:00:02. > :00:05.next month. Now on BBC News, in this week's edition of Our World,
:00:05. > :00:15.Tom Heap investigates the green energy revolution sweeping east
:00:15. > :00:16.
:00:16. > :00:22.Africa. There is a new power struggle in Africa. The demand for
:00:22. > :00:27.Allott trustee exceeds supply. I am in Kenya to find out how darkness
:00:27. > :00:32.limits life and how the solutions are unleashing light across a
:00:32. > :00:37.swathe of Africa. Can superheated water from under the Rift Valley
:00:37. > :00:44.deliver power to the people? That is so much more than a deafening
:00:44. > :00:48.roar. It is an elemental power that makes the ground tremble. And,
:00:48. > :00:58.could a revolutionary solar lamp banish the gloom from billions of
:00:58. > :00:59.
:00:59. > :01:02.homes. We need something to put power online as possible. Some of
:01:02. > :01:09.them have Sola lamps and it is changing the way they can work.
:01:09. > :01:19.Will energy from the rocks below electrify Africa for the 21st
:01:19. > :01:38.
:01:38. > :01:43.Central Kenya, like countless other towns and villages across the
:01:43. > :01:53.developing world, this place has ambitions which outstrip its energy
:01:53. > :01:55.
:01:55. > :02:00.supply. Sylvester Muthama is the village hairdresser. The manual
:02:00. > :02:08.clippers give them cramp. It is slow, unpopular and painful for his
:02:08. > :02:17.customers. But without electricity, it is all there is. What can you do
:02:17. > :02:27.for me? Not too much. There is another business in my mind. A
:02:27. > :02:28.
:02:28. > :02:34.vision. Whereby I get electricity. And I do welding. You are a
:02:34. > :02:42.business when with IDs but you cannot get on. Without electricity,
:02:42. > :02:48.I cannot do anything. I have the ability but not the power. That is
:02:48. > :02:52.very neat but I'm not sure about the choirboy you work. He works
:02:52. > :02:57.alongside fellow entrepreneurs. His aunt is a seamstress. She would
:02:57. > :03:04.love to expand to business but without electricity, she is left
:03:04. > :03:07.with only the power of hand and foot. There are people like him all
:03:07. > :03:12.across this region, pupils whose aspirations could be creating
:03:12. > :03:18.wealth and jobs but the lack of an affordable, reliable source of
:03:18. > :03:25.electricity holds them back. Being powerless effects industry's old
:03:25. > :03:35.and new. This online magazine cannot exist without electricity.
:03:35. > :03:45.But the sauce is strictly a DIY job. I have been using it for quite some
:03:45. > :03:45.
:03:45. > :03:50.years. It powers everything, my laptop and my fines. Peter Njenga
:03:50. > :03:54.is another frustrated businessman. He uses a solar panel on the roof
:03:54. > :04:00.of his office to power his business as the Grid is so unreliable. A
:04:00. > :04:08.recent surge destroyed his computer. The unstable supply is killing his
:04:08. > :04:13.kit and tricking his ambition. is very important, because there is
:04:13. > :04:17.an explosion in the use of global technologies. Soon people like me
:04:17. > :04:24.and other young entrepreneurs that are doing business is online
:04:24. > :04:32.compared to a student who does not have a poor Corey Payne. Alec
:04:33. > :04:38.trustee powers everything, from the Internet to the fines were used.
:04:38. > :04:42.Kenya's economy is crying. But with three-quarters of the population
:04:42. > :04:47.off the grid, you realise that development happens despite the
:04:47. > :04:53.electricity supply not because of it. Reliable energy could
:04:53. > :05:03.accelerate growth. This is not a story without solutions. There are
:05:03. > :05:03.
:05:03. > :05:10.answers to the power problem. Some of them much closer than you think.
:05:10. > :05:15.The Great Rift Valley, a 4,000 mile long split in the surface of the
:05:15. > :05:21.Earth that stretches through East Africa. This crater was once the
:05:21. > :05:26.scene of regular volcanic eruptions, at least the size of Krakatoa.
:05:26. > :05:31.Shooting rocks like this high into the area. The whole place was a
:05:31. > :05:37.blizzard of ash and caustic gases. Now the very same power is on the
:05:37. > :05:44.brink of being harnessed to electrify Africa. The land around
:05:44. > :05:47.the belly feels primaeval. The proximity of the underworld in
:05:47. > :05:53.earning this area or the name Hell's Gate National Park. The
:05:53. > :05:57.local Maasai believe spirits 12 euros well. The earth his young
:05:57. > :06:07.here is the Rift Valley widens, cracks open up and the heat escapes
:06:07. > :06:07.
:06:07. > :06:12.to the surface. You can smell the sulphur and the rocks are toasty.
