Evolution continues…

Air driven cars

We had earlier written of the flying and sailing cars, one of the greatest innovations happening in the motor industry. Today, we are looking at cars that can drive themselves, a possible venture that could in the near future replace what we have already.

Inasmuch as all these innovations are being done, others elsewhere seek to develop an alternative fuel for the cars. Fuel is a global issue as we tend to spend more than we can produce not forgetting the effects it causes to the environment.

Electricity and hydrogen have been discovered as alternatives to fossil fuels which are in use in all parts of the world. The cars are considered environment friendly and are a solution to global warming resulting from combustion of fuels in vehicles.

The hydrogen-powered cars are gaining a lot of popularity in some countries like the United States of America. They are considered cleaner than the conventional cars and would be the solution to air pollution in the cities. Hydrogen-powered cars rely on a fuel cell that takes oxygen from the air and combines it with hydrogen from a tank to create electricity. The electricity is used to power electric motors which turn the car wheels. As such, hydrogen-powered cars can be seen as electric vehicles that are not held back by the limited range of batteries.

These cars use the hydrogen fuel cell technology which was first developed in 1839. The cells were mostly used for back-up of power and in remote places that are inaccessible to the national grid. They have however been adopted by motor industry and are being used to power vehicles.

 A fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat, and water. Fuel cells are often compared to batteries. Both convert the energy produced by a chemical reaction into usable electric power. However, the fuel cell will produce electricity as long as fuel (hydrogen) is supplied, never losing its charge.
Different car makers are optimistic about the technology and are endorsing producing this type of cars.

General Motors surprised observers when the company presented a fifth-generation fuel cells. Compared to fourth-generation fuel cells, the weight of the entire unit has been reduced by 100 kilograms, while the unit takes up 50% less space (and is thus comparable to a four-cylinder petrol engine). Similar advances are being made by Daimler, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai, with Ford and Volkswagen following in their tracks.

The cars can only be filled in a hydrogen station. The stations are normally set at the highways. The hydrogen fuel dispensers dispense the fuel by the kilogram.

The fuel cell cars are better preferred than the electric cars which over a long range will need a lot of batteries. The fuel cells spew out nothing more noxious than water making them even friendlier to the environment.  

Insufficiency the mother of innovation

Technology’s’ dependence on Power has led to great inventions….

There is a great connection between the developments happening around us and energy. Most of what we do or use to do what we do is dependent on energy inform of electricity.

Power is with time becoming a basic necessity to be able to operate in the current world. As expected, the demand for power is higher than the amount available resulting to the need to discover and use other sources of energy. It could be hydro, geothermal, wind-which is gaining a lot of popularity in the country, nuclear-which remains a controversy of how safe it is and if we are really ready for it among others.

The world looks at a time when it will have enough energy for –if not everyone, enough to do what is expected of it at a very affordable cost. If possible, the free the better. This has led to the invention of high-tech energy capturing, producing and distributing mediums.

Technology is a one of the key reliants of power. Most technological inventions cannot be run without power specifically electric power. The cost of power however is in many parts of the planet expensive causing many to turn to alternatives as well as discovery of other sources of energy. The need to impact most of the planet with the new technology has also contributed to this. A company aiming o make sales will want to produce a product that will sufficiently serve people in areas with power problems or say one that will require minimum power.

Technology has seen the development of some gadgets that can be directly charged by human body, the sun, motion or any other energy producing bodies, interesting I say!

The commonest gadget we have is the solar-powered cell phones. The phones became a big hit in the rural areas where electricity is still a problem. You can never run out of charge as long as the sun rises every morning.

Adding to the list is the iPods and mobile phones that don’t require batteries or mains power for recharge. Instead they rely on the body movements to generate electricity – it could be the heart beat, movement of one’s legs or the pinch of the fingers.

Others innovations include: A soccer ball dubbed-the SOccket that captures energy from any impact that is usually lost to the environment. The generated electricity is stored in the ball, which can later be used to light an LED lamp or charge a cellphone.

The Magic Charger is another one of the latest energy-tech-inventions. It works under the concept of the principles of electromagnetic induction to harvest clean energy whenever the user plays with it.

