False Banana: Is Ethiopia’s Enset ‘Wondercrop’ For Climate Change?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Scientists say the plant enset, an Ethiopian staple, could be a new superfood and a lifesaver in the face of climate change.
A new study is saying, that the plant could be used to feed 100 million people in a warming world.
It looks like the study was done in an Ethiopian University, which is surely a heartwarming thing.
This is said about how enset is used for food.
Enset or “false banana” is a close relative of the banana, but is consumed only in one part of Ethiopia.
The banana-like fruit of the plant is inedible, but the starchy stems and roots can be fermented and used to make porridge and bread.
I’m not sure, but I seem to remember that porridge is a major food in Africa.
It is certainly a fascinating good news story. in several ways from Africa.
Historic Go-Ahead For Malaria Vaccine To Protect African Children
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first paragraph.
Children across much of Africa are to be vaccinated against malaria in a historic moment in the fight against the deadly disease.
The vaccine has been developed by GSK, who have their headquarters on the Golden Mile in Brentford.
The vaccine is called RTS,S and is described like this in the first paragraph of its Wikipedia entry.
RTS,S/AS01 (trade name Mosquirix) is a recombinant protein-based malaria vaccine.
Approved for use by European regulators in July 2015, it is the world’s first licensed malaria vaccine and also the first vaccine licensed for use against a human parasitic disease of any kind. The RTS,S vaccine was conceived of and created in the late 1980s by scientists working at SmithKline Beecham Biologicals (now GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines) laboratories in Belgium. The vaccine was further developed through a collaboration between GSK and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and has been funded in part by the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Its efficacy ranges from 26 to 50% in infants and young children. On 23 October 2015, the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) jointly recommended a pilot implementation of the vaccine in Africa.
When you consider how fast the Covid-19 vaccines were developed, this might appear to have taken a long time to be developed. But then as Wikipedia states, “this is the first vaccine licensed for use against a human parasitic disease of any kind.”
I can’t describe this as anything other than good news.
Could The Morocco-UK Power Project Be Developed Into A Western Europe And Africa Interconnector?
This page on the Xlinks web site, describes the Morocco-UK Power Project, which is proposed to generate solar and wind power in Morocco and deliver it to the UK.
- The plan envisages 10.5 GW of electricity being generated.
- There will be a 5GW/20GWh battery in Morocco.
- They will export 3.6 GW of electricity to the UK for at least twenty hours per day.
- The electricity will be exported to the UK by an Interconnector that skirts to the West of Spain, Portugal and France.
- The interconnector will be 3,800 kilometres long.
I described the project in detail in Moroccan Solar-Plus-Wind To Be Linked To GB In ‘Ground-Breaking’ Xlinks Project.
This Google Map shows Western Europe And North Africa.
Note.
- The light blue of the Continental Shelf
- The darker blue of deeper water.
- The Southern end of the Morocco and the UK interconnector will at Guelmim Oued Noun in the South of Morocco, which is indicated by the red arrow.
- The UK end of the cable will be at Alverdiscott between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon.
- Southern Morocco and Algeria look to be mainly in the Sahara Desert.
If we look at the route of the cable, it connects a lot of possible renewable energy sources.
- Morocco – Solar and wind
- Spain – Solar and wind
- Portugal – Solar and wind
- France – Nuclear, tidal and wind
- UK – Nuclear and wind.
Could the UK and Morocco interconnector be developed into a bigger power project?
- Solar and wind power from Algeria could be added.
- Tidal power from a Severn Barrage could be added.
- Connections could be added to Gibraltar, the Irish Republic and Wales.
I believe that there could be a large amount of electricity developed on the Western costs of Europe and Africa.
An interconnector would move it to where it is needed.
The Power Of Solar With A Large Battery
This post is based on this press release from Highview Power, which is entitled Highview Enlasa Developing 50MW/500MWh Liquid Air Energy Storage Facility In The Atacama Region Of Chile.
This is the first paragraph.
Highview Enlasa, the 50/50 joint venture between Highview Power, a global leader in long duration energy storage solutions, and Energía Latina S.A.-Enlasa, the largest backup power generation provider in Chile, is pleased to announce that it is developing the first liquid air long duration energy storage project in Chile. This 50MW/500MWh (10 hours) CRYOBattery™, which represents an estimated investment of USD $150 million, will be located in Diego de Almagro in the Atacama Region.
