Paraffin power heat and light

By John Reynolds, The Irish Times

Researchers at Trinity College have developed a clean technology that improves on oil-powered lighting used by two billion people in less developed Asian and sub-Saharan African countries.

On a visit to the Great Thar Desert, near the border with Pakistan in India's Rajasthan province, research leader Dr Tony Robinson, who has a background in studying thermal science, came up with an idea that would provide brighter lighting than basic kerosene burning lights.

"The people there are using solutions as basic as bent-up Pepsi cans and burning raw kerosene in them.

"The combined CO2 output of that across the developing world is equal to about a quarter of Britain's carbon emissions.

"But it's also a massive drain on their already meagre incomes because they're spending up to 25 per cent of their income on kerosene. So we felt that this was a good area on which to focus our attentions," Robinson said.

He was therefore inspired to come up with a cheaper, less polluting method of lighting, which would also somehow use the abundant solar energy from the daytime heat of over 50 degrees.

He found that paraffin wax could be heated up and as it melts it stores the sun's energy. And when combined with a thermo-electric generator, this heat could then be released in the much colder night-time temperatures in order to power a white LED light.

The team has dubbed their invention "the eternal candle", and with the help of a marketing and branding consultant and the backing of Enterprise Ireland, they have formed a company called Restor, which stands for Renewable Energy Storage, with the aim of developing other off-grid technologies.

There are now a lot of technologies, materials and electronic parts that are very cheap and can be used for some of these products.”

Robinson believes that the route to full commercialisation of the eternal candle is through a joint venture with companies who already have distribution channels in place to reach the potential market of 295 million households.

The Irish Times