The versatile system by a versatile youngster
September 2009
At the tender age of nine, Javier Fernández-Han found his calling – design for the other 90 per cent – help the world’s poor meet their basic needs sustainably.
Several years of research and design led him to an innovative solution: The ‘Versatile’ system – a mash up of new and adapted technology that treats waste, produces methane and bio-oil as fuel, produces food for humans and livestock, sequesters greenhouse gases, and produces oxygen. By interconnecting the 12 technologies in the six subsystems, the ‘Versatile’ system provides a complete solution in a practically waste-free manner. As much as possible, waste created by one part is used as nourishment and fuel for another. An invention that is narrowly focused on solving a single problem often inadvertently creates more problems because nature is highly complex and interconnected.
For his work, Javier, 15, won the top prize in this year’s Invent Your World Challenge, sponsored by Ashoka’s Youth Venture and the Lemelson Foundation.
Source: dailygood.org
Apply it: Think of ways in which you can utilise waste.
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