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The Root Of The Science Podcast
*Disclaimer: The views expressed by the guests in the podcast episodes do not reflect my own*
The Root Of The Science Podcast
EP 157: Bongiwe Mtshali, Turning Invasive Plant Species into Renewable Energy
What if the invasive plants ravaging African agriculture could become part of the solution to our energy crisis? In this conversation, researcher Bongiwe Mtshali reveals her innovative work converting problematic alien plant species into valuable renewable energy resources.
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So biomass energy is the thermal degradation using heat and also biochemical degradation using microorganism. So we're degrading organic materials such as plants, such as cow manure, such as waste material, to some sort of like form. These biofuels it can be biochar, bio oil, biogas, biodiesgas, bio-diesel, bio-ethanol. So these bio-fuels, they can be used for power generation, for heat generation, as a transport fuel, as a chemical stock as well. So how they work into the energy sector. So you normally have the bio-oil right, bio-oil. It can be combusted. So when it's combusted to produce that certain heat, then you utilize the heat to evaporate water, producing steam right, and then utilize the steam to run steam turbines, steam turbines connected to generator. And that's how you come about with generating electricity from these biofuels.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Root of the Sun's podcast with your girl and with me. If you are new here, welcome to the show. It is an absolute pleasure to have you on. If you are a regular listener, thank you so much for coming back and tuning in and remember to follow the show on wherever you listen to your podcast, if you're listening via audio or if you're watching us on YouTube. Please click the subscribe button so that you're aware when new episodes are live. Now let's get into today's episode.
Speaker 2:Alien plants are non-native species that aggressively invade ecosystems. They cause massive agricultural and economic damage. A 2021 study by scientists from the Center of Agriculture and Biosciences International found that alien invasive species cost Africa's agriculture sector an estimated 65 billion US dollars a year, which is approximately 2.5 percent of the continent's total GDP. On average, each country experiences annual losses of 1.37 billion US dollars. These losses highlight the need for sustainable management of alien invasive species and the farming series that we've been running this past couple of months.
Speaker 2:I'm so happy to introduce our guest today. Our guest is Bongiwe Mchali. She is from South Africa and is a researcher currently pursuing her master's in agricultural engineering. She addresses agricultural sustainability and energy access through her research on converting invasive alien plant species into renewable energy sources. This was such an interesting conversation, where we hear about Bungiwe talking about her research, as well as more about herself behind the science and finding out what made her get into the sciences and her passions away from science Tune in to all of this and so much more, let's go. Hi Bongiwe, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1:Hi Anne with an E. Thank you so much for having me to the show as well, and I'd like to congratulate you on honestly speaking on this amazing and impactful planet platform. So thank you so much for having me. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:I'm good, I'm good, I'm good, I'm so excited to have you here. I mean, I had the pleasure of knowing you virtually last year and then we recently met up and I was so riveted by the type of research that you were doing and I was like listen, don't tell me anymore. I want you to tell me while telling our listeners, but before we get here. Also, just thank you for the kind words about the platform. Let me not dismiss that. It's really so kind of you, but it's all about you today. So let's start from the beginning. Tell us more about yourself, where you're from, and while you're telling us you know the genesis of Bongiwe, can you tell us if science is always something that you actually aspire to get into?
Speaker 1:All right, yeah, my name is Bongiwe Mchali. Introduction I'm from Freud, originally a module in South Africa. I came mostly in Peter Murray's book to study a BSc in agriculture engineering and I am currently doing my master's in agriculture engineering as well, focusing on renewable energy sector, especially biomass energy. Honestly speaking, science was definitely not a plan for me. Science was definitely not a plan for me. I just feel like I've been someone who, who really loved acting um radio broadcasting, just to be a television personality. You know, I think that's one of the gifts that I feel like God really some sort of like gave it to me for like a certain purpose. So I'm still looking forward into, you know, exploring that side of me. I mean, I think we can have, I can have both of the world right, definitely, definitely definitely, yeah, yeah, I I'm, I'm pretty good, so I I definitely um agree with that um.
