So you may be asking yourself, 'Where is Ouagadougou and why is Christian there?' Valid question. As you probably know, I'm doing my masters in renewable energy and I have to do a 2 month internship. I got on with the SNV, a Dutch rural development agency working around the world. I'm working on a pilot project involving the gasification of cashew shells on a cashew plantation in the middle of nowhere. The idea is to take these cashew shells which are normally just thrown away, and get some useful energy out of them. In this case, we make syngas out of the shells which is then burned to power a boiler. The steam from the boiler is then used to soften the cashews so their shells can be cracked. These shells are then gasified and thus the cycle continues. Since this is a sustainable plantation run by Wisions, the whole process is more or less carbon neutral.
So what do they need me for? Well, right now there are some problems (social, financial, technical) and the gasifier isn't being used. My job is to help address these issues and establish a system which actually works. It's a lot to do in only 2 months, so we'll see how things go. That said, I'm really excited to be working on this project and could definitely see myself doing more of the same in the future.
Some notes on Burkina Faso:
1) Tout le monde parle français. And I thought 12 years of French Immersion would be totally useless...
2) Burkina Faso is in the finals for the African Cup of Nations (that's a soccer title for you North Americans)
3) Chickens are the most annoying animal in recorded history and insist on waking you up at 6:00 in the morning.
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