2007 Winning Abstract
St. Thomas More School
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
MWINDA
(City of Light)
Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. (African Proverb)
Mwinda, meaning light in Lingala, a dialect of the Republic of Congo, is a new city in an old land. The mission of Mwinda is to ensure opportunity for a good life by providing power, housing, water, food, and transportation. Located on the Fimi River near the Equator, Mwinda is in an area necessary to this mission: access to water, proximity to Lake Mai-Ndombe, settlement both on savannah and peripheral forest lands, and availability of rich mineral deposits.
With innovative technology and modern engineering practices, Mwinda has developed an integrated, interdependent industrial design. Using principally renewable energy resources, the city produces excess electricity which it sells to other cities and countries of what has been called the Dark Continent. In one application, PAFC fuel cells (PAFCs) are powered with hydrogen from phyto-hydrogen generators, genetically enhanced algal cultures which produce hydrogen as a byproduct, and with solar collector hydrogen generators. A second system, TseTse (mythological African goddess of lightning), uses massive lightning containment capacitors, composed of dielectric glass and conductive metals from waste. Third, the Candu Reactor, powered by raw uranium mined robotically, operates in the industrial zone.
Mwinda commercially processes industrial waste in Plasma Gasification Systems. Plasma reforms the waste, producing syngas and inorganic byproducts. Reclaimed metals and silicon are used in industries such as the manufacture of lightning containment capacitors, algal tubes, microchips, and the building of roads and houses. Germanium mined nearby is used to manufacture fiber optic components for the communication system. Reclaimed platinum is used to manufacture PAFC membranes cheaply.
Industry brings other benefits to Mwinda. For example, over one-half of Africa’s population lacks adequate water. Potable water is produced by fuel cells, including the microbial fuel cells which process human waste. Protein-enriched algae from phyto-hydrogen generators feed a protein-starved nation. Excess algae are harvested, dried, the protein extracted and added into cassava, a starchy staple of the African diet. This simple food source eliminates the need to kill large animals, “bush kill” being a current problem in Africa. In addition, Mwinda maintains floating algae and floating farms on nearby Lake Mai-Ndombe.
This thriving economy offers many services. The transportation system includes hydrogen-powered hover cars, hover buses, and amphibious cars driven over roads made from refuse from the Gasification System. These amphibious vehicles also navigate the river and lake. An efficient maglev system traverses the city. Trains transport goods to and from mining and agricultural areas and the river port. Along with its exemplary school and university system, Mwinda maintains a Cultural Studies Institute to preserve and foster the indigenous cultures, music, and languages. For recreation, visitors and inhabitants enjoy attractions, including world-class hotels and spas, water sports, safaris, rain forest tours, game reserves, and a professional soccer team, the Okapis.
Mwinda, the city of light, bears truth to an African proverb: For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.
