We have heard many times how CEOs of various corporations aim to donate their wealth for social causes later in their lives. Michigan-based billionaire, Manoj Bhargava is different. He is one of those people who has come forward with a practical plan to provide basic amenities to the poverty-stricken areas. He has named his initiative “Billions in Change” and has made a new documentary about his Stage 2 Innovations Laboratory in Farmington Hills. He wants to focus on serious problems facing poverty-stricken areas including the availability of clean water, health and green energy. He has done considerable ground work on this initiative and now aims to donate 99% of his 4 billion dollar wealth for this cause.
He believes that with his contribution, he can provide these basic amenities to billions of people around the globe. It’s a “big thing” he says that his team has accomplished, and now he doesn’t want it to remain in infancy anymore. In the whole documentary, he apprises the viewers about his progress in providing such advanced technology to impoverished areas. Bhargava is a man of action and wants to start working instead of creating awareness. He straightforwardly says in the video that awareness doesn’t grow food or reduce pollution, only actions are capable of doing it. What makes his organization different from others is that it isn’t a call for donation only. It is a call for action across the globe to help achieve this project into reality.
Hailing from India, the instant energy tycoon knows what it feels like to be deprived of necessities of life. In a country where hundreds of millions of people see clean water and cheap energy as rare luxuries, he started several projects before, but he soon realized that he needed to carry out heavy research before indulging any further. His research foundation has some hundred-plus engineers at the helm and has been incorporating existing technologies to make units more compact and efficient than previous ones.
Three practical inventions of Billions in Change have garnered much attention around the world:
1. The Rainmaker is one initiative that aims to provide clean drinking water at a fast pace. It can convert sewage water or even sea water into drinkable water that can also be used for irrigation purposes.
2. The Free Electric wants to provide clean energy from running bicycles throughout the world. This may seem like a strange concept but it is very practical in areas where energy requirement is low, and still the government cannot provide it to them. They are also affected by overpopulation, so it seems to be a good way to utilize the human resource in order to provide clean energy.
3. Renew ECP is a medical device that aims to regulate normal blood flow so that major health problems can be avoided. Good blood flow almost always results in better health statistics.
In Bhargava’s part, he feels that his documentary film would help people respond to his call-for-action, particularly in native India. He is also a part of the Giving Pledge, a challenge by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to billionaires around the globe to donate their wealth to good causes. The 62-year old seems to be a firm believer in the cause, and he explains that the name Billions in Change doesn’t reflect his desire to spend his billion plus wealth on people. According to him, it means that people should work together to improve billions of lives through his program. He has also proposed radical measures to cut energy losses and promote green technologies in his proposed mega plans.
He is focusing on Graphene, a material that can conduct electricity hundred times better than normal pure Copper and will eventually be able to reduce line losses in his projects. The ECP device is only being tested, and it is currently at stage 2 and functions as an auxiliary heart to revive blood flow in under pressure areas. Similarly, the Rain Maker system is also in advanced stages and currently being tested in New Mexico.
The world will definitely be a better place if there are change makers like Manoj who believe in doing things rather than simply talking about them.
Check out his complete documentary here: