Meet mini-grids — the clean energy solution bringing power to millions | Tombo Banda

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hundreds of millions of people lack access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa, relying on highly polluting diesel and firewood for power and light. Working to brighten the future in her home country of Malawi and beyond, energy access innovator Tombo Banda makes the case for mini-grids — localized energy systems powered by solar energy that are quick and cheap to deploy — and shares ideas for making them more profitable and scalable.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective.
0:02.0	Audio Collective.
0:04.0	I'm Elise Hugh, it's
0:08.0	I'm Elise Hugh, it's Ted Talks Daily.
0:12.0	Today, a case for electrifying rural areas
0:15.2	that doesn't just benefit people in their livelihoods,
0:18.0	but helps the environment, too.
0:20.0	In her 2023 talk from the TED countdown,
0:23.0	Energy Access Innovator Tombo Banda sheds light
0:26.3	on how to get more people, more power, more quickly.
0:30.3	After the break.
0:42.0	In 1994, electricity came to my mother's childhood village in Zomba, Malawi where my grandmother still lived. I used to love going to Zomba as a kid. I was a typical city brat
0:46.4	romanticizing village life. I used to love going. I used to get to carry water on my
0:51.8	head and you know I remember the smell. to get to carry water on my head.
0:53.0	And I remember the smell of kerosene,
0:56.5	as my grandma told stories at night,
0:59.4	and my grandpa would be nodding off to these stories. But when that electricity came, it meant no more
1:06.8	stinging eyes for my grandma from the smoke from the outside kitchen. It meant no more bedtime at seven,
1:15.0	those news to be watched.
1:17.0	And more importantly for my cousins, Manuel and Charles,
1:21.0	it meant a magical thing called more time. More time to pursue hobbies
1:27.3	and interest and to study. They both went on to pursue further education.
	...

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