Ican deduce these points from this paragraph.
The power output of 50 MW appears to be standard for all of Highview Power’s CRYOBatteries, which is not surprising as the centre of each system appears to be a standard turbomachinery solution from MAN Energy Solutions, as I wrote about in MAN Energy Partners With Highview Power On Liquid-Air Energy-Storage Project.
But whereas the first system at Carrington, near Manchester, can only store 250 MWh, this plant in Chile is twice the size and can provide 50 MW of electricity for ten hours. The Chile plant will just have twice the number of storage tanks for liquid air.
I can no reason, why if Carrington needed to store more electricity, that more tanks couldn’t be added.
This Google Map shows the area around the city of Diego de Almagro.
Note.
- The city of Diego de Almagro is in the centre of the map.
- In the North-Western corner is the Planta Fotovoltaica ENEL Diego de Almagro, which even my rudimentary Spanish, identifies as a solar power plant.
- In the North-Eastern corner of the map, is appears that a second solar power plant is under construction.
The city is surrounded by the large Atacama Desert.
This second Google Map shows the location of Diego de Almagro, with respect to the Chilean Coast.
Note.
- The red arrow indicates the solar powerplant at Diego de Almagro.
- La Paz in Bolivia is in the North-East corner of the map.
- The sandy-beige colour indicates the Atacama Desert.
The area would appear not to lack sun.
This extract is from the press release.
With one of the highest solar irradiations in the world, the Atacama Region has the potential to generate all the country’s electricity. By pairing solar with cryogenic energy storage, Chile can benefit from 24/7, 100% renewable energy.
The Wiukipedia entry for Solar Power In Chile, is not as optimistic as the press release, but does show the rapid growth in the amount of solar power.
Conclusion
Solar power installed with large batteries, will transform the electricity supply in countries like Australia, Chile and India and those in Africa and other places, where there are large hot deserts.
In Europe, Spain is investing heavily in solar power and is a big innovator in solar technology.
Could West Africa Become A Green Energy Powerhouse?
I ask this question, because I have just read this article on Hydrogen Fuel News, which is entitled Green Hydrogen Potential Causes Germany to court West African countries.
The article has this sub-title.
Nations in that part of Africa have the capacity to meet 1500 times Germany’s 2030 H2 demand.
That would appear to be a massive amount of hydrogen.
This extract from the article, talks about energy production.
Initial results for the 15 West African Economic Area (ECOAS) countries revealed that a massive three quarters of West African land is appropriate for wind turbines. Moreover, the electricity production from wind energy in the region costs about half the amount it would in Germany.
Additionally, solar power systems can also be economically operated on about one third of the West African region.
Add in a few large electrolysers and you have the hydrogen.
The hydrogen can be transported to Germany by tanker, either as hydrogen or ammonia.
The German strategy is to be underpinned by education, as this extract explains.
In support of developing West African green hydrogen production, a new master’s graduate program on clean H2 technology will begin in September. The purpose of the program will be to train local green hydrogen scientific specialists. The first three waves of the program are expected to train about 180 students attending four universities in Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Senegal, and Niger.
Perhaps the Commonwealth should do something similar in West African countries like Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
After all many parts of Australia have very similar climate and population densities and probably energy generation potential to large parts of West Africa.
The Geographical Advantage
It should also be noted that geographically West Africa is close to Europe by ship.
There are no pinch points like the Suez Canal
As the European hydrogen gas network grows, the journey will get shorter.
Does anybody know how long it would take a tanker to go between say Accra in Ghana to Rotterdam?
Conclusion
I would see four main benefits coming to West Africa.
- Electricity for all.
- Employment to support the new industries.
- Hydrogen to power transport.
- The value of all those exports.
Hopefully, the standard of living of all those in West Africa would improve.
Bring Africa Out Of The Dark
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Zimbabwean.
The article has been written by Humphrey Kariuki, who is a Kenyan businessman, who is on a mission to bring electricity to Africa.
He has teamed up with Highview Power to do it using batteries.
Read the article.
Highview Power Introduces Revolutionary Cryogenic Energy Storage Technology To The African Market
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the African Review.
This is the first paragraph.
