Three students from Sibusisiwe Comprehensive Technical High School in Umbumbulu, KwaZulu-Natal have developed a business strategy to create an affordable source of energy.
Tiffany Ogbonnaya, Zanele Khwela and Thulile Zikhali all in Grade 11, named their business concept Recy-Coal, which is described as an eco-friendly way to source energy using marula nuts.
Team leader, Ogbonnaya, told Sunday World that they were doing research to find economically friendly ways to create energy. Inspired by the ongoing blackouts in the country, they worked on finding something that would burn longer yet cause less harm to nature.
She says they turned to the dominant marula trees around their neighbourhood to investigate what would happen to the nuts if they were burnt.
“We thought wood was normal so we took the marula nut at burnt it and the results were amazing, maybe because we were not too sure about what we were doing yet that was our perfect answer to what we were looking for.
“We immediately learnt that the marula nut is low on carbon emission and burnt longer as compared to wood and briquettes we would use for braai. This means we can look at using it to create longer lasting braai fire, but most exciting, energy. This means with more research this can save us from loadshedding because they’ll need less coal and less marula nuts, they really burn longer,” said Ogbonnaya.
The project has landed the three learners the leading spot at the Step Up 2 – A Start Up National Youth Entrepreneurship Awards, last Friday.
Ogbonnaya said this was an unexpected but also an honour which made them believe their business plan was on the right track.
Though this win, they have each received a degree bursary from Richfield worth R112 000, a bursary to the Johannesburg Business School’s Entrepreneurship Programme to the value of R50 000 and Seed Funding worth R20 000. They have also bagged an all-expenses paid trip which they can claim in August next year, tablets and vouchers from Clicks.
“This is the most exciting time in my life, and for the rest of the team because we just went to the trees and tried out this small thing yet it turns out it might be part of solutions to South Africa’s major challenge.
“We are excited to start implementation and grow our research with the help of mentors already in the field. There is so much we can do and so much we are ready to do,” she said.
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