South Africa Conference & Workshop
Protea Hotel, Wonderes, Illovo, Johannesburg 28 - 30 Janurary 2010

Presenter Biographies

MARK WELLS

CURRICULUM VITAE

Mark Wells is an Industrial Engineer with thirteen years experience in systems design and broad based project management and cross-industry consulting experience, including strategic planning, feasibilities studies and what-if analysis for over US$1.8 billion in projects implemented by the Intel Corporation over a period of four years. Mark entered the renewable energy sector in 2005 as the project coordinator for the Kuyasa Low Income Housing Thermal Upgrade, the first Gold Standard Clean Development Mechanism project in Africa which involved the retrofit of 2309 low cost houses to include solar water heaters, thermal ceilings and CFL lighting. After meeting with the legendary George Chan (ZERI) and commissioning the biogas digester at the Lynedoch Sustainability Centre in Stellenbosch his focus shifted towards integrated biogas systems and the associated zero waste nutrient recycling systems. In this regard he has contributed to a number of feasibility and design reports for integrated biogas and zero waste systems for rural and urban contexts including the Fiji National Biogas Implementation Plan and an assessment of the potential for integrated biogas development in the Chris Hani District Municipality. He has designed and commissioned a number of biogas digester systems including: a baffle reactors for sewage wastewater, dual stage UASB digesters, membrane filter digester (and associated wastewater treatment & purification system) for a 100% recirc mariculture system, low cost tube digesters in the Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal, lagoon digesters and a hybrid AIPS digester algal system. Mark is a founding member of the Institute of Zero Waste in Africa (IZWA)and has contributed extensively to the development of the training material used by IZWA in the DEAT sponsored zero waste world Cup 2010 Champions training programme as well as the IZWA design for community biogas digesters for the DWAF’s Integrated Water Resource Management projects on the West Coast.

DESCRIPTION OF PRESENTATION

Topic

Agro-Ecological Environmental Biotechnology Systems for Food and Fuel Sovereignty in Southern Africa.

Brief Description
The presentation explores how natural environmental biotechnology incorporating integrated biogas, algal and aquaculture systems can provide small scale farmers and rural households with vital agro-ecology systems that deliver surplus clean energy and enhanced nutrient recycling from existing resources. 

The relevance of this presentation is that the IAASTD, the most comprehensive assessment of agricultural knowledge, science and technology to date and which is endorsed by 45 countries, calls for governments to redirect their focus from chemical and energy intensive conventional farming systems towards productive small-scale agro-ecological farming systems that provide greater yields and more jobs per hectare and which are resilient to drought and disease whilst contributing positively towards climate change mitigation and adaptation.

In South Africa’s impoverished former homelands approximately 1.7million rural households have access to land for farming purposes. Approximately 1.2 million of these households grow farm produce (such as maize, sorghum, etc.) and 0.9 million households have livestock other than just chickens. This means that at about 1 million rural households (representing 5.2 million people, more than 10% of the South Africa’s population) have access to land and the agricultural feedstock resources required for the adoption of productive environmental integrated biogas and agro-ecological systems.

Furthermore, approximately 1 million of the rural households engaged in agriculture do not have a water source on their land are solely dependent on rain water for irrigation, a resource which is becoming increasingly unreliable due to climate change.  These households require an urgent agriculture water security intervention that could be realised through the adoption of integrated agro-ecological systems that incorporates rainwater harvesting, storage, usage and recycling.

REFERENCES
Chan, G. 2006, Integrated Biomass Systems, ZERI Presentation.

Examiner. 2009, [Online] Available http://www.examiner.com/x-5846-Columbia-Auto-Industry-Examiner~y2009m6d1-Biogas-Audi-sets-a-new-record-and-beats-a-Bugatti-in-the-process. Accessed January 2010

Japan for Sustainability. 2009, Yamaha Motor Test-Drives Golf Cart Fuelled by Cow Dung. [Online] Available http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/028888.html. Accessed January 2010

Horan , M.P. and Horan .S.J. 2004, Algal biomass nutrient enrichment in Horticulture, (2004), EBRU Report 01/04, (Unpublished, referenced in Rose et al. 2002. Salinity, Sanitation and Sustainability, A study in environmental Biotechnology and Integrated Wastewater Beneficiation in South Africa. WRC Report No: TT187/02. Environmental Biotechnology Group, Rhodes University. Grahamstown.)

Render, D. 2008,  Institute of Environmental Biotechnology Rhodes University, Solar Powered Sewage Treatment, Presentation to WESSA, Durban, August 18, 2008

RELATED PROJECTS AND SUCCESS STORIES

Involvement in Similar Projects

• Feasibility study and process design for an integrated biogas and algal system for the Glen Victor Meats 100 LSU/day abattoir.
• Design of hybrid integrated biogas and algal AIPS system for the Cala Municipal Abattoir, in partnership with and CSE Consulting Engineers and AGAMA Biogas.
• Feasibility study for an AIPS integrated biogas and algal system for the village of Hamburg (Eastern Cape), for ASPIRE (Pty) Ltd. (contracted through Stemele Bosch Africa).
• Design and installation of an integrated biogas, algal biofertilizer and aquaculture system at the Amathole Berries Farm, Stutterheim, to process the waste of 100 workers and 20 cattle per day, in partnership with Finishes of Nature.
• Design and Installation (ongoing) of the pilot integrated biogas algal and aquaponic aquaculture facility in Sedgefield.
• Implementation of pilot low cost tube digesters for the small scale farmers in KZN and Eastern Cape Province.
• Technically feasibility study for the Hoodpoint Biogas Intervention, in association with the Lettinga Associates Foundation, the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology at Rhodes University, the Institute of Zero Waste in Africa and Element Consulting Engineers. Assessment of the viability of replacing the illegal discharge of 10ML per day of wastewater onto the shoreline at Hoodpoint, East London with a hybrid zerowaste landbased integrated biogas and algal system ongoing).
• Feasibility study for a Central Anaerobic Digester (CAD) in Queenstown (ongoing).
• Development of the Advanced Integrated Ponding System (AIPS systems) for rural schools sanitation, biogas energy production for cooking and pathogen free algal biofertilizer production for food gardens (ongoing).

Success Stories

Commissioning of the Chintsa Agro-ecological Farmers Cooperative pilot digester and algal ponding system.
Solar powered algal paddle wheel developed for rural off-grid AIPS integrated biogas systems.

Other related endeavours in South Africa in the renewable energy sector.

People’s Power Africa is a member and service provider for the South African Methane to User Cooperative, a registered member of the International Methane to Markets Initiative.
People’s Power Africa have established associations and working relationships with AGAMA Biogas, The Institute of Environmental Biotechnology and Rhodes University (EBRU), Element Consulting Engineers, Lettinga Associates Foundation (LeAF), Zero Emission Research and Initiatives South Africa (ZERI SA).