Maker Faire Africa 2010 - UoN

On Friday 27th and Saturday 28th the University of Nairobi played host to a very wonderful event that brought innovative makers together to showcase their works and share ideas.I happened to go to the climax event on Saturday and I was amazed at the creativity of young minds bound to change this world as we know it in a night.The Make Faire event has been running for some time and has provided young makers a launchpad for taking their wonderful creations to a whole new level.
As i made my way though the exhibitions, I made a few stops to ask questions and take a few pictures at the creations.

Specifically, Maker Faire Africa focuses on the following:

----Brighten the light on local examples of the “fabrication” ethos

----Provide mechanisms to incubate these innovators and their products to a point where they can be taken to market

----Connect refined plans to disseminate innovations with...

Kenyan Cabinet approves a 421MW Power Generation Programme

The power shortage in Kenya is set to ease following Tuesday’s move by the Cabinet to approve a major generation programme.

Under the New Planned Power Generation Capacity Programme, six power projects are to be initiated this year.They include:

21MW Songoro Hydropower Project.
10MW Tana Hydropower Project.
5MW Ngong Windpower Project.
80MW Early Geothermal Power Project.
25MW Kindaruma Upgrade.
280MW Olkaria 1 and Olkaria 4.

 “In this regard Cabinet forwards for parliamentary approval the establishment of an escrow guarantee fund for semi-concessional loans for external borrowing by KenGen and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company from EIB and KFW to finance the additional power generation of 421 megawatts,” a statement issued by the Presidential Press Service said.

Community Power Centers (CPC) : UNIDO

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in partnership with other stakeholders has been working on a project of lighting up Kenya using electricity generated from renewable sources. The energy generated is taken to a village power center that acts as a community development center.Once electricity is at the center, it is used for different applications. Presently, unto 2Billion people lack access to modern energy mainly those living in of-grid areas.

The Community Power Centers Project
The community power project is a source of energy powered by zero-emission hybrid renewable energy sources such as:
 Micro-hydro, Mini-hydro
 Bio-gas

The Xiangjiaba - Shanghai ±800kV UHVDC Transmission Line Project

Recent developments in High Voltage transmission and distribution systems have shown a gradual increase in DC transmission systems at very high voltage levels. High Voltage Direct Current (H.V D.C) has become common in developed countries due to reduced costs at high voltages as compared to Alternating Current (A.C) transmission. It is because of such reasons that the recently completed Xiangjiaba-Shanghai 800kV UHVDC transmission line was built.