MyWeku

Ever wondered how a ball game first played in ancient China as early as 2500 BC, a game used by the ancient Egyptians at religious ceremonies and established in England in the 19th century can contribute to generating energy?

Well, thanks to four Harvard graduates with experience in global health and working in developing countries, a prototype of a football has been developed that could harvest enough clean energy to charge a mobile phone or a lamp.

The sOccket as it is called is described as being able to “capture the energy from impact that is normally lost to the environment when the soccer ball/football is kicked, dribbled, thrown and stores this energy for later use”.

The developers have held pilot programmes in Durban South Africa and more recently in Nairobi, Kenya. Their aim is to extend the sOccket ball concept to North America and Europe as well.

There are three main reasons why we like this:

1. Raising awareness:

Electricity generation across Africa is extremely poor especially in rural areas. Fosil-Fuel fired electricity accounts for about 80% of electricity generated. it is, therefore, imperative that energy generated from natural resources such as sunlight, rain, wind and in this case energy harvesting “footballs” be noted and promoted.

It is too much of a stretch to suggest sOccket will make a significant impact on reducing the level of fosil fuel fired electricity used. That is not what its developers claim. However, raising awareness especially amongst the young on the benefits of renewable energy is what sOccket does. This is a step in the right direction.

2. World Cup in South Africa

Arguably, Africa’s number 1 sport is football. The greatest football tournament is the FIFA World Cup and this year it will be hosted in Africa (South Africa). sOccket strikes me as a product that if effectively promoted, especially at grass roots level, could end up being a hit during the world cup in June 2010. FIFA (the governing body for world football) has already taken the first step when two days ago (3rd February 2010) it announced that for the first time in its history a renewable energy company, Yingli has been selected to be one of its international sponsors for the world cup.

3. Health benefits

Football is an inexpensive sport favoured and played by millions in resource poor areas of the world from South America to Africa. Deriving not only health benefits from the sport but also renewable energy does make for a fine romantic story!

Nii Thompson