Javier Cavada, CEO and President of Highview Power spoke to African Review about the company’s cryogenic (air liquefaction) battery storage solutions and why they are a perfect fit for the continent
It appears to me, that the story, which started in a garage in Bishops Stortford, is going to have a happy ending for the world.
The article is a must read and I particularly liked this paragraph.
Cavada also noted how cryogenic technology complemented this transition. He added, “The main energy companies call our technology ‘pumped hydro in a box’ and that is how we have been making it. You can deploy over 1GWh without geographical constraints. There is no combustion, no emissions and no rare materials needed. All it comprises is some piping work, compressors and a generator, so it is pretty simple. Our mission is to enable a world that is grid powered by solar and wind, not fossil fuels, and this technology will help us achieve this.”
This is the brightest shade of green!
Afruca: Highview Power Raises $70million For Renewable Energy Storage
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Afrik21.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Highview Power, a company specialising in electricity storage, has just raised 70 million dollars to distribute its solutions in Africa. The funds were raised from Janus Capital, the subsidiary of Janus Continental Group (JCG); Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI) and the Spanish group TSK.
It then says that Highview Power is launching the conquest of Africa. In Spanish Govt Approves Energy Storage Strategy, Sees 20 GW In 2030, I said this.
Highview Power’s liquid air systems would be another possibility, but I doubt, they’d perform as well in the heat of Spain, as a system based on hot rocks.
It would appear that Highview Power believe their system can work in the heat of Africa.
- Air is reasonably plentiful in Africa.
- Perhaps, the sun is an ideal low-grade heat source needed to warm up the liquid air, when the power is recovered.
- Highview’s CRYOBattery doesn’t seem to use many exotic difficult-to-source materials.
So it looks like I was wrong to doubt their performance in hot countries.
These last two paragraph say more about Highview’s plans.
According to the company, its system is capable of storing from 20 MW/80 MWh to more than 200 MW/1.2 GWh of electricity generated from renewable sources. This is a real asset for clean energy plants whose operation depends on variations in climatic conditions. JCG believes that its investment will enable the deployment of this solution on the African continent, particularly in the Great Lakes region where large solar and wind energy projects are currently being developed.
“JCG believes in a diversified energy solution for Africa, and technology such as Highview Power’s will facilitate increased use of renewable energy, reducing regional dependence on fossil fuels and bringing accessible energy to underserved communities,” says the conglomerate of companies investing in the energy, hospitality and real estate sectors.
Hopefully by the next time, I get to Manchester, there will be something to see of the 50 MW/250 MWh plant at Carrington.
My Advice To Coeliacs On A Gluten-Free Diet Concerning The Covids
As a coeliac, I have been worried about the Covids and researching the statistics for some months.
Who Are Likely To Be Coeliac?
In the next sub-sections, I look at various groups.
Ashkenazi Jews
I am coeliac because there is an unbroken genetic line to my great-great-great-grandfather; Robert, who was a Jewish tailor from Königsberg in East Prussia. Census records in the UK, say that he arrived around 1800 and setup business in Bexley. Like many Jews from East Prussia, he had to leave, when he became eighteen, because he was male, Jewish and not one of the privileged families.
I know little of him, except from a brief chat from my father, whose own grandfather had met him as a child and remembered him, as a small elderly man, who didn’t speak any English.
I did get some more details of the Jewish community in East Prussia from a curator at the German Historical Museum in Berlin, and I don’t think she was proud at her countrymen’s treatment of the Jews before the Second World War. By the 1930s many had fled to the UK or the United States.
Wikipedia has a detailed History of the Jews in Königsberg.
In May this year at the height of the first wave of the pandemic, I wrote Jews In The UK And COVID-19, which is based on three articles in the Times of Israel.
This is an extract from my post.
I am also fairly sure, that my coeliac disease came from my Ashkenazi Jewish genes.
This second article on The Times of Israel is entitled Jewish Charity Warns Of Coeliac ‘Stigma’ As Half-A-Million Said Undiagnosed.
This is the introductory paragraph.
A Jewish charity says there is a “stigma” surrounding coeliac disease in the Jewish community, after a national charity warned that there were still half a million people in the UK who are undiagnosed.
I would assume that the half-a-million figure refers to all the population of the UK, as there are only about half that number of Jews in the UK.
Could coeliac stigma mean that there many older Jews, who are coeliac, have not been diagnosed and their poorer immune systems make them more vulnerable to COVID-19?
