Appropriate Energy Technology

• The Energy Poverty - The absence of clean, safe and affordable energy to replace the use of open fire or paraffin (kerosene) stoves and lighting in poor communities in South Africa.
• The Fuel Efficiency Stove; an Appropriate Energy Technology that can be used for cooking, heating and lighting that is safe, affordable, reduces emissions and improves quality of life.
• This will save lives, improve health, reduce pollution, enable skills transfer, create employment and improve quality of life in poor communities globally.

Indoor Polution, lack of cooking and heating facilities, deaths caused by fires.

Living in poor communities in South Africa poses major energy challenges for cooking, heating and lighting; especially during winter seasons. Since these communities can’t afford electricity, generators or solar systems they rely on open fire or paraffin (kerosene) on small stoves and lamps indoors.

According to Paraffin Safety Association 45,000 fires are caused by paraffin yearly. 3, 000 South Africans die in these fires and 80, 000 children are poisoned by paraffin annually. The South African Medical Research Council also suggests that indoor air pollution caused (2,489) deaths in SA which included 1,428 children less than five years old.

Further research suggests about 2.7 billion people lack clean and safe cooking facilities globally and 1.2 billion have no access to electricity. Furthermore, The World Health Organization estimates that 4.6 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air pollution. Many of these mortalities are attributable to indoor air pollution while burns cause 265 000 deaths, including 100 000 children.

A key intervention for reducing energy poverty and its consequences is the access to clean and safe energy technologies for domestic use in poor communities.

The poor communities, representing (55.5%) of the South African population living below the national poverty line of $2 per day. The groups that form part of this population are black people, the unemployed, the less educated, female-headed households living in informal settlements. Women and children are most affected; the majority - 95% of these people -reside in sub-Saharan Africa or developing Asia.

I believe that a good understanding of local and community complexity is critical in ensuring the sustainability of any socio-economic project; hence we’ve engaged the communities to fully understand the problem so that together we can find the appropriate solution. The community representatives (women in particular) have been fully involved in the pilot- development process, and design of the prototype of the solution as the project includes skills transfer, energy education, home safety education and recycling held in community centres.

The model used to implement activities focuses on the creation of vital partnerships and a notion of shared responsibility so that the community itself plays a role in the implementation of the solution. 

The Fuel Efficiency Stove

The Fuel Efficiency Stove is made of MUD and STRAW and waste material available in communities.

When wood is burnt, it gets hot and then releases constituent gases that all burst into flame. The remaining solid residue, char, is then combusted to form carbon dioxide released in the smoke; which produces a hot and clean fire and reduces poisonous smoke.

The stoves use the following materials: mud, straw, recycled pipe, recycled cans, recycled sheet metal (10cm), recycled 20/25 litre paint bucket, and cement.  The stoves have a life span of up to 3 years with normal use.

This is an Appropriate Innovation for the rural and informal settlements communities; designed with special consideration to the context of its use - including environmental, social, cultural, educational and economical aspects of the community it is intended for.

In order to reduce emissions and fuel use, fuel efficiency stoves are designed to first clean up the fire and then force as much energy into the pot or griddle as possible. Improving the combustion efficiency of cooking fires is made possible to reduce smoke and harmful emissions that damage health.

The Fuel Efficiecy Stove has been piloted in Alexandre Township, one of the communities in South Africa however; I believe more can still be done to enhance the concept to provide energy technology for cooked food, comfortable indoor temperatures and illumination in a clean and cost- effective manner.

The Fuel Efficiency stove is innovative because, while the concept already exists in the form of the Rocket Stove; we are changing the stove’s utility, value and its economic characteristics to cater for the underserved markets to save lives, educate and empower them as opposed to the recreational purposes that the stove is customary used for in the developed countries.

The women in communities will make the stove aesthetically pleasing and attractive by painting it with colourful designs that showcase their different cultures and traditions.

The Fuel Efficiency stove is an appropriate technology alternative to conventional means of heating food, water or space. The stoves can be built in a day or two, and easily turn twigs into heat far more efficiently than most wood stoves, with far less set-up cost moreover; the cost of paraffin places a heavy burden on these household’s income.

So, the Fuel Efficiency Stove is very affordable as it is made of mud and straw, including other recycled materials easily accessible in communities and enables them to save on paraffin costs.