Speaker 2:So you, you've told our listeners that you're doing agriculture engineering. Um, this is an engineering um. You know, women in engineering is such a it's. It's coming up now, but previously it wasn't such a big thing to have women, um, in the engineering space. So what made you go like, oh my goodness, I know you said that you didn't want to get into science, but you are here, right? So what was that moment that you're like okay, I want to pursue agriculture engineering and then also into the space of sustainable energy, because it's so um different, it's very, very different. All right.
Speaker 1:Um, firstly, in in into getting getting into the science side first. I think I was just. I happened to be in a school that was some sort of like mostly science-based, so that's how I got exposed to science and it was really fascinating on how it became a tool in basically understanding the world and what is in it and also in just assisting in solving those real life problems as well.
Speaker 1:So that's how I got initially exposed into the science side and then into the engineering side, especially speaking mostly for agriculture engineering. I loved agricultural science when I was in high school and I think I was mostly equipped into the production and the farming sides of agriculture at the moment. I learned that there was an engineering side where you involve those machinery and agricultural system and innovations. It became such very exciting for me, I remember, because we used to work in a field, sometimes with my grandmother.
Speaker 1:So, normally you're using an agricultural equipment called like a hoo so that we normally call it, called like a who so that we normally call it. So I remember how time consuming and labor extensive it was it was to use that equipment. And when I started like researching on on different on agricultural mechanization, looking into agriculture implements um in in into tractors as well, it made me really fascinated on how much um the engineering world is basically a tool in in making world a better place and optimizing production in the agricultural sector as well.
Speaker 1:So I just feel like that's where mostly my has been about and moving into yeah, moving into the energy side, sustainable energy side. I think the interest was sparked when we're doing this one module, environmental engineering which was mostly about climate change, resource depletion and also the little shading crisis that we had in South Africa right.
Speaker 1:So the moment I got exposed to to those impact that they have in basically our life goals in business, in economic development, I immediately knew that I really wanted to make a difference in the sector bringing in clean, affordable energy sources, you know, to support sustainability as well.
Speaker 2:So, more than anything, it was just certain pieces of the puzzle that needed to be formed together but honestly, it's been an amazing journey to to see I love that story, that that's so beautiful, especially the idea of um, your grandmother um, and also just the circumstances of living in south africa and bringing that in. I'm sure when you're working with your grandmother in the heat cause it's usually in the heat when you are like laboring you probably, like this should be a better way of doing this. And uh, here you are, um in this space, um, you know, when we were having our personal discussions of A, I was so interested about your research because I never thought that these two things could go together. So this is I want you to tell me more about it. You know you're turning invasive plants into clean energy, right, which is so unique. So how did you come here? Like what? Where? Tell us more.
Speaker 1:Okay. So it's mostly the sustainable renewable energy side. So the moment I was exposed to challenges that we have on climate change, on low trading prices, that some sort of like, sparked an idea on renewable energy sectors. I think more than anything, I was really exposed into, like you know, the typical energy sources like solar, hydropower, so I wasn't really more into the bioenergy, the biomass energy sector. So normally in our department we normally have like a list of projects that you need to do and then you can just play around with it on what you basically want to bring out into the world as well. So when I saw biomass energy I was really intrigued on what it was. So I'm just going to give a bit of context on the whole process.
Speaker 1:So biomass energy is the thermal degradation using heat and also biochemical degradation using microorganism. So we're degrading organic materials such as plants, such as cow manure, such as waste material, to some sort of like form, these biofuels. It can be biochar, bio-oil, bio-gas oil, biogas, biodiesel, bioethanol. So these biofuels, they can, some sort of like, be used for power generation, for heat generation, as a transport fuel, as a chemical stock as well. So how they work into the energy sector. So you normally have. Like the bio oil, right, bio oil, it can be combusted, you know. So when it's combusted to produce that certain heat, then you utilize the heat to evaporate water, producing steam, right, and then utilize that steam to run steam turbines, steam turbines connected to generator, and that's how you come about with generating electricity from these biofuels. So that's how they basically work.
