Current status
Mukosi School is blessed with massive energy potential. The school is doused in sunshine all year round. We have mountains on which wind thrives. And we are a stones' throw away from the recently built Tugwi-Mukosi dam. We are surrounded by electricity... yet, we do not have a single electrical switch to turn on or off.
We are currently harvesting a tiny fraction of this potential thanks to this small solar panel which we use to charge our mobile phones as our means of communication with the outside world.
However, we do not think about deficits but assets and we have resolved to meet this challenge by tapping into the vast electrical energy resources around us.
Proposed energy generation plan
The Mukosi School Community is coordinating the modernisation of the school through a dedicated development programme. Our plans are to electrify the school through an energy mix and install a Biogas generator. We are looking for Active Partners to help us achieve this energy programme.
Solar Energy
It is astonishing that if all the solar energy landing on the Earth could be collected, then it would take only 13 days to accumulate the energy equivalent to all known coal reserves.
Mukosi has abundant solar energy resources; indeed our plants use the natural mechanism of photosynthesis to capture solar energy and turn it into chemical energy. Mukosi School is looking for Active Partners to help in solar energy infrastructure.
Our plans are to build a solar array to create a conducive learning environment for our pupils, teachers, and maintenance staff: lighting, computers, tablets, printers, photocopy machines, refrigeration, and pumped water are our priorities.
Wind Energy
Wind energy generated from turbines located atop Mount Gondoi is an exciting prospect for the school and the local community. The school has already embarked on a feasibility study to this end and would welcome volunteer experts or electrical engineering students to get this project running.
Biogas Generation
Mukosi School is urgently looking to acquire and install a Biogas Digester. We would like to commence treating animal and food waste in a local and sustainable way. We have food waste and livestock manure which can be recycled into renewable biogas energy with a Biogas Generator.
Biogas is eco-friendly and non-polluting. Critically, it reduces soil pollution and also counters the greenhouse effect, thus combating global warming. At Mukosi School, we would like to play our part by recycling livestock manure and food waste from our kitchen and orchards. Importantly for us, biogas is effective in reducing the incidents of water-borne diseases. We can improve sanitation, hygiene and the health of the local environment. Equally, we can improve water quality because the process of unanaerobic digestion de-activates pathogens and parasites. Meanwhile, the by-product of biogas generation is a digestate which is enriched organic material. We intend to use this material in our gardens and orchards instead of commercial fertilizers. This by-product enhances plant growth whilst making them resilient to diseases. We intend to use the biogas as clean fuel in our kitchen and avoid opening fire cooking which leads to respiratory diseases.
Geo-thermal Energy
Mukosi School is located in a geological area of igneous intrusions. Geothermal energy could be extracted using heat exchangers for heating during the winter period when the children are exposed to chilling classrooms. Water could also be heated to pleasant temperatures for showering and bathing by staff who live on-site and children.
The school and local community are also exploring the prospect of an electrical grid link from the Tugwi-Mukosi Dam downstream. There is an impending move by the Energy Ministry to install a 14-megawatt station. Mukosi School and the local communities within the catchment basin ought to be connected to that grid.
Once we are set up and connected to the grid, our ambition is to sell out excess capacity (from solar and wind energy generation) back to the National Grid.
Diesel Engine
But we are conscious that this may take a bit of time, so in the meantime, we wish to acquire a diesel generator to get us started and switch the lights on and allow vital works to commence. This diesel engine will then quickly be decommissioned as soon as adequate solar array capacity comes onstream.
