Meet the Man Who Built His Own Power Plant

(uplifting music) - [Narrator] Most of rural Kenya doesn't have access to electricity. This means the evenings are full of darkness. Here, families rely on kerosene lamps, which are expensive and produce harmful fumes. John Wangare wanted to change that. - My name is John Margiro Wangare. I am the found of Magiro Mini Hydroelectric. - [Narrator] Inspired by the dynamo on his brother's bicycle that generated light once the wheel turned, John had an idea. What if that simple mechanism could be made bigger? And what could turn that wheel? - [Narrator] From there, John started to make his power plant with pieces of scrap. Using the river, John was able to move the turbine, thus generating electricity. Slowly but surely, Magiro Power started to produce clean energy.

Channel: Great Big Story

Views: 3,127,508

Keywords: great big story, gbs, lag, documentary, docs, Green Energy, Electric, Power, Africa, Innovation, Entrepreneur, Science & Tech, Tech & Science, Technology, Biography & profile

Id: 9YrcruOIAPs

Length: 2min 45sec (165 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 06 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/gormodius]

Here in Brasil if you have a river or waterfall on your land, you can´t just use it generate your own energy, you have to file a request, pay for inspections, wait some years, and if it is approved, pay for a licence to use the natural resource. There is the story of this guy who put a simple small generator for his own use, and once the energy company saw he was off grid and not paying anymore, they sent the inspectors, that seized all his equipment and fined the man.

[u/WhiteHairedWidow]

Turning on a light in your house for the very first time must have been an amazing experience. That guy must feel so good that he's helping so many people.

[u/dsross89]

Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!

[u/evilroots]

send him some LED bulbs, that will help him deliver more power to more people

[u/[deleted]]

Would be down to donate money for his cause to expand his company with more updated equipment.

[u/mongoosefist]

I think it's funny that his hydro plant was inspired by a dynamo from a bike, instead of hydro-electric power plants.

[u/ferrisIS]

What a hero

[u/toadkiller]

I couldn't help but laugh at the shot of him banging the shit out of the turbine with a sledgehammer.

[u/wilof]

Truly amazing what people can do with a passion and wanting to help make a better lifestyle for everyone. What a lad