Power Outages Threaten to Undo Our Work: A Plea to Save Our Research
By emmannaemeka @ 2024-10-27T23:02 (+10)
Northern Nigeria has been without electricity for a full week now, and this marks the eighth time this year that the national grid has disrupted our research.
In our lab, we’re conducting critical work on phage isolation to combat multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas strains, with therapeutic applications for diabetic wounds, cystic fibrosis, and other severe infections. We also have isolates for E. coli, Clostridium, and Salmonella typhi—each representing months of dedicated effort. Now, with power failures putting our refrigeration at risk, we face the real threat of losing these invaluable samples.
Research Halted
Such power interruptions—especially this year’s cumulative impact—highlight the challenge of sustaining research under unstable infrastructure. These interruptions halt our experiments, compromise data integrity, and threaten our ambitions to establish a dedicated phage therapy center in Nigeria.
The Path Forward: Seeking Sustainable Solutions
To ensure continuity, we’re actively seeking a sustainable energy source, particularly through solar panel installation. Yet, implementing this is financially challenging. If anyone is aware of funding opportunities, collaborations, or organizations that support renewable energy solutions for research labs, we would deeply appreciate your guidance. Support for a resilient power solution could save our ongoing research and help build a more reliable foundation for the future.
Kindly reach out if you know how we can meet this energy need.
Pete Rowlett @ 2024-10-28T04:36 (+2)
There are a few possible sources of funding that I'm aware of. These first two are managed funds that accept applications:
Effective Altruism Funds Long-Term Future Fund (Application)
Founders Pledge Global Catastrophic Risks Fund (Application)
Manifund may be a good fit since your request is small and urgent. You can list your project there, and anyone can fund it.
It doesn't sound like you're doing anything related to antimicrobial resistance, but if you are, there's the AMR Funding Circle.
Do you already know what sort of power system you need and where to purchase it? If so, I might explain specific plans and expected costs in your forum post. That information will be helpful for your grant applications and for anyone trying to identify sources of support. If not, and you need help, I might reach out to someone at High Impact Engineers. There may be more support in the EA Anywhere Slack (perhaps cause-biosecurity).
I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any more questions!
emmannaemeka @ 2024-10-28T18:17 (+1)
Thanks for your comment . Here is the breakdown Solar Power System Cost Breakdown
• Lithium Ion batteries (20kWh): 4,600,000 NGN
• Hybrid inverter (16kVA): 1,800,000 NGN
• Solar cells: 1,000,000 NGN
• Cables: 72,000 NGN
• Installation: 500 USD (800,000 NGN at 1600 NGN/USD)
• Total in NGN: 8,272,000 NGN
• Total in USD: 5,170 USD (at 1600 NGN/USD)