Example:

For a household of 3 individuals, the minimum paraffin (kerosene) required for cooking and hot water is 20 litres per month. The cost of 1 litre paraffin is R15.00 or $1.00, which means this family of 3 needs $20.00 per month for paraffin bearing in mind that these are people living below the poverty lines of $2.00 per day.

The Fuel Efficiency Stove is made of MUD and STRAW and waste material available in communities so, it involves biomass.

In order to reduce emissions and fuel use, fuel efficiency stoves are designed to first clean up the fire and then force as much energy into the pot or griddle as possible. Improving the combustion efficiency of cooking fires, reducing smoke and harmful emissions that damage health.

When twigs are burnt, the stove gets hot and then releases constituent gases that all burst into flame. The remaining solid residue, char, is then combusted to form carbon dioxide released in the smoke; which produces a hot and clean fire.

The stove combustion system:

• Offers close to complete combustion of the wood, meaning they are hyper-efficient and burn super-clean.
• Can reach very high temperatures while the stove remains cool to the touch externally.
• Uses wood typically considered too small to label firewood.

The stove uses the following materials: mud, straw, recycled pipe, recycled cans, recycled sheet metal (10cm), recycled 20/25 litre paint bucket, and cement and has a life span of up to 3 years with normal use.

The model used to implement activities of this project focuses on the creation of eco-systems and vital partnerships and a notion of shared responsibility so that the community itself plays a role in the solution to their problem.

The Fuel Efficiency Stove has been piloted at the Alexandre Township in Johannesburg. While communities approve of the stove, the following suggestions were made for it to be fully functional:

1. Adding a support function to stabilise the pot on the stove so that it doesn’t tilt and fall over.
2.  To design a lamp or lighting feature to be sold as a combo with the stove as paraffin will still be utilised on lamps.
3. Design a safety feature that automatically turns off when the stove falls over using the same concept of the stove or something different.
4. Ensure that the stove can only use pallets to avoid deforestation.

Impact/outcome of the solution

Short term

The Fuel Efficiency Stove is positioned to eradicate poverty, develop skills, create employment and entrepreneurship. Moreover, the current South Africa’s unemployment rate is 27.6%.

Medium Term

The solution will reduce illnesses and deaths caused by paraffin and fires in informal and rural settlements, reduce pollution in the environment and effective waste management.

Enabling part of the 2.7 billion people globally to have access to clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy. 

Long Term.

Self-employment projects that create a reliable and sustainable tax base for the country.

Self-sufficient communities - to minimize government grants

Highlight opportunities that exist within communities living on less than $2 a day who are unserved or underserved.

Serious health problems, numerous shack fires and the high levels of energy poverty associated with the high cost of fuel make it more difficult for 17 million South Africans to meet their basic needs. While we are still on a pre-seed phase, this is the number we plan to reduce with the solution over time; one community at a time. Realistically and conservatively, we can serve at least 5000 people in one South African community and another 5000 in Kenya which equates to 10 000 people in a year.

In five years, assuming the number remains the same; at least 25000 people's lives in each of the two countries will be improved.

Research

The goal is to form partnerships with the Energy Research Institutions to fine tune the Fuel Efficiency Stove and assess different Appropriate Technologies for lighting within the next 3 months.

A pilot Study 

A second pilot study will be conducted in the first 6 months and a survey done to get feedback from users 3 months later.

Once the pilot is successful, we will source funding.

The Tumi Frazier Academy’s Accelerator and Incubator Centre will partner with different women empowerment organizations in Africa, Asia and India to:

• Establish women cooperatives in informal settlements and rural areas.
• Provide tailored learning programs that include personal development, entrepreneurship, and relevant technical knowledge to manufacture the solution, energy and home safety education.
• Leadership development programs to ensure better inclusion of women in decision making bodies in their communities.

• Build market-based ecosystems with various support structures from government, corporations and educational institutions in the countries of focus.

Specific on the job training will be provided for:

Project administrators, artisans, field agents, manufacturing, maintenance and logistics personnel.

Ms Frazier has worked with various women empowerment organizations throughout Africa, Asia and India. Forming collaborations will be the quickest way to scale and replicate this project in various countries; starting with South Africa in the first year. Then moving into Kenya and Nigeria in the 2nd year. Zambia and India 3rd year, Asia in the 4th year and Uganda and Rwanda in the 5th year.

