Students, faculty help Ghana villagers 'go green'

 by Alan Bradford
 published on Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Students from ASU's Polytechnic campus along with students from around the world are helping African villages turn an unusual fuel source — gel — into a lucrative business.

The 40 students, members of the group GlobalResolve, are working with students from England and Ghana.

The group's alternative fuel project in the small village of Domeabra, Ghana, replaces traditional charcoal, wood and dung with a smokeless gel fuel for cooking and heating, said Mark Henderson, engineering professor and founding member of GlobalResolve.

"Gel fuel is not a new idea," Henderson said. "The new idea is how to make it available."

He said the goal of the project is to help the villagers help themselves through entrepreneurship.

"We are teaching the villagers how to make this into a business opportunity," he said. "Like the old analogy, we are teaching them to fish. But not only are we teaching them to fish, we are turning them into professional fishermen."

Recent increases in funding from various public and private sources have enabled the team to push forward on projects, Henderson said.

The fuel program is one of several major projects aimed at helping villages in Ghana. Development of water purification systems, alternative fuel sources and medical tools are all part of GlobalResolve's current efforts.

Henderson said he believes that this has been a key to the success of the program.

"We are trying to help these countries to become self-sufficient," he said. "Having students and professors come up with a business model for something that will be run in Africa does not make sense. Networking has been crucial for our success."

A group of Polytechnic professors started GlobalResolve in 2006 to address the health needs of villagers in developing countries by providing them with the tools they need to improve their lives.

Chemical engineering sophomore Lucas Rogers has been involved with GlobalResolve since September. He is using his experience as the subject of his thesis project.

"I can't imagine another program that would have given me such a wide range of experiences," Rogers said. "It has been incredible to work with the people in Ghana."

Reach the reporter at alan.bradford@asu.edu.