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Jirogasy's solar computers power offgrid schools in Madagascar

Chuma Asuzu

May 03, 2021 |

Hardware Things |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Madagascar, Antananarivo

Jirogasy developed solar-powered computers and, maximizing a partnership with an education NGO, has helped expand computer access among rural schools without access to a grid. Using internationally-funded grants, they created the Jirodesk II, a Windows 10 powered PC that can be powered by the grid or charged via a solar panel. The computers are monitored remotely, which allows users to quickly get tech support, and the company monitors usage in Watt-hours for its “pay-per-use-until-you own model,” where users pay per number of Watt-hours used, and after a certain number of Watt-hours the machine is paid off.

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How to Resolve Community Conflicts

Noelle Fujii-Oride

May 03, 2021 |

Hawaii Business Magazine |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Hawaii

Community organizing effectively blocked many development projects on O‘ahu that, while involving desirable outcomes like renewable energy, public parks, or affordable housing, failed to consider input from local communities about the potential impact of the developments. Some developers engage local stakeholders early and often in the process, finding that small changes to plans can sometimes avoid conflict altogether. Companies, such as Hawaiian Electric, require community outreach in the first stage of all projects, which has led to the creation of long-term value and positive social impact programs.

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How rechargeable tricycles are saving pregnant mothers and newborns in rural Zimbabwe

Farai Shawn Matiashe

May 03, 2021 |

Nigeria Health Watch |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Wedza

Mobility for Africa provides electric tricycles, called Hambas, to take pregnant women to and from health appointments. Mobility is critical to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality and the three-wheel tricycles are easy to drive on rural roads. They run on a lithium battery that can be charged in about six hours using renewable energy and a single charge gets about three trips. The transportation allows women who live far from clinics and cannot afford transportation be able to access medical care. About 50 Hambas currently take women to and from doctor appointments during pregnancy until after delivery.

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How going solar is helping U.S. schools save millions

Nikolay Nikolov

April 29, 2021 |

Mashable |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

School districts in the United States are switching to solar power to save money on utilities and sell extra power back to the power grid. They use the savings to increase teachers' pay and upgrade facilities like buses and computer labs.

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The climate solution adding millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere

Lisa Song James Temple

April 29, 2021 |

MIT Technology Review |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

A decade after California established its forest offset program as a way to incentivize saving trees to store carbon, a new analysis shows that it might not be working. Loopholes in the program allow for people to claim credits for trees that aren’t delivering the carbon benefits they should and ultimately results in companies emitting more pollution than is being stored. While this program has provided economic benefits for several Indigenous tribes, some argue that “the program creates the false appearance of progress when in fact it makes the climate problem worse.”

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The Farmer Trying to Save Italy's Ancient Olive Trees

Agostino Petroni

April 29, 2021 |

Atlas Obscura |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Italy, Gagliano del Capo, Puglia

An imported strain of bacteria is threatening to destroy olive trees in Italy that produce about 12 percent of the world’s olive oil. An agronomist is working with other scientists to graft trees — taking a different kind of tree that could be resistant to the bacteria and inserting it into the trunk of an older tree. After years of trial and error, they’ve found some success. On one farm, 70 percent of the grafts used have survived. But conspiracy theories and financial difficulties have made it a challenge to have a coordinated response to the problem.

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Captured and Converted: How Methane Powers Art in Western North Carolina

Jessica Bradley Wells

April 27, 2021 |

The Bitter Southerner |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Dillsboro, North Carolina

Jackson County Green Energy Park uses methane leaking from a closed landfill to power blacksmithing and glassblowing studios. The county cleared 550 tons of loose debris and drilled thirteen 70-80-foot wells to capture the methane gas produced by bacteria digesting organic material, the 3rd leading human-caused type of greenhouse gas emissions. The studios, which offset the equivalent of taking nearly 1,000 vehicles off the road, also provide less expensive and more accessible studio spaces that have launched the careers of several artists. Reuse projects can capture up to 90% of a landfill’s methane.

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How Kenya turned the tide against ivory poachers

Andres Schipani

April 27, 2021 |

Financial Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Nanyuki

More and more park rangers, judges, prosecutors, and wildlife investigators are working together to stop poaching in Kenya. Through training and a new app that allows all parties to track wild animals in a protected conservation area, the number of poaching cases has decreased from 449 creatures killed illegally in 2021 to 93 in 2018. The number of court cases have also decreased in recent years.

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Mongolia Tackles Cleaner Water

Odonchimeg Batsukh

April 27, 2021 |

Global Press Journal |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Mongolia, Erdenebulgan, Arkhangai Province

A new wastewater treatment plant in Mongolia is cleaning up its water so it doesn’t cause environmental problems or poison livestock and herders. This is one of the first treatment plants built under the country’s national project to modernize its facilities. Tests of the byproduct have confirmed that the water is 93 percent clean and the smell is virtually gone. Building and operating these plants is expensive, but new ones have opened, and the government plans to finish the project by 2022.

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The detection dogs tracking poachers and Covid-19

Claire Bates

April 27, 2021 |

BBC |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Tanzania

Detection dogs and their handlers can be trained to sniff out any number of problems. In eastern Africa, the Canines for Conservation project has deployed dogs to search for poachers and illegally harvested wildlife products. By tracking poachers from the scenes of illegal kills and finding ivory and rhino horns stashed in warehouses and shipping containers far more efficiently than X-ray methods, the project has contributed to nearly 400 product seizures, higher conviction rates, and elimination of elephant poaching in parts of Kenya. The next frontier being tested: detecting COVID-19 infections.

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