• Funding is one of the biggest barriers that currently exists for the first year and the scaling of the project the following year and beyond. 
• Access to partnerships with organizations in the energy innovation sector to enable long term science and technology research, sustainability, policy development and skills transfer to the business team.
• Government bureaucracies and red tapes in accessing communities in need.
• Government rules, license market entry and enterprise registration that generally requires a few days in developed countries which may end up taking up to six months in another country.
• Taxation and environmental regulations that differs from country to country.
•  Governmental regulations related to the labor market and employment in different countries.
• Access to the best business accelerators and incubators for benchmarking and determination of the best business model to implement on corporatives and partnerships in different countries. 
• Managing different personalities, cultures, languages and idiosyncrasies.

• The goal is to identify opportunities for innovative solutions for generating funds best suited to our business model. Example, grants etc.
• Collaboration with various corporations, government and non- profits to have a good understanding of local complexity and government regulations to ensure the sustainability of the project.
• Identify and reach out to global energy technology partners and business incubators in the US.
• Over the past four years, Tumi Frazier was a Director of African Global women summits and member of Women’s Economic Forum globally. Through these platforms, Ms. Frazier will forge collaborations with various women empowerment organizations throughout Africa, Asia and India.
• Spend time in those countries to understand the procedures for starting different types of businesses, the time it takes to register a company, the costs involved including capital required to launch the project.
• Take time to understand ease of doing business in the countries I have selected, their business practices, language, norms and idiosyncrasies. South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda are some of the African countries we are targeting that rank high in terms of Ease of Doing Business rankings.
• The plan is to conduct a thorough due diligence in all the countries of interest, research the market, identify potential local and global partners, vet them and then forge partnerships before entering the market. Meeting the right people, developing the right relationships, and cultivating face-to-face connections is both critical and invaluable as the key is to create collaborative enterprises that can scale much faster than an individual entity.

Not Applicable

3 Full time staff

2 contractors

The Management Team

Tumi Frazier is the founder and CEO of Tumi Frazier Academy and the Foundation.

She is a social entrepreneur with a proven knowledge of target markets and strong relationships with women groups throughout the African Continent, the US, UK and India.

She is a member of the Advisory Committee for Georgia Institute of Technology’s Global Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative – Atlanta, USA. This platform fosters collaboration and innovation by connecting and developing the entrepreneurial and business skills of women in the United States, Africa and Europe.

Tumi Frazier is an Executive Director and board member of African Resonance Business Solutions, a Fintech company and subsidiary of Capital Appreciation, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange Listed Company in the Financial Technology Industry. So, she has a good corporate governance background.

She writes articles that cover a wide range of topics from Africa’s business environment, entrepreneurial activities, opportunities for innovative solutions suited to Africa’s unique environment.

Tumi was part of the Global Women Initiative which has already presented 40 Global Women Summits in 14 countries in the past 3 years to strengthen women and families worldwide through education, entrepreneurship to eradicate illiteracy, poverty and hunger.

Tumi Frazier combines Psychology, Coaching disciplines, Business-Consulting skills with an in-depth understanding of different languages, dynamics, processes, and organizational cultures in her approach

The Programs Director and Project Manager are full time employees and the Social Media Manager and Admin Coordinator are contractors. All Four have been selected for their credibility and experience in their craft.

The current partnership are with women groups with access to the communities we are targeting in other parts of Africa with a good understanding of local complexity and government regulations to ensure the sustainability of the project.

1. Timeless Women - Kenya

2. When Women Win - Nigeria

The goal is to secure energy research partnerships with various institutions and organizations.

Social Business Model

Beneficiaries

Communities living on less than $2 a day

Women, children, the elderly, youth and displaced immigrants.

Key Partners

Financiers, Academic Institutions, Energy Research Institutions/innovators

Non-profits/women groups, Communities, Government

Key Activities

Stove manufacturing, sales and distribution

Establishment of women cooperatives in informal settlements and rural areas

Provision of tailored learning programs that include personal development, entrepreneurship, and relevant technical knowledge to manufacture the solution, energy and home safety education.

Leadership development programs to ensure better inclusion of women in decision making bodies in their communities.

