Team from Harvard Wins $200,000 World Bank Grant to Generate Light for Africa Using Microbe-based Technology

May 10, 2008

www.lebone.org

Lebônê Solutions, a collaboration between Harvard African undergraduates and university scientists, was among 16 groups selected by the World Bank in an international competition for grants of up to $200,000 to develop low-cost innovative technologies to light up Africa.

Unlike many renewable energy technologies which are based on solar or wind power, the technology used by Lebônê (pronounced la- bow – nay) emphasizes the potential of microbial fuel cells. Microbial fuel cells harness energy from naturally occurring microbial processes, enabling the user to generate electricity from organic rich materials such as soil, manure or food scraps. Thus electricity can be generated day or night, rain or shine. The microbial fuel cell technology is pioneered by Harvard biology professor Peter Girguis.

The awards were announced in Accra, Ghana as part of the 2008 World Bank IFC Lighting Africa Development Marketplace Competition. The goal of this initiative is to mobilize the private sector to provide modern off-grid lighting to more than 250 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.

Currently, the dominant source of light in much of sub-Saharan Africa remains fossil-fuel based kerosene lamps and candles, which are dangerous and increasingly expensive. Fuel prices are soaring in Africa and access to electricity remains limited to only 26 percent of the population, according to the World Bank. Among the poorest of the poor, some households spend as much as 10-15 percent of their income on lighting. The competition received over 400 applications and 52 finalists were invited to Accra, Ghana for interviews and presentations before the judges announced the winners on May 7th.

With this grant, as well as funding from Harvard’s Initiative for Global Health, Lebônê will be conducting its first field study at the foothills of Kilimanjaro starting this July. Early next year the team plans to test and distribute refined prototypes in Namibia in collaboration with Namibia Connection Youth Network.

The Lebônê group met as Harvard undergraduates in Professor Edwards’ Engineering Sciences course: Idea Translation. In this course students are tasked to learn through collaborative experience, overcome barriers in the development of their dreams, as well as institutional barriers between industry, academia, culture, and society. All of the members of the group either have personal roots or a deep interest in Africa.

The Team:

Hugo Van Vuuren, Founder and Managing Partner
Born and raised in South Africa, Hugo graduated from Harvard with a degree in Economics. He works with the Idea Translation Lab at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and focuses on building the partnerships and financing aspects of Lebônê.

Stephen Lwendo, Founder and Program Partner
Stephen from Tanzania studies Engineering and Computer Science at Harvard. He has worked extensively on educational ventures in Tanzania, and is directing our pilot study there.

David Sengeh, Founder and Technology Partner
David, who is from Sierra Leone, studies Engineering at Harvard. He is working on the technology design aspects of Lebônê and develops our technological partnerships.

Zoë Sachs-Arellano, Founder and Program Partner
Zoë graduated from Harvard with a degree in Philosophy in 2007. She has co-founded the Namibia Connection Youth Network incubating teams of change agents in Namibia. She is working on the African program development aspects of Lebônê.

Aviva Presser, Founder & Technology Partner
Aviva is a doctoral student at MIT Biology/Harvard SEAS, and founder of the nonprofit Bears Without Borders. She is a consultant for thehungersite.com, and is working on the technology and program development aspects of Lebônê.

Alexander Fabry
Alexander is studying History of Science and Physics at Harvard and is working on the technology integration development, fundraising, and grant application aspects of Lebônê.

Advisers and Partners:

Paul Bottino, Esq.
Co-founder of the Harvard Technology and Entrepreneurship Center and the Idea
Translation Lab at Harvard and Medicine in Need Corporation.
David Edwards. Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Harvard. He has founded several companies, including Pulmatrix and Advanced Inhalation Research (AIR), the Idea Translation Lab, and a non-profit, MEND.

Peter Girguis
Professor of Biology at Harvard. Pioneer of microbial fuel cell technology and founder of Living Power Systems.

Richard Kirk
Founder of the multi-million dollar company Elumin8 and Polyphotonics.

The Harvard Idea Translation Laboratory at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

About Lebônê Solutions:
Lebônê Solutions, Inc. is a social enterprise working in off-grid energy delivery and lighting technology. The mission of Lebônê is to end the energy and lighting crisis in Africa by identifying and harnessing emerging technologies, developing and adapting them for the African market, and delivering them to rural villages in an innovative and accessible manner. Lebônê (pronounced la - bow - nay) means “lightstick” in a dialect of North Sotho spoken in the central parts of South Africa.

For more information on Lebônê, please visit www.lebone.org or contact Hugo Van Vuuren at hugo@seas.harvard.edu + 1 857 928 6482.