Think of a device that is able to harvest and store the energy produced by your body mostly through movement. The HuMo is that kind of a devise. It aims at utilizing the physical capability of your body to charge the modern electronic gadgets we can’t live without. It’s able to generate an average of half a watt of power from a normal walking arm swing, which could be used to charge the power-hungry devices.

In other fields, wind energy has as well made some magnificent inventions that not only reduce cost but also make it one of the best renewable sources of energy. Tracing the path of the wind in places it runs fastest is what scientists or say technology are doing. Who would have thought of setting up a power station in the clouds or say some place on top of the deep sea?

Some international companies embarked on floating wind turbines projects to capture the wind energy. The airborne turbine has the advantage of tapping an almost constant wind, without requirements for slip rings or yaw mechanism, and without the expense of tower construction.

Altaeros Energies is one of the companies that has embarked in the making of the Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT).The AWT features an inflatable shell that is filled with helium, allowing it to float to higher altitudes where winds are often five times more powerful than those closer to the earth’s surface. This technology has been inspired by aerostats which traditionally have survived hurricane-level winds and employ safety features that ensure a slow descent to the ground.

This technology however is limited by bad weather such as lightning or thunderstorms which could temporarily suspend use of the machines, probably requiring them to be brought back down to the ground and covered. No commercial airborne wind turbines have however been in regular operation as of 2011.

The airborne wind turbine is said to require minimal maintenance and could displace expensive fuel used to power diesel generators at remote industrial, military, and village sites. It also causes minimal noise pollution.

Another one of this floating turbines invention is the offshore wind turbine .It is mounted on a floating structure in water depths where bottom-mounted towers are not feasible. The wind across the sea is typically more consistent and stronger over the sea, due to the absence of topographic features that disrupt wind flow. Locating wind farms out at sea can help reduce visual pollution. With modern inflatable materials it’s possible to lift wind turbines into more powerful winds almost everywhere.

This and so much more inventions have been and are being made to ensure energy sufficiency in running  the fast growing tech-world keeping in mind the power has to be environment friendly. We can be sure to always expect a better invention in the future!

Automotive Industry changing with times

I can fly or/and sail in my car...........

The future of automotive industry is taking shape pretty fast. Good news to the resident of Nairobi when they realize that they can actually fly over the traffic jams and to Coastal residents that sailing past a broken down Ferry is indeed a reality. 

Car manufacturing just like any other sector has seen rapid technological growth. We now have more efficient and effective machines from a simple four cylinder engine to six cylinder engine, turbo-charged to supercharged engines, diesel engines to hybrid engines using both fossil fuels and electric energy. Every car manufacturer is investing in Research and Development to respond to the changing Market trends.All you need is to invest in is a modern car, the amphibian car and or the fly car.

The amphibian car will do very well in the lake side. Not exactly for fishing but for traveling to the other side for work. But you can always pick a few fish on your way home, you just ensure you have a fishing rod packed in the boot and some baits. At the Coast as well, it will do marvelous. No more having to travel in fear of a breakdown in an overcrowded ferry. Or better still, no more waiting for ages until the bridge in your area is fixed. You will not need it anyway. It is designed to travel on both land and water.

This car, commonly referred to as the amphicar was a German invention back in the World War II.It was designed for traveling during the war time. Much has however been done today with improved technology so as to modernize the car. It has picked much popularity in France as well as in most parts of the world. The innovation of this car was triggered by the need to increase the capability of a land-vehicle. They wanted the already existing land-car to do more than just land transportation and thus the amphibian car was then innovated. 

This type of car has in the recent times been fitted with new technology unlike the first cars making them safer and easier to drive. They are able to travel at very high speeds on both water and land. They are set in a way that they change according to the ground they travel on.

This car is fitted with propellers that propel the car through water. The car dubbed Rin speed Splash -proclaimed as the fastest amphibian vehicle ever built, utilizes hydrofoil technology, allowing the body to be raised out of the water. It’s able to reach 80 kilometers per hour on the water and as a sports car 200 kilometers per hour on the road. Another one of the fast amphicars is the Aquada from the Gibbs Technologies. It reaches a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour on land and a maximum of peed of 55 kilometers per hour on water.

