FEW Off-grid Technologies

Demonstration site for off-grid wastewater treatment, biogas generation, and agrivoltaics

Project Lead: Dr. Clive Lipchin

The Al Furaa site provides an operational demonstration of FEW off-grid technologies for decentralized agricultural management. The site focuses on Israel's Bedouin community and how their needs may be better met with local technologies; these solutions may also add agency and resilience across the developing world. The site showcases technological innovation in off-grid farm sustainability and acts as an innovation hub that demonstrates in real-time conditions how off-grid FEW technologies work in regions where access to infrastructure like electricity and water are unavailable or limiting.

The Arava Institute arranges Al Furaa site visits, educational programs, and research projects at the demo site in cooperation with partners from the Global FEWture Alliance. The site serves as a resource for students, researchers, and other stakeholders from UMD, Tanzania, and Nepal. Our collaborators may visit the site, carry out transnational research, and build capacity for communities to thrive without external energy or water sources. Visitors to the hub will be shown a vision for what can be achieved in meeting FEW needs under off-grid conditions.

This cutting edge demo site is critical for training and capacity building in areas including water management, water reuse, irrigation, and solar energy, within the context of decentralized FEW services. 

We will link these activities to the UMD Global Stewards program, partner on a training program with MASHAV, and extend this to academic programs at UMD, Mbeya University of Science and Technology, and Kathmandu University.

Project Objectives:

• Build a demonstration site of FEW off-grid technologies for decentralized FEW management
  • Laguna Innovation wastewater treatment system
  • Watergen atmospheric water generator
  • Solar photovoltaic system for agricultural energy needs
  • Build a greenhouse for seedlings and specialty crops
• Introduce the project to other Global FEWture Alliance collaborators 
• Carry out research projects and experiential learning on-site

Arava Institute's comprehensive webpage for the Al-Furaa Off-Grid Hub