Anaerobic Digesters to Collect Methane

Wearing my “Tool-using Think-maker” hat, I designed a simple methane collector for use in warm climates as found in East Africa. The methane would be used for cooking, or to power petrol-fuelled static machinery, such as a borehole pump or electricity generator.

But, to my mind, although the simplest design worked, it had certain flaws, mainly to do with safety. After all, methane is flammable.

So, I have been tweaking the design and I came up with a slightly modified version, which I felt was safer as I designed in an anti-blow-back device.

But I was still not satisfied. So now I have come up with a Mk2 version. I have been playing around with this version for a few months now, and I am just about happy  with it.

Unfortunately, it is far more complicated (and therefore more expensive) to build, but easier to maintain.

I will be returning to Kenya on 12th November and I hope I will be able to build one of the new Mk2 models – or at least, something approaching it. It all rathe depends on what materials I can find, what tools are available, etc.

Photography? Not these days

There have always been two types of camera-user, one who studies the subject, checks the framing, lighting, and eventually produces a photograph to be proud of, and the second, who basically points and shoots.

But in the days of film cameras, point-and shooters used a little discrimination because the film and the processing cost money, and there was the problem of running out of film. But today, with cheap digital cameras and cell phones with built-in cameras, the only constraint is the size of memory.

Then we got sites such as Webshots and Flickr, where photographers could show their masterpieces, and now we have twitter and its associated picture uploading add-ons.

And, having looked at a very few of the millions of photos that are uploaded, I ask myself, “Why do they bother?”

What is the point of uploading a picture where the subject cannot be identified because there was camera shake, or it is out of focus, or there was not enough light?

And then there are the people who are uploading not their photos, but pictures of cartoon characters pulled directly off a web page – what is the sense in that? All it does is clutter up the Internet.

I don’t profess to be a good photographer, but my digital camera now allows me to take several photos where I would have taken only one with my 35mm camera. Then I choose the best and ditch the rest.

But there seems  to be an indiscriminate need to upload everything, good, bad and rubbish.

I hope it will end soon.

Trees, Charcoal and Rain

Once again I read that Africa is suffering because people are cutting trees for fuel and to produce charcoal. Generally, the charcoal production is illegal, but this can be sorted out with a back-hander – no change there then.

From what I have seen and heard on my trips to Kenya, the solar cooker, which can be made for pennies, are very efficient, but do not fit in with the East African psyche, they take too long to cook a meal. From my observations, it seems that Kenyans like to prepare and eat with little or no gap in between. So they need an instant heat source to cook on, wood, charcoal, kerosene or, if they are modern (and can afford it) butane gas.

So, trees will continue to be decimated until an alternative instant fuel is found, that is acceptable to those who have to use it.

You can read an article on the BBC website here

I have been working on methane collector design for a while now and have come up with a version that is easy and cheap to construct, and easy to use.

My contention is that if butane is acceptable, then so is methane. The difference is that methane occurs naturally, and to collect it is a simple matter. It is FREE!

Looking at its use ecologically, burning methane forms water and CO2, which is a good thing. Why? Because methane is 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2, so it is far more acceptable to have CO2 floating around rather than methane, isn’t it?

But most people living in rural East Africa are not interested in that, they are too busy surviving.

So, what about the charcoal makers? They will not be happy seeing their livlihood disappearing as people convert to methane for cooking.

So, show them how to make methane collectors, install them and maintain them. Yes, they need maintaining. A 45 gallon methane collector will produce gas for about six months before it needs refurbishing. But, the by-product is fertiliser, just what is needed on a shamba.

So, to recap:

• Methane is free
• Using methane saves trees
• A methane collector produces fertiliser
• Using methane helps to eliminate a potent greenhouse gas that would normally escape to atmosphere.
• Methane is a clean fuel, so there are no particulates to irritate and inflame eyes and lungs.
• Charcoal producers can be easily trained to make, install and maintain methane collectors, so they will not lose their income. In fact, with a little persuasion, maybe they will even promote the use of methane.