The flying car, this type of car exists and is with time gaining a lot of popularity. Think of how much time and money can be saved if traffic jams were avoided. Or say how easily one can access some places that are normally hard to access with normal cars. You need not dare to drive over some really muddy places, just fly over them and drive on once you pass them. 

One of the innovations under this type of car is the Transition. It has foldable wings which retract when it is on the road. The Transition has a wingspan of 26 feet that tucks in and out with the push of a button, altering between a flying machine and a car within 30 seconds. With a full tank, the car can fly for 460 miles at the speed of 110 miles per hour.

The next big thing could be a multipurpose car, this will be able to move on land, sail in water and fly in the air.

Government to roll out 4G Network

The Government plans to introduce the 4G network into the country through a joint consortium with internet providers in the country. The 4G will replace the 3G which has been in use in the country for some time now. Safaricom, which is one of the few firms who have expressed interest in the joint venture, however differs with the government on the network frequencies and threatens to pull out of the venture.

The government insists on the use of 2.6 GHz frequency as opposed to 700MHz which Safaricom says requires less Base Transmitter Stations (BTS). The 700MHz frequencies are commonly used for the provision of Long Term Evolution (LTE) in rural regions, but are less effective in built-up urban areas .The 4G technology has a larger capacity to deliver data and facilitate high-end services such as video conferencing and gaming.

According to Mr.Nkioka Waita, Safaricom’s corporate affairs director, the 2.6GHz spectrum covers a radius of just 400 meters, whereas 700MHz spectrum is capable of covering a distance of between 19.2km and 28.8km, necessitating fewer BTS.

The 4G ownership structure is modeled on a Private Public Partnership (PPP), where the government and the operators –including foreign firms – will own stakes in the network equivalent to the capital they inject in the special purpose entity.

Other participants officially confirmed for inclusion in the partnership as per October last year were; Airtel Kenya, Essar Telecom Kenya (yu) , Orange Kenya, Kenya Data Networks (KDN) ,MTN Business Kenya, global vendors Alcatel-Lucent (France), Epesi Technologies (US) and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN, Finland).

The venture will see the operators inject Sh10 billion to start construction of the advanced network with the government providing frequencies for a stake.

Come let’s talk Technology….!

Njakwe Self-styled Tech-writer and a blogger!

Njakwe, that’s ma grandma, so I’m the young Njakwe named as per the Agikuyu traditions…..! Brought up in a small countryside Kirangari, a village in Gatundu South, Central Kenya. That’s the home of the Kenyans founding father, Mzee Jomo.

Born on an eve to lover’s day, Valentine. I’m energized with love and I love my God too. My mum and Dad both called Njuguna hail from Kirangari. I’m a last born in a family of five; I got two siblings Kimani Kamau.

I did my primary school levels in Gatundu primary school under close watch of Miss Ng’endo, my aunt, who was then the headmistress and spend most of my teenage life at Kerugoya Girls high school before joining Nairobi Institute of Business Studies horn my Journalism. Well, like it’s always told, you’re never too old for education. I still got some plans cooking!

My read: Kenyaengineer.co.ke, the tech column
My Life: It’s what pictures I take; the world is a global village.
My quote: This too shall pass!
My Politics: Innovative
My Energies: Fellowships and dancing
My food: Githeri (for my community) and chicken (being a Kenyan gal)
My Religion: He is the alpha and Omega
My colour: Blue the tech colour
My Music: Slower the better
My sports: Basketball
My life manual: The bible

Remarks
The ability for anybody to have a thought, be able to type it up and then publish it online for the world to see (for free) changed everything we know about publishing, journalism and the media. Journalism is the right profession!

Transforming Nairobi to a Smart City

A few days after announcing that they were setting up an innovation centre in Nairobi, International Business Machines (IBM) is now pitching for a government job to transform Nairobi into a smart city. The company has drawn a white paper titled-A Vision of a smarter City, discussing the possibility of turning Nairobi into a city whose functionalities are pegged on modern day technology.

The concept sets to integrate the different aspects of the city for example; traffic control, emergency response, water provision as well as garbage collection, all to run from one central command centre.

Traffic jams which cost the country an estimated Sh50 million everyday are the lead woes for residents commuting in and out of the city. According to a surely carried out by IBM last year, Nairobi was ranked fourth most painful cities to commute in the world. Adding to the woes is frequent water shortages, non-existant garbage disposal mechanisms, frequent power outages and lack of access roads to residential areas for emergency response.

