RESEARCHERS AND STUDENTS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE TRAININGS ON SCIENTIFIC WRITING AND BIOENERGY TECHNOLOGIES BY ACERA
From 28th to 30th June 2017, CREEC organized two trainings on Scientific Writing and Bio-energy technologies (biogas and gasification). These trainings were organized under the African Clean Energy Research Alliance which consists of
- University of Leeds (UK),
- Université Marien Ngouabi (Congo Brazzaville),
- Dar Es Salaam Institute of Technology (Tanzania),
- College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology in Makerere University and
- Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation
These trainings were organized under a five year project titled, ““Solar treatment of biomass for power generation using carbon slurries in hybrid renewable energy systems” which was awarded by the Royal Society under Programme Round 2 of their Africa Capacity Building Initiative (ACBI).
Participants after receiving their certificates at the end of the training
Day 1: Scientific Writing (28th June 2017)
CREEC held the Scientific training organized at the CEDAT boardroom. Prof Jon Lovett from the University of Leeds led the discussion in this training and encouraged the participant who were characterized by researchers and masters and PhD students. He also encouraged the trainees to start by thinking about the results they hope to get from writing a scientific paper as a first step in the writing process. During the course of the training, trainees did practical exercises on writing scientific papers step by step with guidance from Prof Jon Lovett.
Participants in a session with Prof Jon Lovett from the University of Leeds
Day 2: Bio-energy Technologies-Gasification. (29th June 2017)
Prof Okure Mackay a senior lecturer with Makerere University took the trainees through the processes in which bio-energy is formed and what biomass constituents. He also encouraged the trainees to participate and start biomass projects while emphasizing that the characteristics of biomass determine the viability of the success of the biomass project. These determine the choice of conversion process and this choice is influenced by the form in which the energy is required.
Derrick Kiwana a technician with CREEC shows participants the different biomass fuels and how they are used
Smith Tukahirwa a project engineer from CREEC also made a practical presentation on the different types of biomass that CREEC has used during the implementation of different gasifier projects in Uganda. This presentation was made at the CREEC offices where a demonstration on how to operate a gasifier was held for the trainees. Some of biomass fuels that have been used by CREEC include maize kobs, rice husks and coffee husks.
Day 3: Bio-energy technologies-Biogas. (30th June 2017)
Dr Betty Nabuuma a senior lecturer at Makerere University and Dr Vianney Tumwesigye the managing director of Green Heat International took the trainees through a session on biogas technologies which enabled the trainees to understand the different ways one can utilize biogas and also the different processes one can use to get biogas. To make this session more practical, the trainees were taken on a field visit to Nsambya Babies’ home where they were given a step by step description on how the biogas system works and also give a user experience on the technology. This helped to put the lessons in perspective for the trainees. The biogas digester at Nsambya Babies home was constructed by CREEC as a CSR project over five years ago.
Trainees during a demonstration on how to operate a biogas digestor