Speaker 1:So the substrate of invasive alien plant species. So these are plant species that are not native to an environment. However, they invade and then they have a negative impact water resources on the environment, on biodiversity as well. And mostly from literature studies, controlling and managing these plant species is quite cost intensive. It requires very high capital to some sort of like control them adequately as well. So my supervisor came up with an idea. Actually was like what if maybe the best method that we can control for these plant species is to some sort of like, utilize them for energy generation? And that sense we're creating dual peoples, managing their ecological impact while at the same time we'reating sustainable energy from them as well. So it was quite a very great idea. But the research specifically is mostly specific on woody and non-woody invasive alien plant species looking at acacia, looking at pinus, species in the woody sector and then looking at species such as lantana, such as like barkweed, in the non-woody sector and also characterizing them. Either are they suitable for thermochemical processes?
Speaker 1:or they are suitable for biological processes, and then going on into producing the biogas and also the bio-oil and then analyzing the biogas and the bio oil to see its feasibility, its viability as an as an energy, as a renewable energy fuel, as a renewable energy source. So, more than anything, it's quite a very interesting study and, yeah, it's fascinating fascinating.
Speaker 2:Um, there's so many different parts. Um, I like the fact that you first characterize them to see which part, where would they ideally fit. I think that's so important before going in and saying, okay, let's say like you're non-woody and you're woody to really see which one is most effective. So talk to me about the practicality. Okay, you've characterized and you know, this goes um biogas and this one goes for thermal. What do you do? Do you like go and collect all of these, put them in a shredder? How does, how does that actual process work?
Speaker 1:so, um so, the, the characterization process, and also good news I just published a paper on characterization.
Speaker 2:Oh, congratulations.
Speaker 1:For the bio-oil sector. Firstly, so, definitely so. You go from the characterization process, you go from literature sources, so you know that plant species have different like segment, from the stem to the wheat, to the, to the leaves, to the roots and stuff.
Speaker 1:So you have to have like an inadequate um literature or like research um, a background on that, on which part of the plant species you think is mostly or you want to explore or you think is mostly have more energy content based on what other researchers have have basically been done.
Speaker 1:So mostly I was looking into the stem apart of um of woody plant species and also looking at the wood, the wood twinkles and the leaves for the non-woody plant species. So definitely you're going to felt having you, you need to collaborate with people who actually know them much more better. They can be able to point them out that this is lantana, this is bugweed. So I've worked with people from different sectors of agriculture as well who assisted in just getting those plant species as well assisted in just getting those plant species as well. So normally you take these plant species and it's the drying process to make sure that they do not deteriorate, because it's very easy to lose its quality once you have some sort of some harvested them in some sense. So it goes through into the drying process, from the drying process to size reduction, to making sure that they're in small sample for easy heat transfer or microbial activities as well, and then from then you can go through certain processes For biogas production. You will normally do it through an aerobic digestion process.
Speaker 1:So, you just have a plant sample. You put it in like a reactor that has initial microorganisms so that they will be able to initiate the process of biological degradation as well. That's for biological process. And then if you go into the thermal process of producing bio-oil, normally you also have a reactor as well.
Speaker 1:You then feed in the plant species in that reactor and then you supply heat into it and then it degrades the plant species. Once it has degraded the plant species, they're going to be the formation of like vapors. Those vapors are condensable, so when they're passing through lower temperature ranges about five degrees there's some sort of like condensed into bio oil and normally it results into other residues as well. The biogas process has, um, what we call a digested that you can utilize as a fertilizer. The bio oil has other residues like the biochar, and the same gas, the biochar, can be utilized as a soil amendment as well.