In the post, I also came to this conclusion.
I should say, that I’m no medic, but just a humble engineer, mathematician and statistician, who has nearly sixty years experience of analysing data.
That experience applied to coeliac disease and COVID-19, says that undiagnosed coeliac disease, is not helping our fight against COVID-19!
I stand by that statement today.
The Elderly
I suppose at seventy-three, I’m in this group too!
In April this year I wrote A Thought On Deaths Of The Elderly From Covid-19, where this was the conclusion.
Many of those 120,000 coeliacs will have been born before 1960 and have a high probably of not having been diagnosed. for the simple reason, that a childhood test for coeliac disease didn’t exist.
Will these undiagnosed coeliacs have a compromised immune system, that makes them more susceptible to Covid-19?
It has been said, that a good immune system helps you fight Covid-19!
I heard today of an 85-year-old coeliac, who was diagnosed at forty and is bright as a button on a gluten-free diet. They have already had their jab. Excellent!
The Irish
As with the Ashkenazi Jews, the Irish have suffered bad living conditions and famine and they seem to have more than their fair share of coeliac disease.
Black People With Slaves As Ancestors
In the last thirty years or so, I have come across three or four West Africans with coeliac disease, including one, who was an excellent chef in a pub, near where I lived at the time. I also met an American vet online called DogtorJ, who wrote this paper on his web site, which is entitled Why Is The Plane Of Our Nation’s Health In A Death Spiral? He was referring to the United States, but a lot of the points he makes can equally apply to the UK and other nations.
In one section he talks about the historical atrocity of the slave trade from a medical perspective, where he says this.
I read in one source that approximately 6% of the slaves never made it to their destinations, many of whom died of dysentery. It suddenly dawned on me that they could have easily been the newest batch of gluten intolerants. These transplanted people had never eaten wheat-based foods in the past and yet here they were, under the worst possible conditions, having this new dietary challenge suddenly thrust upon them in the form of the white man’s bread.
DogtorJ’s reasoning applies to Afro-Americans, but it could surely apply to all slaves and their descendants, just as one coeliac ancestor passed me the disease.
People From The Indian Sub-Continent
I always thought that the Indian Sub-Continent was fairly free of coeliac disease, as Indian cuisine is rice-based and I’ve had many excellent gluten-free meals in Indian restaurants all over the UK.
But then I found this article on the Indian Journal Of Research Medicine.
I wrote about the article in Coeliac Disease: Can We Avert The Impending Epidemic In India?
I finished with these sentences.
What do I know? I’m just an engineer and a coeliac who has a good nose for problems!
But please someone! Research the connection between undiagnosed coeliac disease and COVID-19!
My son; George was an undiagnosed coeliac with a gluten-rich and smoky lifestyle. He died at just 37 from pancreatic cancer.
Did he have a poor immune system, which meant he couldn’t fight the cancer? One expert on cancer said, “Yes!”
Are people from the sub-continent suffering from the same problems, that slaves did several centuries ago?
Research From The University Of Padua
This paper on the US National Library of Medicine, which is from the University of Padua in Italy.
The University followed a group of 138 patients with coeliac disease, who had been on a gluten-free diet for at least six years, through the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Padua.
This sentence, sums up the study.
In this analysis we report a real life “snapshot” of a cohort of CeD patients during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Italy, all followed in one tertiary centre in a red area of Northern Italy. Our data show, in accordance with Emmi et al., the absolute absence of COVID-19 diagnosis in our population, although 18 subjects experienced flu-like symptoms with only one having undergone naso-pharyngeal swab.
It says that no test subject caught Covid-19, in an admittedly smallish number of patients.
But it reinforces my call for more research into whether if you are a diagnosed coeliac on a long-term gluten-free diet, you have an immune system, that gives you a degree of protection from the Covids.
It should be remembered, that Joe West of Nottingham University has shown, that diagnosed coeliacs on a gluten-free diet have a 25% lower risk of cancer compared to the general population.
My Advice To Coeliacs On A Gluten-Free Diet Concerning The Covids
I shall be carrying on with my gluten-free diet, as the respected University of Padua found no problems in doing so!
A Small Piece Of Research
If you are on a gluten-free diet or you are a coeliac, you might like to fill in my poll, if you haven’t suffered from the Covids.