:06:12. > :06:16.To harness that he'd for Alec trustee, we must find palls of
:06:16. > :06:25.superheated water and the highly pressurised reservoirs below the
:06:25. > :06:28.surface. Daniel Odongo the head Engineer for KenGen is heading the
:06:28. > :06:35.search at the Olkaria Geothermal Plant 75 miles outside of the
:06:35. > :06:41.Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Trilling each will takes two months and
:06:41. > :06:47.demands all this hard where. Across Kenya, the ambitions for geothermal
:06:47. > :06:53.are massive. We need something that can put us online as fast as
:06:53. > :06:55.possible. Geothermal is doing that for us. People coming from all over
:06:55. > :07:01.Kenya and the world are coming to see what we're doing with
:07:01. > :07:07.geothermal. It is not on a huge scale, what you're doing here?
:07:07. > :07:17.is the single biggest investment for Kenya. It will cost $1.3
:07:17. > :07:19.
:07:19. > :07:23.billion. It is generate it the lot of excitement all over. The drill
:07:23. > :07:28.is boring down about two miles into the earth and there are eight of
:07:28. > :07:36.these rigs operating throughout Kenya, overall they want to drill a
:07:36. > :07:40.hundred wells. The subterranean pressure cooker brings water to the
:07:40. > :07:47.surface at temperatures above 200 degrees centigrade. Well worth
:07:47. > :07:51.keeping your distance when they let off steam. That is so much more
:07:52. > :08:00.than just a deafening roar. It is an elemental power that makes the
:08:00. > :08:05.ground tremble and shakes your chest. It is a force of nature. But
:08:05. > :08:11.taming the force is messy. It requires roads, pipelines and big
:08:11. > :08:18.earth-moving equipment, scarring the Hell's Gate National Park, home
:08:19. > :08:25.of the plant. The world famous wildlife must co-exist with the
:08:25. > :08:32.infrastructure of the Gallic trustee. That was a leopard. I
:08:32. > :08:36.wonder what she thought of it. is the first privately funded
:08:36. > :08:44.geothermal project in Africa. The developers have committed
:08:44. > :08:48.themselves to restoring the landscape. They have created this
:08:48. > :08:55.nursery to answer their critics who say they are not serious about
:08:55. > :08:59.minimising the environmental impact. We are by law required to be
:08:59. > :09:07.vegetate the land afterwards. Even where we are, what we are looking
:09:07. > :09:13.at now was like a chasm. We have rehabilitated it and are taking it
:09:13. > :09:19.back to what it is. We have minimum impact on the environment. And by a
:09:19. > :09:23.mental concerns may grow is the power station at the side expanse
:09:23. > :09:28.to feed on the wells being drilled. Within five years, this geothermal
:09:28. > :09:35.field is scheduled to produce more electricity than is currently
:09:35. > :09:42.consumed by walk Kenya. What am I looking at here? We're standing in
:09:42. > :09:50.front of a typical geothermal well. The cod -- for the C E O of the
:09:51. > :09:55.company, it is crucial for Kenya's long-term economic growth. We are
:09:55. > :10:00.looking for geothermal being the driver for expansion that we need
:10:00. > :10:06.to have enough power in the country to drive the economy and achieve
:10:06. > :10:14.our vision. In ten years' time, what will the energy generation
:10:14. > :10:18.look like of Kenya? The picture will look very green. 70% of our
:10:18. > :10:25.power supply will come from green sources. A figure most Western
:10:25. > :10:28.countries would envy. We do have a natural resources. We have wind,
:10:29. > :10:35.solar and Gio full well. Like Europe, we have more natural
:10:35. > :10:39.resources. By any comparison, that is a world-beating figure. Despite
:10:39. > :10:43.the abundance of green resources and the country's experience in
:10:43. > :10:53.producing geothermal, there is still a huge financial mountain to
:10:53. > :10:53.
:10:54. > :10:58.climb. We need over 10 billion US dollars between now and 2020. We
:10:58. > :11:03.believe that this is a viable project, these are projects we can
:11:03. > :11:07.get Paton's to develop with ourselves. Generating electricity
:11:08. > :11:17.is just one part of the energy problem in the developing world.
:11:18. > :11:19.
:11:19. > :11:24.Delivering power to the people is just as much of a challenge. Seven
:11:24. > :11:33.out of ten Africans do not have access to mains electricity. Right
:11:33. > :11:36.across this region of East Africa, much of life is lived in the dark.
:11:37. > :11:41.This village in the Kenyan Highlands, like all countries near
:11:42. > :11:51.the equator, the nights are long. 12 hours of daylight followed by 12
:11:52. > :11:58.
:11:58. > :12:04.hours of darkness. I have come here to meet Naima, a farmer and mother
:12:04. > :12:14.of two. While she cooked the dinner, the boys to the homework. Delight
:12:14. > :12:24.