Speaker 2:So that's, that's like I've explained everything no, listen, you have like, this is fascinating work. Um again, congratulations on it. Um, on this research, and I think it's so important because, um like, as we, as we listening, it touches on so many sustainable development goals as well. And I'm just thinking, when you think of the implications of this, let's say, for example, in areas where, for example, like in a village or something, have you thought about how the type of impact that this type of research would actually have, about how the type of impact that this type of research would actually have?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I have. I think going back into the, firstly, the sustainable development goal I mean we're close to 2030, right? Yeah, I want to see the results Five years to go, exactly. So it goes on into supporting the affordable and clean energy sector, supporting the climate action SDG, supporting the zero hunger SDG as well, and going back into putting it into practical space. I always say that, as researchers or people into academic, the work that we do is incredible and it is also impactful. So we shouldn't just leave it into just completing my master's degree, getting that certificate of master's or publishing papers, but it is something that we should put into practical space and see it living and see it changing lives. Like we always say, we should do so. More than anything, I do see in a small village having those biogas stove you know operating in biogas derived from invasive alien plant species. I see it mostly into a small scale enterprise agricultural production. You know running tractors with these biofuels.
Speaker 1:You know running food processing units and cold storages to make sure that our production in agriculture is optimized. So I see putting the work mostly into practical space and just leaving it into Google Scholar in some sense, yeah oh, definitely, I'm a firm believer of that, of the implementation of this research.
Speaker 2:But I'm so glad that you came into this field because your work has got so much potential to change so many lives and even the way that we do things, which is absolutely fantastic. So you have just submitted your master's um congratulations. That's a journey on its own and I think anybody who's ever done a postgraduate degree knows that research has got it's very high highs. It's very, very low, lows and then also just that weird state of like nothingness I don't know if that's the word. So, um, what is one moment? Um for you when you reflect on your master's journey?
Speaker 1:um, that really sticks out to you, whether it be good or bad, that you'd like to share um, honestly on on, maybe looking in firstly into the downside, I haven't really had like a specific you know like downside, but I know that I took so long to complete my master's, I took longer than I expected to actually complete the MSc. But I think the beauty of research is that it does not only just um develop you academically as well, but it develop you as a person as well yeah so you get to learn so many things about yourself.
Speaker 1:You know from like being patient. You know msc or academic world would require you to be very patient. You know, in some sense you learn more about time management, managing, managing your time effectively. You learn the art of networking, working with different people, collaborating with different people from different industry as well. So those are some of the characteristics or traits that you will forever need in your journey of life and also in success as well.
Speaker 1:So the company, I think I'm mostly grateful into the development that I've had, just as a person, rather as someone as as a career, you know from, from just not knowing that you know I'll, you know, it's just, it's crazy, because you're just this tiny person and all of a sudden you're doing really amazing thing and you're just like where's this coming from? Yeah, you know. So it's such, it's such an amazing journey. To be honest with you, I am no, beautiful.
Speaker 2:I think you know you really get that sort of reflective when you're near the end and the process that gets. Well, not even near the end, when you are at the end even, because in the process it just there's a lot going on. But you're so right, like, postgraduate journey teaches you so much about yourself in in ways that you would have never learned. And I'm so beautiful, I'm so, so glad that you have this beautiful reflective process of what this journey is, and I think evidently that's what a postgraduate degree is all about. It's not just a certificate, and even I know you mentioned that you felt like you took a long time or longer than you expected. But sometimes that's just the process and maybe you know, give yourself grace, you've come out and you've published a paper I'm sure there'll probably be more papers as well and you've done some incredible research work.
Speaker 2:So sometimes the journey is not always straight. It's not always a two-year journey. It might be two years and a couple of months, it might be three years, but as long as you've gotten to end, which is which is where you're at, so, huge, huge congratulations on that. Like, yeah, there's so many people who will tell you like, girl, as long as you've done it, and I think that's the most important part yeah, thank you so much on that as well, and I mean, you know it better than I do, so yeah, yeah, trust me, I could tell you my own stories, but that's its own podcast.
Speaker 2:Speaking of podcasting, you mentioned earlier that you know you didn't aspire to always get into the science. You had the vision of doing broadcasting, et cetera. So, outside you being the scientist, scientist, you are into these things and we had a conversation about you, you know, starting your own podcast. So everybody keep an eye out. It's coming, it's loading. So how do you balance wongiwe, who is the scientist, and Wongiwe, who is the aspiring broadcaster, storyteller, etc so, yeah, um, yeah.
