In the inner city of Johannesburg, The GreenHouse Project is turning one urban park into a seedbed for sustainable communities. The program takes a holistic approach to the city's challenges, integrating green building and design, efficient and renewable energy, recycling, organic farming, and nutrition.
When there are chores to be done during the day and it's dark in the evening, children find it difficult to learn. But Malian entrepreneur Daniele Dembele is bringing electricity to remote rural areas, so local schools can light their classrooms long into the night.
Small-scale hydroelectric projects are helping to transform lives in rural Laos. Villagers not only receive electricity from a renewable source, but are also encouraged to take ownership of the project, thanks to an innovative financing model designed to ensure the system is sustainable in the long term.
Safe drinking water and household electricity were well out of reach for the rural communities of Candelaria and Malacatoya, Nicaragua, until the arrival of AsoFenix, a nonprofit organization that provides renewable energy projects to improve the lives of rural Nicaraguans.
One third of the world's population doesn't have access to electricity. The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) is helping remote rural communities to harness the power of the sun to give them safe, cheap energy to power lighting, medical refrigerators, and modern communications devices.
An innovative solar experiment is helping to bring electricity to a remote part of Swaziland for the first time, powering classrooms, water pumps, and even the community's first pay phone.
Solar rechargeable lamps are helping to transform life in remote rural regions far from the national grid. This has allowed villagers in Laos to stop burning kerosene at night, while also creating new business and educational opportunities.
At age 14, in poverty and famine, a Malawian boy built a windmill to power his family's home. At age 22, William Kamkwamba spoke at TED for the second time, sharing in his own words the moving tale of invention that changed his life.