:12:24. > :12:29.comes from paraffin lamps. -- the And that is $5 a month for a family
:12:29. > :12:34.with by up -- barely any money. Living by a naked flame could
:12:34. > :12:38.easily be romanticised but on top of the punishing costs, it is also
:12:38. > :12:48.heavily polluting. An evening of lighting by paraffin creates
:12:48. > :12:49.
:12:49. > :12:54.equivalent toxins to the smoke from 40 cigarettes. Thank you! At a good
:12:54. > :12:57.dinner. We have had to add some light to make these interview
:12:57. > :13:01.remotely visible. This is how she really works.
:13:01. > :13:05.Be lighting up the lives of people across the developing world in a
:13:05. > :13:15.safe and affordable way it is a big challenge. One of the solutions is
:13:15. > :13:18.
:13:18. > :13:23.an emblem of Africa. In fact, it is The Kenyan Highlands, like much of
:13:23. > :13:28.rural Africa, are witnessing a quiet revolution in solar power.
:13:28. > :13:34.Focus less on big expensive solar panels and power stations and more
:13:34. > :13:44.on simple solutions suited to the reality of life in the developing
:13:44. > :13:52.This is the Solar Roller, a vehicle taking the message of usable,
:13:52. > :13:55.affordable solar energy go out to the people. Victor Koyier is from
:13:55. > :14:01.the company a sunny money and they're saying that this small,
:14:01. > :14:07.robust and increasingly cheap solar devices across Africa. Another -- a
:14:07. > :14:14.lot of people using kerosene lamps of which are expensive and harmful.
:14:14. > :14:24.Having this light which is very cheap and is plug-and-play, you
:14:24. > :14:27.
:14:27. > :14:36.don't need to get somebody to come Five years ago, lights like this
:14:36. > :14:41.were being sold for �20. We are now selling it at close to �7. In 2012,
:14:41. > :14:46.we did 20,000 lives, a record. I was in one month, four weeks.
:14:46. > :14:52.Before that? A few years ago, we would do that -- within one year,
:14:52. > :14:56.we would sell 7,000 lives. Portable solar power is that a tipping point.
:14:56. > :15:03.In at two years, the cost of Ella the lights and panels and batteries
:15:03. > :15:11.have tumbled -- LED lights. The price tag took the dream of
:15:11. > :15:16.harnessing up sunshine from wishful thinking into reality. Today, the
:15:16. > :15:21.Sunni many crew is pitching to village elders and teachers. If
:15:21. > :15:28.they can sell the concept to them, they will open up a wider market of
:15:28. > :15:33.pupils and other punctual customers -- potential customers. In about
:15:33. > :15:39.four hours to six hours depending on the 10th Duke of the San...
:15:39. > :15:49.audience listens attentively but it is the demo that impresses. -- the
:15:49. > :15:52.
:15:52. > :15:56.Eliminating, cheap, and tough, it is a winning combination.
:15:56. > :16:00.After all the talk, what really impress people were seeing how
:16:00. > :16:05.strong it was. Testing it on the rope real ground. A lot of a
:16:05. > :16:09.product they have do not withstand the realities of African life. With
:16:09. > :16:14.the light impressing, sales are brisk. Most are teachers, shopping
:16:14. > :16:18.for themselves and for the parents of their pupils. Great time is over
:16:18. > :16:22.and the kids have to go back to the class. Of the 600 students here,
:16:22. > :16:30.nearly half of them have solar light in their home. It is changing
:16:30. > :16:32.the way that they can work. Stanley Rugut is one of the customers. He
:16:33. > :16:37.is the head teacher at Kemba Primary School.
:16:37. > :16:47.Around half of your teachers have solar lights in their homes. Why is
:16:47. > :16:56.it so successful? They are increasing in marks. They can do
:16:56. > :17:00.preparation at night. You can put it down to the solar lights? Your
:17:00. > :17:05.results have improved? Yes they have improved. It is down to people
:17:05. > :17:14.having evening light? Yes. The children are now coming up with
:17:14. > :17:20.good marks. It can change lives. One people benefiting from solar
:17:20. > :17:24.lighting is someone at not too keen on the limelight. Recent exams, in
:17:24. > :17:27.Nokia came first in his school and 55th in the hall of Kenya. He is a
:17:28. > :17:36.modest character who puts up with rather than encourages of the
:17:36. > :17:40.celebrations of his classmates. -- Enoch. At home, he demonstrates for
:17:40. > :17:45.me the land which has changed his life.
:17:45. > :17:52.You just got short exam results? I read in a paper that you were the
:17:52. > :18:01.55th best student in the hall of Kenya? Yes.How does that feel? I
:18:01. > :18:05.am very proud. A winter sport only here? President Obama? Wayne Reddit
:18:05. > :18:09.I'll have to market down for that one.