Speaker 1:I firstly want to also thank you so much for the conversation that we had about me venturing into my other life for a question. It was really inspiring. I also feel like you really inspire us as well to to also believe in, in things that we love and that we passionate about as well. So, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm working, I can say I'm just cooking something for now. Yeah, but, um, I, I, I feel like I also want to to to educate people.
Speaker 1:I want to inspire people and I want to empower people as well, and I want to create a community where people will be safe and people will be able to relate into, like certain stories and journeys from other people as well. So that's what I'm basically working on right now, but I also very much encourage in, in, in having life outside the academic world or outside work or outside research. It's something that will keep you grounded, something that will keep you sane and it will also fill your cup. Go to the gym, spend time with your family. It will keep you sane. It will keep you grounded as well. So I try by all means to just balance, to make sure that as much as I put work into my academic areas, but also I should be able to fill myself up as a person as well, so that I will be able to continue feeling my other academic life as well. So that's it from my side.
Speaker 2:Yeah, beautiful, you mentioned that you have an aspiration of educating people and empowering people. So, as we're wrapping up this conversation back to your science life, what advice would you like to maybe educate and empower someone that you wish they knew about going into that space, because you are also an inspiration to someone else? Um, they look up to you and they see things being possible because you have done it. So what would? What would one thing that you would like to share to someone, particularly a young woman as well? Um, who's? Who's aspiring to be where you are? Who's?
Speaker 1:aspiring to be where you are. Yeah, that's a tricky one, but honestly, I would say to a young woman in science that your voice matters, your questions are valid and your dreams are also not too big, right. I would advise that one person to not shrink themselves, to not dim their light, to always being themselves, you know, and I think, more than anything, I would advise us, as women in science, to stick together to lift each other, to be in each other's back, because if one person breaks certain barriers or certain obstruction, that means all of us have a way, you know, know to be in this world as well. So I think that's that's one of the advice that I have is that either go out there, be the best version of yourself and put out the and work hard. You know, I said.
Speaker 2:I love it. Such wonderful advice on your way. We are wrapping up our conversation and I just have one more question um, what is next? What's in the plans for you, um, in the future, uh, given that you are at this point, because now people are gonna ask are you gonna do a phd, are you gonna work, are you are you gonna start a family? I don't know, uh, but like um what, what are your plans uh for you now that you've completed this step of your journey?
Speaker 1:um, phd, definitely, we've had this conversation, but definitely. But I just um, I want, I want to. I want to go in into the industry right now. I want to see what is there into the world. I think, more than anything, I want to see if my research work can be adopted in a practical space in a way, and how can I adopt it as well, so that I have an idea if this is the future for me, or I might want to branch into other industry as well, because, more than anything, I did say that I don't want to just leave this as publication or as obtaining a master's degree.
Speaker 1:I want to see breathing and living outside. So for now, I want to go into an industry, get a feel of how we can some sort of like implement this and yeah, but definitely phd is something that I know that I will do. I mean, we always say you can't do your masters and not do your phd, you know, so yeah, that's like, that's like the future right now, honestly. But I'm branching into the business side, the business side of academics as well.
Speaker 2:Oh love it. Please definitely go and implement this work. It's absolutely so important and we need it. And when you are on the PhD journey, you have my number. Call me, let me know and be like, hey, I'm doing it, but, um, what an inspiring conversation that we've had. Uh, I've learned so much, and I'm sure our listeners learned a whole bunch about your research, but also about you. So thank you for coming on and sharing your journey with me today.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much, anne with an E. Thanks very much. I really appreciate having me into the platform as well to share my little two cents. Yeah, and also thank you as well for continuing inspiring us as well. We know that we have a community, we have people like you who are going to continue pushing us and being our shoulder to cry on in women, in science as well, so I really appreciate you.
Speaker 2:Thank you, definitely. Thank you so much, bongiwe, and to everybody else who's tuned in. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Root of the Science podcast with your girl and with an E. Until next time, goodbye.
