Using Windmills to Fight Energy Poverty

While talk of energy these days often focuses on the surging demand for oil in places like China and India, an article in today’s Wall Street Journal highlights “energy poverty” in Sub-Saharan Africa—and what one young man in Malawi has done about it.  Twenty-year-old William Kamkwamba has built several windmills, using blue-gum trees and bicycle parts, to provide his home in Masitala, Malawi with electricity.  Having taught himself windmill building, he hopes to build more windmills for his village and others across the country to provide electricity for water pumping and lighting.  Believing in his talent, a group of investors has even financed his education in the capital city of Lilongwe.  While the issue of scaling up wind and other alternative energy is an important one, William’s story underscores the need for modern fuel and electrical systems in the poorest parts of the world, a need that, as William demonstrates, can be fulfilled in part through clean and renewable energy sources.