI Systems has been specializing in the design and construction of industrial wastewater treatment systems for over 30 years. Berni Chapman is a wastewater treatment specialist with ADI Systems, who has extensive experience in waste-to-energy projects particularly in the food industry, everything from initial laboratory and pilot scale testing through to detailed design. Angela McClowry from Cleanleap recently interviewed Berni to discuss wastewater treatment in emerging economies.

Long Sokhon is a small-scale farmer in Cambodia’s Pursat Province. Like 85% of Cambodians, she makes a modest living off the land. She used to cook for her family of eight over a wood-chip fire by night. Sokhon lived the way most do in rural Cambodia—one of the poorest countries in South East Asia with a population of 15.8 million. Then, she was given the opportunity to have a 2,000 litre slate-grey tank installed in the vegetable patch. Long Sokhon was chosen as part of a biodigester pilot project run by Engineers Without Borders Australia and Live & Learn Environmental Education. 

Nick Boerema is the Facilitator for Engineers Without Border’s Sanitation in Challenging Environments project and is based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Nick’s role includes providing technical advice on sanitation solutions and facilitating collaborative efforts to promote knowledge dissemination, innovation and adoption of best practice for sanitation in challenging environments. Nick previously worked in Australia as a project engineer for Vast Solar, managing the development and demonstration of low-cost concentrating solar thermal technology for power generation. Cleanleap's Angela McClowry recently interviewed Nick to better understand some of the challenges in sanitation and ways in which we can 'cleanleap' over existing issues.