As a child Gibson Kawago had to travel 32 miles to get to a chargingstation. And that is not exceptional for 40 million Tanzanians who live in remote areas. How fantastic is his idea to transform waste laptop batteries into affordable and and environmentally friendly battery packs.
The lithium-ion battery packs provide a household with power for approximately 15 hours. They are affordable and durable. Not only because they are made from ‘waste’, the emissions are also 70% less than old-fashioned generators. And: there is no smoke, and no noise.
Participating in ClimateLaunchpad was a real adventure for Gibson. “Meeting different people from different places is – for me – a very good experience,” he says just after hearing that his team has won second prize at the Global Grand Final. “I learned a lot. With the help of the ClimateLaunchpad team, I made it clear how much carbon dioxide we can save as WAGA. Most of the time, we said ‘we replace kerosene lamps with battery packs, and that’s ok’. But now I can really quantify it.”
“Personally I dream of my own warehouse. I do everything from my garage, right know. I would love to have a place where I can repurpose so many batteries that we can accelerate the transition to clean energy in Tanzania with 80% in 2027.”
We wish him and his team all the luck in the world and accompany him and the 15 other finalists in the ClimAccelarator next year.
Tags: cleantech, Climate Change, Global Grand Final
