Tuesday 20 February 2018

UK firm crowdfunding to electrify Indian village

A Southampton-based firm has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help bring reliable electricity and water to a remote village in India.

SEaB Energy hopes to install its waste-to-energy technology, which converts food and organic waste into power, heat, water and fertiliser directly on site, at the village of Mori in Andhra Pradesh.

It is looking to raise one third of the £120,000 goal to prepare, transport and install two of its systems in the off-grid village.

CEO and Co-Founder Sandra Sassow said: “There could be as many as 50 million rural households in India without electricity but prohibitive infrastructure costs could mean that these people may be never ever connected to the grid.

“Our ‘power-in-a-box’ technology means that the villagers can now generate a source of green electricity from their food and organic waste, for which there is a ready supply, without the need for expensive infrastructure.”

The company is part of a new programme, which includes the University of California, Berkeley and the Government of Andhra Pradesh, aiming to transform the lives of villages in remote communities.