Critical Need for the Technology

In the US, there are an estimated 30 million people dealing with contaminated water.  Lead has been discovered in drinking water in Flint, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, Newark, New Jersey, and more.  Serious PFAS/PFOS contamination has been detected throughout the United States and has been estimated to be in the bodies of more than 90% of Americans.  In the Southwest, uranium and arsenic can be found in ground water.  Many residents of California receive municipal water contaminated with farm runoff or industrial compounds (eg.1,2,3 trichloropropane).  These contaminants are difficult to eliminate, in part, because the energy needed is either unavailable or prohibitively expensive.

Because of climate change the need for air conditioning is growing.  In the Seattle area, approximately 33% of homes are currently air conditioned, but in this year a heat wave is bringing 100 degree plus temperatures to the area.  Globally, air conditioning and cold chain spending is becoming increasingly critical. In order to meet the global need for both, energy availability must be sharply increased without using energy sources that produce greenhouse gases.

These and a variety of other areas illustrate the need for a clean, ubiquitous, carbon free, and vast energy resource.

Supplemental Need for this Technology

Water heating is currently addressed by two major approaches: combustion-based heating or electrical heating. These consume significant amounts of energy that must be generated and transmitted or transported through a distribution network. We envision a new solution that utilizes environmental thermal energy as a primary energy source.

Potential CO2 Reduction

Kazadi Enterprises creates air-source heat pumps to purify water, condition air, heat buildings, and to refrigerate. Energy used for heating, cooling, and refrigeration for buildings have long been the target of efficiency standards. Kazadi’s heat pump is an all-in-one method to pump heat into or out of a building, reducing dependence on fossil fuels for heat or power generation.

Globally, in 2022 buildings emitted 3,300 MtCO2e for heating, cooling, and refrigeration. Kazadi’s heat pump can reduce 90 percent of the electricity needed for these while maintaining similar living standards inside the building. With market adoption rate of 1 percent by 2042, Kazadi would deliver a 11 MtCO2e emissions reduction in that year.

Competition

• Solar panels: While solar panels are an increasingly important part of our energy mix, they cannot work 24/7 and they are limited to the sunlight that physically shines directly on them.  Solar is also not a viable solution where there is reduced exposure to the sun, or space is limited.
• Geothermal energy: Another great technology which is limited by geographic location and therefore cannot be a solution for everyone. Some geothermal wells also been found to release harmful gases.
• Wind energy: A renewable energy that is subject to intermittency and is best exploited with very large wind turbines. These turbines have limited plant lifespans and high costs and are inaccessible to many communities.  Some communities have also balked at the sight and noise of the turbines.

Potential Markets

There are a number of potential markets for this technology. The first pilot-level project undertaken by Kazadi Enterprises will see the delivery of a water purification and electricity generation facility at a hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, providing sterile distilled water and electricity. This opens up the possibility of creating and implementing water purification facilities throughout the developing world. As the US faces increased water pollution issues and, in particular, PFAS and PFOS contamination, it is expected that this technology can provide solutions to that as well, particularly in areas where providing clean water is challenging.

As innovation continues, Kazadi Enterprises expects to open other markets including refrigeration and AC, which are key to survival in a world undergoing global warming. This technology can help to reduce the carbon footprint and energy mix of the cold chain market, while significantly reducing costs.  Additionally the water heating market may utilize the technology to provide water heaters that function with environmental heat as a primary heat source, reducing the carbon footprint and cost of water heating.

Additional opportunities for partnerships exist around applications of the technology to a number of other markets.

Key Innovation

The key innovation from Kazadi Enterprises is a practical method of acquiring and using environmental thermal energy.

R & D Status of Project

Kazadi Enterprises has developed a technology platform and various components whose TRL levels range from 3 to 7.

Team Overview

Sanza Kazadi, PhD – Founder and President:  BS / PhD from Caltech (Physics / Computation and Neural Systems); Expertise in renewable energy, swarm engineering, evolutionary computation.  More than 60 research papers and five patents.  24 years R&D and entrepreneurial experience.

Steve Craft – Vice President:  BS from University of Illinois (Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering) 9 years as a wind tunnel test director, 15 years as a senior manager at NASA Langley Research Center, 7 years as a business consultant and entrepreneur.

Nikki Kazadi – Assembler:  BA from University of California Santa Cruz (Sociology).  10 years managerial and operational experience.

Daniel Chan – Engineering Intern

Technology Profile

Status: R&D
Primary industry: Humanitarian water purification and electricity production, AC & refrigeration
Category: Energy scavenging and conversion, carbon-free, energy harvesting, environmental heat

Estimated annual revenue: Pre revenue
Employs: 3
Social challenge: Making energy more easily and economically accessible worldwide

R&D commercial collaborator: N/A