Social and Customer Value proposition

An Appropriate Energy Technology that can be used for cooking, heating and lighting that is safe, affordable, reduces emissions and improves quality of life.

Access to clean, safe, reliable and affordable and environmentally benign energy.

Impact Measures

A reliable, safe, functional, effective and cost-effective stove and lighting feature that will replace open fire or paraffin stoves and lamps in poor communities.

Reduction of deaths and illnesses

Reduction of fires

Reduction of pollution indoors and outdoors

Self-sufficient and skilled communities

Preservation of the environment

Employment creation

Costs

Technologies

Pilot Studies

Training and development

Scaling to other countries

Staff salaries

Project/Program administration

Office Administration

Surplus

Some activities will be housed under a Foundation and funds sourced through grants and donors will be used towards communities’ programs while some funds will be invested. In addition, the Foundation envisages to also generate income from some activities to ensure its longevity and its purpose.

Different models will be used to achieve higher social return and financial benefits simultaneously. By so doing we achieve dual objectives for the enterprise.

The Following models will be integrated:

• Cooperative model
• Low income client Model
• Employment Model

The organization will provide cooperative members access to the solution through bulk purchases. These are women who will be primary stakeholders, reaping the benefits of employment and income.

Through this model the entity will provide products to the poor and low-income communities. Income will be earned from the sale of these products. While the profit margins may be smaller due to low prices; this market can produce volumes that can cover costs of this business area, resulting in a higher social return.

Through this project, the entity will provide employment opportunities and job training and other skills development to its target population, both women and youth. Essentially employing the same clients.

Learning and development is under the Academy and is for profit.

Income from above models will be used to re-invent the business to provide cost-effective energy to schools and hospitals in the poor communities.

• Help us identify opportunities for innovative solutions for generating funds best suited to our business model. Example, grantors.
• Identify and reach out to global energy technology partners and the best business incubators in the US.
• Introduction to the right people to develop the right relationships
• Technical expertise.
• Coaching and mentorship.
• Assist us design the right business model and income generating model
• Assist with refining the solution or re-invent a different one that includes lighting.

Not Applicable

• Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnerships (LEAP) Washington DC 

Learn more about their appropriately designed, high energy-efficient, cost effective products and services and their efforts in scaling and accelerating global energy access using off grid technologies.

• Servants in Faith and Technology (SIFAT) Lineville, Alabama 

Learn about their Appropriate Technologies and possible partnership on International Missions 

• MIT – Energy Initiative – Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

Learn about emerging technologies and evolving business models shaping the energy sector

• Babson College – Entrepreneurship 

As a thought leader of global entrepreneurship, Babson strategically partners with educational institutions, foundations, non-profits around the world to advance economic, social, and personal development through global entrepreneurship education; this is the partnership I’d like to explore

• University of Washington – Start-ups and Incubators

Connect with the university’s economic and societal impacts with mentors and external partnerships such as The Global Innovation Exchange.

The lack of reliable data in developing countries is a major obstacle to sustainable development.

While South Africa may have data and statistics on the problem we are solving; it will be difficult to obtain reliable data in other remote parts of Africa we intend to scale to or other parts of the world as Poverty data is typically scarce, sparse in coverage and labor-intensive to obtain.

By using revolutionary technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, we can easily detect areas that are poverty stricken.

Artificial intelligence can help us with precise and reliable information on where our target groups are located as satellite images and computer algorithms can recognize signs of poverty through machine learning.

Therefore, our solution will benefit substantially from AI for conducting household surveys and informal settlements/villages sampling.

Since our solution include training and development and the use of Accelerator Programs from the Academy division; AI can also be used to guide learners/cooperatives through training programs in real-time as well as assessing the learning and skills levels.

AI will also be essential for tailored learning given that our solution focuses on the poor, uneducated and some with basic education. We could personalize learning to each participant, depending on how best they learn. Some people learn better through visualization, while others learn better through listening, or practice. This modality will allow for better quality of learning as the program will be tailored specifically for their needs.   

This solution will enable a portion of the 2.7 billion marginalized and unserved people globally to have access to clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy for cooking, heating and lighting. 

The Solution is positioned to save lives, eradicate poverty, develop skills, create employment and entrepreneurship.

Develop Self-sufficient communities 

Provide leadership development programs to ensure better inclusion of women in decision making bodies in their communities.

