What is the name of your organization?
Megagas Alternative Energy Enterprise Ltd
What is the name of your solution?
Green-Powered Kitchens
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Megagas Provides low income families with clean and affordable cooking energy through our community kitchens powered by renewable energy.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Nairobi, Kenya
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
KEN
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Indoor air pollution remains a deadly global crisis, causing an estimated 3.2 million deaths annually, according to WHO. In Kenya, over 23,000 people—mainly women living on under $2 a day—die each year from complications linked to cooking with biomass fuels like charcoal and firewood. These fuels also emit 230g of CO₂ per kWh, contributing significantly to climate change. Meanwhile, over 300 million tons of plastic are produced annually worldwide, with Africa contributing 16 million tons. In Nairobi alone, around 2,400 tons are generated daily. Poor waste collection systems result in plastic clogging landfills and waterways, breaking down anaerobically and emitting methane—a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than CO₂. This process worsens climate change while polluting ecosystems. Additionally, rivers transport plastic to oceans, with 8 million tons ending up in marine environments, threatening biodiversity. Yet, plastic waste can be transformed into clean, high-calorific cooking gas—free from pollutants and more efficient than traditional fuels. This conversion presents a unique opportunity to tackle two pressing issues: energy poverty and plastic pollution. By recycling plastic into clean energy, we offer an affordable, safe alternative to harmful biomass fuels while mitigating emissions, protecting ecosystems, and promoting sustainable living in vulnerable communities.
What is your solution?
We addresses the dual challenge of indoor air pollution and plastic waste by providing low-income households with access to clean, affordable cooking energy through our innovative Community Kitchen Model. Instead of each household purchasing their own cooking gas and appliances, we establish fully equipped kitchens where multiple families and micro-entrepreneurs can cook for just $0.02 per hour. This shared model optimizes gas usage, reduces upfront costs, and ensures cleaner cooking practices. Beyond its functional benefits, the kitchen acts as a community hub—encouraging collaboration, social cohesion, and knowledge exchange.
Our clean cooking gas is produced through a patented thermal cracking technology that converts plastic waste into safe, high-calorific gaseous fuel. We work with women-led community-based organizations that collect plastic waste, which is then brought to our aggregation centers before being transported to our production facility. There, custom-fabricated equipment—featuring stirred tank reactors, collection towers, filtration systems, and gas separators—converts plastic into clean gas without emissions or toxic residue. The gas is compressed into 50kg cylinders and distributed to community kitchens across Kenya. Our process and product have been certified by both the Kenya Bureau of Standards and the National Environmental Management Authority, confirming our commitment to sustainability.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our typical end user is a woman aged 18–40, often a stay-at-home mom with a high school education, living in a two-roomed house in a low-income urban area with about five occupants. Earning $2–$3 daily from informal businesses like grocery kiosks, she faces both economic and energy challenges. In Nairobi alone, our beachhead market includes approximately 400,000 such households, 75% of whom live on less than $2 a day.
Mega Gas improves lives by providing access to clean, affordable cooking energy, reducing indoor air pollution, and eliminating health risks associated with traditional biomass fuels. Our patented technology converts plastic waste into clean gas, mitigating over 495 tons of CO₂ emissions monthly and recycling 114 tons of plastic waste. This significantly reduces plastic pollution, protecting water sources and ecosystems critical to smallholder agriculture.
Our community kitchens empower women with income-generating opportunities and reduce fuel costs for households, enabling them to spend more on healthcare, education, and livelihoods. We also engage over 100 women waste pickers, providing consistent income through plastic collection. By removing plastic from the environment and supporting biodiversity, we enable sustainable food systems and secure economic resilience for smallholder families and vulnerable communities across Kenya.