Transcriber: Evan Bimaputra
Reviewer: Hélène Vernet
Our world is built with numerous
amounts of resources and materials.
Some which manifest
themselves as Earth's own,
and others as part
of industrial manufacturing.
Natural or manmade,
the question still remains:
are we really using them efficiently
and to their full potential?
To put the answer into perspective,
I'd like you all to look
at the numbers on the screen.
One, nine, two.
I'll be showing you, according
to a United Nations report,
the amount of waste in kg the world
produces on average every year.
We'll be doing that by adding
zeroes to the numbers next to me.
So let's start with three.
Raise your hand if you
believe this is the amount.
Anyone?
Okay.
Three more zeroes?
How about another three zeroes?
Raise your hands
if you think this is the amount.
Unfortunately, the answer is no.
One more zero!
That, ladies and gentlemen, is roughly
the amount of waste we dump every year:
1.92 trillion kilograms of waste.
Just imagine how big that number is.
As you can see, the answer to our
previous question is a staggering no.
And, as one of the many
members of the youth
who will one day take up the mantle
as caregivers of our nation,
I wanted to change that.
Today, I'll be sharing with you
the story of how my team and I
at the Emirates Foundation
tackled this global issue.
When we look around us, we can find
plastic, water, glass,
at almost every corner.
In fact, if you look
around you right now,
you'll be able to find
at least one of these materials -
as an example, the
windows right next to you.
So my team and I, at the time, decided
to work with these varied sources:
waste water, plastic, and glass.
We wanted to transform them,
make something big,
something that not only our nation,
but the entire world can benefit from.
As many of you may know, we will in fact
wake up one day with no fossil fuels left.
And we know that fossil fuels
are the main source of energy.
It's estimated that by the year 2088,
all forms of fossil fuels
will indeed go extinct.
Now whether that's true or not
depends on how careful we are.
And if not given enough importance,
that day might come
even sooner than we all think.
Thus we decided to focus our work
on developing alternative ways
to generate clean electricity and energy
through non-polluting
and cheaper methods.
Our first project focused
on how waste water could be used
to generate clean electricity and energy.
Waste water is basically any type
of impure water you could think of,
whether it was sewage water
or even polluted water.
Now waste water is found in literally
every single country around the world.
Unfortunately, these bodies of water can
be extremely and highly dangerous
because of the amount of bacteria,
pathogens and other
materials they contain.
But, what if?
What if we could find a way
to not only purify the waste water,
but also use it to generate
electricity and energy
to power millions
of houses, buildings, centers,
anything you can think of, really?
What if?
Well, we did it.
Our answer was the microbial fuel cell.
So here's the simple and brief
explanation of how it works.
Electricity is essentially the fuel
of electrons through a circuit,
and waste water contains special
bacteria that generate these electrons
when they react with the other
materials found in waste water.
These electrons then pass
from one capsule to another capsule
through these rods known as electrodes.
The water is then passed through 2 layers
of filter made with carbon nanotubes.
And those filters trap in
microbes and unwanted materials.
Yet, they allow the water to pass through.
As you can see, with only
one liter of waste water,
we were able to produce
a highest average of 0.36 millivolts.
Now you can imagine how much
more we could produce
with thousands and thousands
of liters of waste water
to fuel cell, if it were scaled up.
With this method, we can supply a large
amount of clean electricity and energy
as well as purify water for agriculture.
For our second project, we wanted
to change plastic and glass
into energy sources.
So we used the same material
found in plastic water bottles,
also known as PET plastic -
and onto that
we added a special paste.
Now this paste has
the ability to absorb sunlight
and generate that heat
into electrical energy.
So basically what we did is we
produced cheap plastic solar cells,
or, as many of you may
know them, solar panels.
As for the glass, we made
transparent solar cells.
Just imagine all glass
surfaces you could think of,
from the windows on skyscrapers,
the screens of your
phones, glass doors, etc.
And now imagine that all 
of those are actual solar cells
that provide you with the electricity
and the energy that you need.
So the moment you walk out
of the house with your phone,
your phone is being charged.
You don't have to worry anymore
about running out of battery,
I mean, isn't that great?
We don't have to worry about seeing
that red color on the battery sign
the next time we open
our phones and freak out
because that's not going to happen.
Not only that, but now you
do not even have to worry
about the electricity supply at home
because all the windows you have,
all glass surfaces you have,
are now solar cells that supply
you that electricity that you need.
Now in order for us
to make all of that come to light,
we had to create two different layers:
each with its own purpose.
The first layer was responsible
for absorbing the light,
whether it was natural or artificial,
and the second layer was responsible
for transforming heat
into electrical energy that we can use.
Now I'd like you all to imagine a world,
a world where waste water that everyone
wanted to get rid of in any way possible,
even if that meant polluting
the environment they lived in,
and harming themselves,
is now an actual
source of clean electricity.
Most of the plastic and glass
used are now solar cells
that supply you
with electricity and energy.
Imagine a world where you
do not have to worry anymore
about waking up one day with no fuel left.
"Why?"do you ask.
Because now we have efficient alternatives
that substitute the diminishing fuel.
By changing our perspectives
towards the materials around us,
we were able to change waste water
from waste to resource.
We were able to change plastic and glass
from materials merely used
in bottles and cups
to again actual sources
of electricity and energy.
We were able to change
our small team of young hopefuls
to scientists that competed
nationally and internationally,
and to end it all won seven awards.
I hope that one day our ideas
will find use in our country,
and perhaps another day
in many countries around the world.
Our main aim was to shift
the perception of waste materials
so that we could drive our species
into a cleaner,
more energy-efficient future.
But what we really wish to do
is to inspire the Emirate youth
and the entire youth in general
to become individuals who have
a passion to solve problems,
who think differently and globally,
and want to make
this world a better one
because all it takes to begin,
is a change in your perspective.
Thank you all for listening.
(Applause)