The Information and Communication PS, Bitange Ndemo acknowledges that city looses billions of shillings annually to inefficiency.”Adoption of technology is essential for the city to handle these challenges and grow”, he said.

The white paper is however under negotiations with the government and no conclusions have been made yet.”From the discussions, we see a tremendous interest in IBM’s Smarter Cities vision”, said Tony Mwai who was appointed to head the new nerve centre for Kenya and East Africa. Tony Mwai had been working in the company’s head office in USA for the last 25 years.

IBM has been operating in Africa for nearly six decades and has invested more than $US120 million in the last two years as part of its strategy to focus on the world’s growth markets.

Unveiling the Anticipated iPad 3

Apple is expected to announce its newest product, the iPad 3 sometime today. The tablet expected to be an improvement of the previous iPad 2 will be launched under Tom Cook who was named Apple chief executive after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. There will be an Apple event today at Sanfrasisco during which it is expected that they will launch the iPad 3 otherwise known as the iPad HD.The following are some of the features that are expected to be in the tablet:
Retina Display-The iPad 3 is expected to bump up with an extra-ordinary HD display resolution of 2048x1536 pixels that will exhibit an improved, brighter display. The resolution of iPad 3 will be double of iPad 2. The retina will offer a clearer and sharper viewing experience to watch the videos or in playing the games.
Better Camera-iPad 2 disappointed in the camera department, featuring a 0.7 megapixel with 720p video capture capabilities and a secondary front-facing VGA, one for video chat. The iPad 3 is expected to come up with upgraded camera features. It will feature an 8-megapixels camera with full HD quality video capture capability, as well as a front-facing camera for HD quality Face Time video chat.
Faster Processor-It is unlikely that Apple will power iPad 3 with a dual-core A5 processor since the same chip already powers iPad 2. iPad 3 is expected to be powered by a quad-core A6 processor, which will result in faster overall performance and superior handling of graphics. Apple will want the iPad 3 to steal a march in the tablet race by including the faster processor, since the iPad 2 has already proved itself as a powerful tablet with the A5 processor.
4G LTE-iPad 3 is expected to come up with the 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) feature unlike the old 3G technology that used in iPad 2.That will help its users browse and download content at speed ten times faster than 3G.
Siri-The iPad 3 features the Siri function in the iPhone 4S.The voice assistant  can do many things including send out messages, organize meetings, search locations, call someone, and more.
NFC (Near Field Communication)-The iPad 3 is expected to include NFC technology that allows simplified transactions, data exchange, and connections with a touch. If NFC comes to iPad 3, you'll be able to use the tablet to make a credit card payment or use it as a keycard or ID card.
iOS 6-The iPad 3 will use iOS 6 which is a higher version of the iOS 5. The iOS 5 offered significant advancements over iOS 4, bringing over 200 new features, including iCloud and iMessage.
Better Battery-The new features-4G LTE, a faster processor and Retina Display demand for more power and thus the new tablet is expected to accommodate a bigger, better battery so that users can enjoy the new tablet without worrying about recharging it.

President Kibaki to oversee Ground Breaking of LAPSSET Corridor

The ground breaking of the Mega LAPSSET project is scheduled to take place on Friday 2nd March. The grand event which is expected to attract a massive audience including head of states will be held at Lamu. The project will be launched by the president Mwai Kibaki and some of those expected to attend are South Sudan’s President Silva Kiir and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The ground breaking will give way for the construction of various components starting with three berths whose design is complete already.
The whole project is considered as financially viable and applicable for PPP investment. The three countries-Kenya South Sudan and Ethiopia will cost share the project.