Methane can also be used as an alternative to petrol, so it will run a generator or water pump.

What is the next step?

KCIS has produced a working model. We can produce free methane. We are willing to spread the word.

We have contacted various charities and NGOs who are supposed to be interested in saving trees and protecting the water catchment areas. What is their response?

NOTHING!

If you are interested in saving trees in Kenya, contact us. We will work with anyone who is serious about making people’s lives better in Kenya, or even East Africa.

Also published at Baba Mzungu’s blog

Water? How boring!

Kisii, in south-west Kenya is luckier than some parts of Africa in that it enjoys some rain all year round, although this year, it has been less than normal.

As a consequence, the vegetable plot at the Twiga Children’s Centre suffered (there isn’t someone there all the time to watch over the newly planted seedlings). The heat of th esun, together with a few days without rain has decimated the crop.

There is a river on the western border of the centre, but it is at the bottom of a steep hill, and it would be no mean feat for the kids to bring water up to irrigate the vegetable plot.

So, I have put on my tool-using thing-maker hat on to devise a way to either:

• raise water from the river to a storage tank at the plot – about 40 to 50 feet, or
• sink a borehole near the plot.

Looking at the second as a better solution, I set about drafting a design for a manually operated borehole drill, as it would be impossible to get a drilling rig onto the site until we have built a road to the site, which will be quite a task when we get around to it.

Here in the UK, I have a tool used to make holes to plant fence posts. I think it is called a post hole auger and it is like an over-sized bit for a brace, with a T handle to turn it and bore through the soil.

Obviously, this tool is only about 3 feet long so, without modification, it would not bore a very deep hole. But, what if extension rods were attached as the drill went deeper into the soil?

That should not be too difficult. The problem is finding a post hole auger in Kenya that can be modified – or find someone who can make such a tool. I reckon the latter would be easier.

As for the extension bars, they need to be easily attached and detached, but not when they are down a 20 foot hole, of course.

So that is my project for the moment. If it works, we could sink boreholes anywhere where there is not bedrock above the water table (although I have ideas for breaking through that as well).

So the last of the clan is dead. I don’t suppose there will be many tears shed in great Britain and Northern Ireland, especially amongst the Protestant majority.
Ted Kennedy openly supported the IRA and compared the British Army in Northern Ireland with US forces in Vietnam.
To me, that shows the level of reality this man lived in. The US forces were in a foreign country, whereas, the UK forces were in the UK, protecting UK citizens from a domestic terrorist group.

Long Time, No Write

Not strictly true. I have three other blogs in which I have dropped the odd article, but I have to admit that I have been lacking in writing about making things with tools.

The problem is that I am presently in the UK, not Kenya. I can design things on paper here, but I cannot test them as most rely on the sun either for heat, UV or both.

So, lacking the basic free ingredient, I have been diverting my energy to other things.

Firstly, to earn an income – not easy as a free-lance in the UK just at the moment.

Secondly, to save up to get back out to Kenya so that I can wear the tool-using thing-maker hat. This is difficult because – see first point.

Thirdly, I am trying to raise the profile of KCIS and get people, companies or organisations interested in what we are doing and what we want to do, and gain some financial backing.

Fourthly, to register KCIS as a UK charity – not as easy as it used to be.

KCIS and Twiga has recently been featured on BBC Radio Berkshire. There is still a good audio slide-show on their site, and a brief write-up which links to our website. But this has had little or no effect. We have not received any offers of help and certainly no money, other than £10 given to me by a BBC employee as I left the studio.

So, what next? I have asked that the feature be repeated on a weekday programme, and I reckon we need a patron, a celebrity who would promote KCIS.

Or, we could forget KCIS and find another charity or NGO that is doing similar work in or near Kisii. To my knowledge, there is none, but then I don’t know every NGO in Kisii.

So, if anyone has any other ideas as to where we should go from the present, please contact us. We will be happy to receive any suggestions.