Build market-based ecosystems with various support structures from government, corporations and educational institutions in the countries of focus.

This is an Appropriate Innovation for the rural and informal settlements communities; designed with special consideration to the context of its use - including environmental, social, cultural, educational and economical aspects of the community it is intended for.

The Solution will enable us to:

• Establish women cooperatives in informal settlements and rural areas
• Provide tailored learning programs for women that include personal development, entrepreneurship, and relevant technical knowledge to manufacture the solution, energy education and home safety.
• Provide leadership development programs to give women a voice and confidence to raise their voices to ensure better inclusion in decision making bodies in their communities.

2019 is deemed the “Year of Refugees, Returnees and IDPs: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa” by the United Nations. Research states that more than a third of the world’s forcibly displaced people are in Africa, including 6.3 million refugees, asylum-seekers and 14.5 million internally displaced people.  The UN Refugee Agency suggests that Africa hosts nearly a third of the world’s refugees and internally displaced people. Despite the continent’s own social, economic and security challenges, Africa’s governments and people have kept borders, doors and hearts open to millions in need.

By 2016 South Africa had 28,695 refugees from Somalia; 26,156 from the Democratic Republic of Congo; 17,776 Ethiopia and the numbers continue to increase as we see the rise in refugees from Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa.

Moreover,there are many displaced women and children from surrounding African countries who are victims of war crimes who have found refuge in South Africa. These are families that ultimately live in informal settlements.

Our solution will also cater for these displaced individuals or families.

The lack of reliable data in developing countries is a major obstacle to sustainable development.

While South Africa may have data and statistics on the problem we are solving; it will be difficult to obtain reliable data in other remote parts of Africa we intend to scale to or other parts of the world as Poverty data is typically scarce, sparse in coverage and labor-intensive to obtain.

By using revolutionary technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, we can easily detect areas that are poverty stricken.

Artificial intelligence can help us with precise and reliable information on where our target groups are located as satellite images and computer algorithms can recognize signs of poverty through machine learning.

Therefore, our solution will benefit substantially from AI for conducting household surveys and informal settlements/villages sampling.

Since our solution include training and development and the use of Accelerator Programs from the Academy division; AI can also be used to guide learners/cooperatives through training programs in real-time as well as assessing the learning and skills levels.

We plan to abide by the Personal Information Act and Data Management Regulations by fair use and non-sharing of such data to protect human dignity, confidentiality and privacy.

By obtaining communities consent to process their personal information, we show commitment to openness, transparency, trust and integrity in our dealings.

This solution will enable a portion of the 2.7 billion marginalized and unserved people globally to have access to clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy for cooking, heating and lighting. 

The Solution is positioned to save lives, eradicate poverty, develop skills, create employment and entrepreneurship.

Develop Self-sufficient communities 

Provide leadership development programs to ensure better inclusion of women in decision making bodies in their communities.

Build market-based ecosystems with various support structures from government, corporations and educational institutions in the countries of focus.

This is an Appropriate Innovation for the rural and informal settlements communities; designed with special consideration to the context of its use - including environmental, social, cultural, educational and economical aspects of the community it is intended for.

Our solution requires that we source data of all the people residing in informal settlements, villages and para-urban areas from the government or municipalities. This data will contain the number of households, their location, community names, including the municipalities they fall under. Through our surveys we will however, have access to information about people’s race, gender and ethnic group.

As an organization, we realise that we have a responsibility to promote transparency and prevent the misuse of personal data and given the Protection of Personal Information Act no 4 of 2014 in SA, it is our duty to safe guard any personal information we receive even through surveys we will conduct.

We plan to abide by the Data Management Regulations by fair use and non-sharing of such data to protect human dignity, confidentiality, privacy and the integrity of our organization; this way, we follow a non-stigmatization and non-discrimination process, living up to our core ethical values and building public trust.

By obtaining communities consent to process their personal information, we show commitment to openness, transparency, trust and integrity in our dealings with the communities.

Since lack of reliable data in developing countries is a major obstacle to sustainable development.

Artificial intelligence can help us with precise and reliable information on where our target groups are located as satellite images and computer algorithms can recognize signs of poverty through machine learning.

Therefore, our solution will benefit substantially from AI for conducting household surveys and informal settlements/villages sampling.