The project however is not without opposition from the community. Residents fear that the project will interfere with the area’s fresh water sources. They argue that the new resort facilities coming up in Shela will interfere with the sand dunes which are the only membrane between sea water and the sea water.
The government of Kenya however assures the residents that it will do everything to save Lamu’s famous cultural treasure from annihilation including the sand dunes. The prime Minister had earlier this year visited the area and assured the residents that the project was environmentally friendly since a feasibility study had been taken earlier and proved so.
The whole project will see to the building of 32 berth modern port at Lamu, an oil refinery, standard gauge railway line to Juba in Southern Sudan with a branch line to Ethiopia, a 1300km oil pipeline linking Lamu with the oil fields of Southern Sudan, a 1720km super highway connecting to Ethiopia and South Sudan and within Kenya alongside the LAPSSET Corridor the construction of three international airports in Lamu, Isiolo and Lokichogio and upgrading them to become resort cities. When complete the Lamu port will be the largest port on the African continent.

7.1 billion to rehabilitate Coastal water infrastructure

The World Bank together with the French Development Agency have injected Sh7.1 billion for rehabilitation of water systems in the Coast region. Most of the region has been experiencing sanitation and water hitches for sometime due to worn out pipes some of which are said to have been in use for over fifty years now.





The money injected through the Coastal Water Services Board is part of the USD150 Million allocated for water and sanitation projects in the country by the bank. The funds will see the rehabilitation of Mzima,Marere and Baricho water sources and also the improvement of existing water and sanitation services in the region. The rehabilitation works include the 26KM Mzima pipeline which will have new steel pipes installed.

The ongoing works are said to be the cause of the recent water scarcity in Taita-Taveta, Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa.However, rehabilitation of the main Mzima pipeline is almost complete. Upon completion of all works, water supply to the residents will increase from 58million litres to 80 million litres a day.

The World Bank has greatly supported the country’s Vision 2030 its largest commitment being to the infrastructure namely; energy, water and telecommunications. Other areas of investment include agriculture and rural development.
The bank has poured out billions of shillings in projects most of which are ongoing while some are still in processing stage. The funding is being done through the government of Kenya and different projects are receiving different amounts. The conditions also differ for the different projects.
Some of the projects being funded by the World Bank include; Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project, Natural Resource Management Project, Development Learning Centre ,Institutional Reform and Capacity Building Technical Assistance Project ,Kenya Electricity Expansion Project among others.

Oil prospects attracts multinationals in Kenya

Prospects that there could be oil in Kenya have seen investors troop in to put millions of dollars in drilling wells in search  for “black gold”. Various multinationals have set camp in the country and some drilling has already begun in the northern and Southeastern parts of the country to try and establish oil deposits. The deepest well to be sunk in Kenya was done by Chinese cooperation CNOOC at just about KM.



Afren Plc-a London based independent oil & gas company, becomes the latest firm to join the list of foreign investors in search of oil in the country. Other firms that have already earned exploration rights include; Tullow Oil ,Apache, Africa Oil, CNOOC, Ophir, BG Group Plc (BG/),Dominion Petroleum Ltd. (DPL) among others.AfrenPlc plans to spend between sh4.1 and sh4.9 billion out of the a total sh41.4 billion set out to finance its global portfolio this year on exploration activities in Kenya. The company intends to drill one exploration well targeting the Coast by the second half of this year.
According to National Oil Company-which is mandated by the Government of Kenya to monitor the oil exploration process under the Ministry of Energy, the limitations of risk capital from government is the reason as to why some exploration activities such as well drilling have been left mostly to international oil companies. Smaller firms have however held onto oil blocks but due to lack of resources, not much exploration activity happened. On average, an exploratory well costs Sh7.8 billion to drill, while a production well costs many times this figure.
Shell BP is among the companies to begin oil exploration in the country where it discovered small but good qualities of oil in the Turkana region back in 1991.The areas predicted to have gas or oil in the Northern region are Isiolo and Marsabit where digging is ongoing. Lamu also houses some blocks which many investors are eying.
The country has however not struck any oil deposits yet in spite the mass investment by multinationals. It is however thought that since Kenya and Uganda-which has already discovered oil, have a similar geological structure it is possible that Kenya could be standing on oil. The two countries share the same oil-latent rocks.
“The statistic provides great cause of optimsm, and proves that there are working hydrocarbon systems in each of the key basins that are prospective for oil and gas”, pointed out Galib Virani of East African Exploration.
If these explorations bear fruit, Kenya will join list of neibouring countries that are already enjoying the free gift of nature, the “black gold”. Tanzania is already mining gas while Rwanda has discovered methane gas around Lake Kivu.