:18:09. > :18:13.He is a typical teenager in many ways but the new light in his life
:18:13. > :18:23.means that he can satisfy his life that might his appetite for study
:18:23. > :18:31.
:18:31. > :18:36.as well. Before there was daylight, I used to read up until... And now
:18:36. > :18:41.with the light, up to 10pm three more hours of light? You have
:18:41. > :18:48.gotten very good results. What do you want to do in your future? What
:18:48. > :18:51.is your hope? To be a doctor.A Dr! Yes. His success is not all down to
:18:51. > :19:01.the solar light but without it there is no doubt that his
:19:01. > :19:06.
:19:06. > :19:12.considerable talents would have But our problem in this region is
:19:12. > :19:16.holding back people in all sorts of ways. Economic growth here is
:19:16. > :19:23.between four and 5% a year, a figure that many countries can only
:19:23. > :19:30.dream of. Without a reliable supply of more affordable power that
:19:30. > :19:38.reaches more people, its potential that is only partly being realised.
:19:38. > :19:43.-- it is potential. This is the main street in Nakuru, Kenya's
:19:43. > :19:47.fourth-largest city. When the sun sets and darkness falls, streets
:19:47. > :19:51.become shadowy canyons. Few businesses here can afford power
:19:51. > :20:01.and many that do have electricity complain of power cuts as the Hydro
:20:01. > :20:04.
:20:04. > :20:08.Electric source is vulnerable to Electricity does not just enhance
:20:08. > :20:18.education and economic growth. For many, across the developing world,
:20:18. > :20:21.
:20:21. > :20:25.a lack of power is just plain Even by day, the Kibera in the
:20:25. > :20:35.Kenyan capital Nairobi is not the safest part of town. But by night,
:20:35. > :20:43.
:20:43. > :20:48.This man is well known in the community here but a few years ago
:20:48. > :20:58.when he was returning home in the night of the Kibera, he was
:20:58. > :20:58.
:20:58. > :21:08.attacked by a game -- began -- a gang. I met a group of young men.
:21:08. > :21:17.
:21:17. > :21:27.It was dark. I could not tell their Where they aren't? -- were they
:21:27. > :21:38.
:21:38. > :21:43.He cut to? That is the scar? He believes that tapas was just as
:21:43. > :21:48.crucial a weapon as the machete that tore his face. The resulting
:21:48. > :21:58.scars are more than physical. You have a staff of life because of
:21:58. > :22:16.
:22:16. > :22:20.Really? It is not just the fear at the time
:22:20. > :22:25.and the loss but the permanent effect on your life?
:22:25. > :22:30.The scene of the assault now has a single, very high street light. As
:22:30. > :22:36.there is just one light, the diners can easily target it, cutting the
:22:36. > :22:46.wires and with it, the only light in the neighbourhood. Danger in the
:22:46. > :22:53.
:22:53. > :22:59.If geothermal is to bring light to places like this, it will need huge
:22:59. > :23:03.amounts of money. Up to $15 billion across Kenya are alone. The big
:23:03. > :23:13.question hanging over Africa's energy ambitions is whether that
:23:13. > :23:18.
:23:18. > :23:28.Some of the people looking for it are here at the African Development
:23:28. > :23:40.
:23:40. > :23:42.Bank in Nairobi. Gabriel regard to Making sure the government puts in
:23:42. > :23:47.appropriate regulations to allow the private sector to come in is
:23:47. > :23:52.important. If the full potential is realised, how could it change
:23:52. > :23:57.things? Energy is a game changed up because there is a realisation
:23:57. > :24:07.across the Continent that this is an enabler but the Continent needs.
:24:07. > :24:13.
:24:13. > :24:18.What is today wasteland could be a Them universities and full economic
:24:18. > :24:23.activities and all that will be powered by Georg formal energy.
:24:23. > :24:28.They will say that what was once a dark Continent will have forced be
:24:28. > :24:34.known as the brightest concerned. That will be something for us to
:24:34. > :24:41.celebrate. -- brightest Continent. Whether it is a bubble looking to
:24:41. > :24:45.grow his business or the school boy wanting a light to study by, the
:24:45. > :24:49.entrepreneur trying to expand, or people wanting freedom from fear of
:24:49. > :24:55.a dark, I have seen how the appetite for more electricity in
:24:55. > :24:59.East Africa is insatiable. Solskjaer is helping feed that
:24:59. > :25:03.demand with a technological revolution, leapfrogging the
:25:03. > :25:08.traditional grits apply for an increasing number of people -- soul
:25:08. > :25:13.of energy. The really big economic steps are even more power-hungry.
:25:13. > :25:17.Europe and America needed coal to power their industrial revolutions.
:25:17. > :25:21.Africa has the opportunity to bypass the fossil fuel route,