Bizarre Energy Sources

As the world evolves and talks surrounding sustainability become a daily dose to people’s routines, one topic remains at the top of the charts, and that is renewable sources of energy. People are coming towards a common understanding that at this point fossil fuels need to go because they are the primary cause of our problems. So when you see an influencer go on Instagram promoting something green, not a soul is surprised because that’s what up, at least they are woke, we say.

The buzz surrounding Clean energy has got the World’s scientists pulling strings to come up with alternative sources of energy for our sustenance. Now I must warn you, some of these alternative sources of energy may seem quite over the top or ridiculous so to speak.

 

1. Coffee

Yes, you read that right. This is how green we are going friends. But how is that possible? Every morning as we wake up a large population of us resort to coffee, whether iced if you are enjoying summer or hot for us fellows of the tropical winter. Coffee powers our day,

 but what if it could do the same for our cars? You see coffee waste thrown away by countless shops across the country can actually be used to produce bio-diesel. Cool right? Well, the production of energy through coffee is still underway, but this form of energy is proving to be quite efficient and cost-cutting. I am getting myself a coffee-powered vehicle in the future if they are mass produced because no one likes FOMO ( FOMO for my pre-millennial audience being the Fear Of Missing Out)

2. Chocolate

It just keeps getting better. So we found something better to do with chocolate other than handing it over to valentine dates. And on that note, I would like to demystify the stereotype of chocolate and ladies – no, not all girls love chocolate. Anyway, chocolate waste from factories, according to research, can be fed to a bacteria E.coli to produce Hydrogen, which is one of the cleanest fuels in existence.

The fat from the chocolate can also be converted to biofuel and used to power cars, now that’s a sweet deal!

3. Body Heat

Harnessing body heat to produce energy is one of the energy sources above that has proven viable since implementation in Sweden. The heat generated by people crowding subway stations year in year out can be harnessed and used to heat water or redirected to offices during cold weather to heat up the rooms and save us from wasting electricity.

 

Excellent I must say!

Last but not least. Ye who love going out to drink on Friday nights, what if all that energy you used showing off your dancing skills would power your kettle the next day for a cup of coffee to help with the migraine. This is what some would call a win-win situation, but I call it forward thinking. How does it work?                

The dancing floor is fitted with piezoelectric material. These materials produce energy when vibrated. So as we move towards mechanisation, dance battles in clubs will no longer be a 90s thing because… well, we are trying to be sustainable.  

Way to go!                          

References

One minute to midnight

The world of conservation must have been
thrown into a frenzy when Robert Langdon released his very own version of the
“apocalypse” in his book- Inferno. ‘We are one minute to Midnight!’ is one of
the phrases that are sure to catch your eye when you open the book. You see,
this book could take some of us through an existential crisis, I know I did. So
when you see the damage we humans have caused and are continuing to do to our
planet, you begin to realize that we might be the cancer to our very own
existence.

The phrase ‘We are one minute to Midnight’
was one of my Aha moments in conservation!

Up until then, I viewed the concept of
Reduce Reuse Recycle as rote learning, a repeated commercial if anything. Then
I came across the idea of Midnight being the hour of our fall when climate
change won’t just be another abstract idea but man’s biggest nightmare. The
human race has always suffered the stubbornness of habit; we begin to make a
change when pain is involved. And while I don’t agree with Robert Langdon’s
idea of wiping off half the human race, one cannot fail to see from where he’s
coming.

To many the idea of Environmental
conservation or conservation at large could be termed as an acquired taste, and
I pray it is because then we know that the awareness is out there. What we
choose to do with this valuable information is up to us to decide. At Africa
Fund for Endangered Wildlife, we have made it a tradition to make sure this
information is passed down from generations to generations for the last 21
years.

Last Friday, 7th June 2019, we hosted our
annual Prize giving day marking the end of the Environmental Competitions 2019.
Once again, students from all levels of education participated in different
categories of art and essays. The spirits were high as the music and dance
brought us all under one theme.

I do have one question though, who
introduced the Odi dance? This person deserves presidential recognition because
finding a genre that brings together both the young and old in laughter is not
an easy fete.  And who said the young are
not wise? Because I beg to differ. The winning artwork and essay entries this
year were a product of pure wit if not intelligence.

Expectations were met, even by the toddlers
gracing us with their heartfelt poems on preserving planet Earth. Let’s take a
conscious step to conserve our planet. It doesn’t hurt to use that metal straw
to save the turtles at sea neither does it hurt to plant two trees when you cut
down one. I could go on and on about the festivities of this day, but that’s
for you to find out next year when you join us. Long story short, it was a good
day! Do live and let others live.