A study by the World Health Organization stated that if a person inhales smoke while cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it equates to smoking between three and 20 packets of cigarettes a day. More than half of the world’s population still cooks over an open fire.
Annually, 4.3 million deaths are associated with cooking over open fires. The traditional cooking methods cause the emission of hazardous firewood smokes causes more fatal consequences for women and endangers the planet.
Nupe Energy is renewable energy startup that aims to tackle this issue. The startup is born from Nupe Project, a company that designs and develops innovative hardware products in Africa.
Nupe Energy proposes an LPG cylinder smart meter that intelligently controls the flow of gas, monitors the fuel level of the cylinder remotely, and facilitates the gas purchase. The device is called the NUGAS which makes use of cellular networks (2G/GSM/GPRS) to display LPG volume and prompt delivery via the cloud.
The smart meter works with the NUPPAY app. The app allows customers to post-pay and prepays for gas making use of a mobile wallet or USSD. The NUPE energy team discussed the product and its progress since its establishment.
“We’re currently developing an IoT solution that ensures a constant supply of clean cooking for people. Our device uses hardware and software to make LPG available for households through a smart metering system. This allows customers to know they are about to run out of gas, and also alerts a nearby gas retailer for a refill to be made using the fastest route possible.” Onanuga said.
Cost of the Smart meter
“The cost of the smart meter is not paid at once by the customer. It is spread over a long period of time through their subscription. The cost of the meter is initially borne by the company which purchases it. Over time, the company recoups the cost of the meter from the customer.”
Currently, the smart meter costs $50 and it is expected to reduce with time. Nupe Energy has a lot of challenges to overcome. The cost of the smart meter and the unstable government policy on gas prices. The company depends on the wider adoption of cooking gas usage and government regulations. With Only a few indigenous companies in design and manufacturing, highly dependent on importing Nupe Energy might just be a step ahead of its competitors.