Is Undiagnosed Coeliac Disease A Possible Explanation For High Deaths From Covid-19 Amongst Those Of Caribbean And Jewish Heritage?
In The Times today, they publish a list today of deaths per 100,000 people, who died in hospital from Covoid-19.
- Caribbean – 70
- Any other black – 48
- Total black – 43
- Indian – 30
- Any other Asian – 27
- All Asian – 27
- African – 27
- Overall – 26
- Pakistani – 26
- White British – 23
- Bangladeshi – 20
Some things jump out from the data,
- Those of Asian, African and Pakistani heritage have death rates similar to the general population.
- Bangladeshis do rather well, which is contrary to the expectations of some people.
- Those from the Caribbean, fare much worse than other black groups and Africans.
In the statistics, one group of immigrants were ignored. I live in Hackney and there have been a large number of Orthodox Jewish immigrants to the borough in recent years. From statements, by the Chief Rabbi, in The Times and on BBC Radio, he is worried and has closed all the synagogues under his control. Separating this group might give an insight into the data.
Recently my GP, asked if I had been vaccinated against measles, as Hackney is a measles hotspot. I haven’t been vaccinated, but I have had the disease. Apparently, the Orthodox Jewish groups have low vaccination rates.
I am also coeliac, which means I have a gluten allergy. Mine comes from an Ashkenazi Jewish line from the Baltic, but coeliac disease is also present in the Irish and some West Africans. In these three groups, historic famine seems to be the cause. Over the years, I have met several coeliacs from Jamaica and other islands in the West Indies, but never have I met any from Asia or East Africa.
Various research into coeliac disease has shown, that as many as one in a hundred of the UK population could be undiagnosed coeliacs. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was fifty, twenty years ago, so sufferers do slip through the net.
But research from Nottingham University has also shown, that coeliacs on a gluten-free diet are less likely to suffer from cancer, than the general population. Could this be because this group has a strong immune system, which gets an immune response in early on the cancer?
Undiagnosed Coeliacs And Pollution
I can speak of this with authority, as that was me as a child.
I grew up in Southgate in North London and the air was polluted with the smoke from domestic coal fires. I suffered badly and was a very unhealthy child, who regularly had three months off school.
My health improved about ten and it could have been one of three factors.
- I was exercising more, having learned to ride a bike.
- My parents had bought a house in Felixstowe, where we tended to spend lots of boring weekends and holidays.
- The Clean Air Act of 1956 had cleaned up London’s air.
My breathing certainly improved and I was a good enough athlete to make a school team at fifteen.
Recent research has shown, that there can be a link between air pollution and COVID-19. I wrote about this in Air Pollution May Be ‘Key Contributor’ To Covid-19 Deaths – Study.
These days, even in a polluted street, I don’t suffer much at all, but then I’m on a strict gluten-free diet!
Although, I do find that my breathing improves in the Spring, when we start to get longer days with lots of sunshine.
Undiagnosed Coeliacs And Strokes
I had my serious stroke because of atrial fibrillation. My father died after two serious strokes. He must have been coeliac, so were his strokes caused by the same reason as mine?
I have talked with cardiac specialists and they have felt, that my fifty years as an undiagnosed coeliac could have damaged my heart muscle to cause the atrial fibrillation.
Slavery
It would not be right to ignore slavery.
Millions of Africans were taken from West Africa to America and the Caribbean and they were probably fed nothing more than bread and water most of the time.
Did this increase the predominance of coeliac genes in those that survived the horrific treatment?
What Are The Bangladeshis Doing Right?
As a coeliac, if I’m stuck in a town, that is unknown to me and I need a meal, I’ll often go to the smartest Indian (Bangladeshi?) restaurant, as I’ve never found one with cloth tablecloths and napkins, that doesn’t do good gluten-free food. The only wheat they use is in the nans!
So has this diet given Bangladeshis a good immune system?
What Is The Figure For Jewish People?
In this article in The Times, Melanie Phillips says this.
As of last Friday, 335 British Jews had died of the virus, more than five times their proportion in the population.
Wikipedia gives the number of British Jews as 263,346 in the 2011 Census.
A rough estimate using these figures gives a figure of 127 per 100,000 of the population.
Conclusion
Could undiagnosed coeliac disease be the unexplained link as to why people with Caribbean heritage have higher deaths than those with African?
The Anonymous Widower 