As part of efforts to reduce waste and use waste as a resource to produce energy, Umar bun Hatab Islamic Basic School in Madina-Zongo has partnered with Lancaster University UK and Institute of Industrial Research (IIR) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Ghana to install an energy producing bio digester in the school.
The project called the “ACTUATE” project forms part of the Accelerating The Adoption of Circular Sanitation Demonstration System for Improved Health Outcomes program.
The project was funded by the Global Challenge Research Funds through UK Research and innovation.
According to the headmaster of the school, Mr. Sulemana Imoro, the project which is a pilot comes along with a bio digester and a science laboratory which is refered to as the show lab.
“The energy which is gas that will be generated from the bio digester through the waste will be used to power the show lab” he stated.
Mr. Imoro stated that the project which commenced in the last quarter of 2019 had little a set back in the year 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic. “But in the last quarter of 2020 the project commenced fully and it has officially ended on December 31, 2021”.
He also stated that there have been several community engagements with key stakeholders such as Chiefs, Imams, Community Based Organisations (CBOs), , GES, Parents of students amongst many others who have expressed their excitement for the project.
Umar Bun Hatab Basic school and Benin University in Nigeria are the only two educational institutions selected in Africa for the “ACTUTAE” pilot project.
Other partners of the project include
HATOF foundation,Green AD, and Sewage System Ghana.
The commissioning of the project is expected to be in the first quarter of 2022.