Centelsa by Nexans: Self-Sufficient Food Carts

On the Caribbean coast of Colombia there are more than 150,000 food carts that keep traditional gastronomy alive and have already become a country's heritage and symbol of identity. Thus, food trucks represent an important part of the micro-economy of the area and constitute the main source of income for more than 200,000 families. In their daily activity, to prepare the typical foods they offer, such as arepas, each cart uses more than three litres of oil per day, which is then generally disposed of down the sewers. This creates a high risk of contamination, if one considers that with only 1 liter of oil, almost 40,000 liters of water can be contaminated. In addition, 96% of these cars illegally extract electricity from high voltage poles, which poses a risk to safety and health. Given this situation, Ogilvy together with Centelsa by Nexans, created a prototype car that generates electricity from the reuse of the oil used for cooking, preventing it from being thrown away and reducing the environmental impact.