How many of you are aware of Climate-KIC? It is a climate innovation initiative by the European Union and in the recent past, a jury of entrepreneurs, business folks and financiers was formed to fund projects that qualified as Europe’s best clean-technology innovations of 2014. The winner was an invention named Barsha irrigation pump. It is owned by a Dutch startup aQysta, which is a spin off company from Delft University of Technology.
Barsha irrigation pump is capable of enhancing crop yields in the developing nations by about 5 times. The good news is that this system requires neither electricity nor fuel for its operation. The name, ‘Barsha,’ comes from Nepalese meaning ‘rain pump’. Although the gadget is a new invention, the design that it makes use of is quite old and had originated back in ancient Egypt.
The pump is a water wheel affixed onto a floating platform. It is moored into a flowing river nearby and the movement of water causes the wheel to rotate. Air is compressed through a special mechanism generated by the wheel. The compressed air then works by driving water through the attached hose up to the required destination, which is the field.
The company claims that the pump can provide water up to a height of 82 feet with a maximum rate of 1 liter/second. Barsha pump has no operational costs. It requires only one moving part that can be built from any material available locally and shall provide the return on investment in a year. Since no fuel is required, the emission rate is zero as well.
The first Barsha pump was installed in Nepal back in July 2014, and a business is already under implementation to manufacture and market the pumps over there. Similar developments are planned for Latin America, Asia and Africa.