If you are an NGO in the Kisii region and you are interested in what we are doing, please contact us.

Or, of course, if you are a company or foundation that would like to finance us, please contact us.

Afternoon at the BBC

I cannot claim to be a veteran broadcaster – far from it. I have been invited on to local radio programmes to say my piece about our work in Kenya, but that’s about it.

Things aren’t going to change either. I don’t think I could hack it as a presenter, I get tongue-tied.

But we have been approached to do a feature on KCIS, not the usual 15 – 20 minute slot, but a proper feature.

This came about because one of the producers, Nejra, is going to Kisii next week. She is a volunteer with an educational charity, and it just so happens that, this year, she is being sent there to do their thing.

Someone else at the station pointed out that KCIS is based in Kisii, so she contacted us and we had a long meeting yesterday (long, probably because when I start talking about Kenya, I can’t stop).

Nejra intends to visit our “office” in Kisii interview the local directors, Vincent and Abigael, meet the kids and hopefully record them singing and maybe even interview them, if she can find one that speaks good enough English.

Then, once back in the UK, she wants to put a feature together that will spread over three weeks, including her recordings, sound bites from our Promotions Officer, Manuela and me, and then a live broadcast with the two of us on the last week.

This is very good news – all publicity being good publicity, so they say.

It has to do our organisation some good, raise its profile in the West Berkshire area, and maybe get more people willing to do fund-raising for us.

As Nejra said, we can see the situation on TV, but seeing it first-hand brings it to life. The kids become real people, really suffering. Not just images on TV.

Attitude of Gratitude

A good friend of mine, living in Andover, who has had a few emotional knocks in her life has started a campaign, “Attitude of Gratitude”.

It started when, feeling rather low, she was walking home and saw a tramp with no shoes, curled up in a doorway with only a cardboard box for shelter. This was last winter. And my friend realised that she should be thinking of what she still had, not what she had lost.

She started picking up litter in the streets to make the town a better place, and publicised it, encouraging others to do the same, using the local press.

And the campaign has taken off in a big way. She now has a website with pictures of her “supporters”. And it is striking, the number of younger people who support her. Kids I can understand, but teenagers? Those surly, grunting beings that hang around on street corners? Don’t you believe it. They are the most enthusiastic of all.

There is hope for this country after all.

Does My Bum Look Big On This?

In an effort to lose the couch potato look,  I recently acquired a second-hand bicycle and go for a ride once a week, with a friend, around Greenham Common.

This is a mountain bike with knobbly tyres so I thought I would give it a go off the main paths – big mistake!

When I got back to “base”, I picked up the bike to put it in the back of the car and my hand came into some gooey, slimy muck. I will leave to your imagination what I was thinking.

But, this goo was not what I though it was. It was small lumps of gel, which had leaked from my saddle and onto the frame around the rear brakes. It probably failed when my not inconsiderable weight was bouncing around while off-road. That’ll teach me.

So, my saddle is now an ex-saddle.

Now comes the incredible part. I  keep an eye on a website called Freecycle. The idea is that people can offer things that they no longer want to other people who may find a use for it. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.

And there, on Freecycle, someone was offering a bicycle saddle and post! Of course, I jumped at it and managed to acquire it, but what are the chances of finding a free saddle a couple of days after yours has given up the ghost?

I am, of course, extremely grateful to the poor guy who had had his bike stolen before he could fit the new saddle, but it means that I can continue to work on getting rid of my flab.

Now, where did  I put that Allen key?

Update

I found the Allen key and fitted the saddle, after a lot of messing around (the post that came with the new saddle would not fit the frame).

I have tried it out and all I can say is, “Wow!” It is sooo comfortable!

Minister Appalled that ONS Tells Truth

Government Immigration Minister, Phil Woolas said he was “appalled” at the release of figures showing one in nine British residents was born abroad.

If the figures are correct, why should he be appalled that they were released? Are we, the British public not allowed this information?

Full report on BBC News