Clement Mokoenene, founder of Epitome Consulting Epitome Consulting, has won the Chivas Venture SA 2018 competition, and will take on the global final in May.

The Chivas Venture is a global initiative that provides a $1-million fund for social entrepreneurs that are tackling the world’s biggest problems. Regional finalists, with commercially-viable innovations, are selected from 27 countries.

Mokoenene’ Vehicle Energy Harvesting System (VEHS) aims to actively change the way that energy is approached from a scientific and sustainability point of view. His concept is to harness the missing link in the transfer of energy and convert it to create a new source of electricity.

His idea was inspired by the pressure exerted on to the tarmac by the weight of an aeroplane through its wheels when landing. He sought to find a way to harness the energy generated by that pressure in the same way that coal is burned to create pressure to the power turbines that provide us with electricity.

The VEHS takes this principle and applies it to cars. The system is fitted below the road surface. The cars driving over it creates the pressure that powers a turbine. A 2km stretch of highway fitted with the system could potentially power an entire city.

Mokoenene has spent several years developing and testing the system and believes that it is now ready to be rolled out and utilised in the real world.

This rollout could happen quickly because, unlike more traditional energy infrastructure that takes years to construct, the VEHS infrastructure can be installed and operational within six months.

“Everyone at Epitome has put their full support behind Clement,” says Epitome CEO, Joey Mokoenene. “His entering a competition such as the Chivas Venture makes perfect sense as Epitome has always held our people, the people around us and the world we live in as our number one priority. Our motto is ‘development through innovation’ and Clement’s VEHS is the embodiment of this philosophy.”