[NAIROBI 25TH/SEPT/2008 © A POSITIVE OUTCOME FEATURE]For industrialization to take place, which is the main agenda of many African countries, energy is a key component. It is for this reason that Africa must rethink her energy priorities. And, Kenya is no exception.
Following the oil shock of 1970, the slow progress of both the Rural Electrification Plan of 1973 and the Rural Electrification Master Plan of 1994 a boom in solar power development and other energy alternatives took root in the country. A survey by the World Energy Council (WEC) notes on Kenya
“With a very large percentage of the urban population and almost all of the rural population having no access to a public supply of electricity, solar-based power could play a significant role in redressing the energy supply-demand picture, raising living standards and stimulating the economy. “
But in as much as it is a known fact that solar power is a critical component in meeting the country’s energy needs, there is little government effort to support such an undertaking. Instead much of the government resources are still channeled to hydro-electric power generation.
The seemingly ‘all-inclusive’ Grand Coalition administration seems ill-prepared to rethink the country’s energy strategy. Kenya’s three main sources of energy are electricity, wood fuel, petroleum and renewable energy. Of these renewables are least exploited and seriously under funded. In the recently launched Kenya Vision 2030, there is no mention of solar power. The country’s power generating company KENGEN also speaks little of solar power. Instead much of the country’s efforts are concentrated on hydro-electric power even though credible research findings illustrate and hype on the need to shift from the hydro/fossil-powered electricity paradigm in favour of geothermal, solar, wind and bagasse (sugar cane waste, which is capable of producing power. Kenya produces one million tonnes of these each year which goes to waste).
The benefits of exploiting solar and other renewables are legion. There are plenty of reasons for this.
“Renewables” not only hold the key for transforming the country’s back waters but they stand to give rural areas in Kenya a new lease of life and bring them at par with other areas. According to the World Energy Council (WEC) “renewable is the term used for forms of energy that can be regenerated, or renewed, in a relatively short amount of time. The regeneration process may be continuous and immediate, as in the case of direct solar radiation, or it may take some hours, months or years. This is the case of wind energy (generated by the uneven heating of air masses), hydro energy (related to the sun-powered cycle of water evaporation and rain), biomass energy (stored in plants through photosynthesis), and the energy contained in marine currents.”
Solar, wind and other renewables are the best sources of energy for Africa’s rural households, however the exploitation of these resources has been wanting not just in Kenya but in the continent as a whole.
That Kenya is a hotspot for wind and solar energy is not in doubt.
Kenya leads the rest of the continent in terms of her exploitation of both geothermal and solar power, but much more still needs to be done.
Presently, the continent is gearing itself to harness the benefits accruing from Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and the issue of energy is crucial as most ICT gadgets rely heavily on power.
African governments must enable the citizenry access these solar panels by reducing the tax tariffs imposed on such materials; offer incentives; and provide subsidies alike to enable more people access power.
After all, energy from renewables provides clean, cheap, reliable, safe power to remote areas, and provides a healthy alternative to fossil fuels.
ENDS
Following the oil shock of 1970, the slow progress of both the Rural Electrification Plan of 1973 and the Rural Electrification Master Plan of 1994 a boom in solar power development and other energy alternatives took root in the country. A survey by the World Energy Council (WEC) notes on Kenya
“With a very large percentage of the urban population and almost all of the rural population having no access to a public supply of electricity, solar-based power could play a significant role in redressing the energy supply-demand picture, raising living standards and stimulating the economy. “
But in as much as it is a known fact that solar power is a critical component in meeting the country’s energy needs, there is little government effort to support such an undertaking. Instead much of the government resources are still channeled to hydro-electric power generation.
The seemingly ‘all-inclusive’ Grand Coalition administration seems ill-prepared to rethink the country’s energy strategy. Kenya’s three main sources of energy are electricity, wood fuel, petroleum and renewable energy. Of these renewables are least exploited and seriously under funded. In the recently launched Kenya Vision 2030, there is no mention of solar power. The country’s power generating company KENGEN also speaks little of solar power. Instead much of the country’s efforts are concentrated on hydro-electric power even though credible research findings illustrate and hype on the need to shift from the hydro/fossil-powered electricity paradigm in favour of geothermal, solar, wind and bagasse (sugar cane waste, which is capable of producing power. Kenya produces one million tonnes of these each year which goes to waste).
The benefits of exploiting solar and other renewables are legion. There are plenty of reasons for this.
“Renewables” not only hold the key for transforming the country’s back waters but they stand to give rural areas in Kenya a new lease of life and bring them at par with other areas. According to the World Energy Council (WEC) “renewable is the term used for forms of energy that can be regenerated, or renewed, in a relatively short amount of time. The regeneration process may be continuous and immediate, as in the case of direct solar radiation, or it may take some hours, months or years. This is the case of wind energy (generated by the uneven heating of air masses), hydro energy (related to the sun-powered cycle of water evaporation and rain), biomass energy (stored in plants through photosynthesis), and the energy contained in marine currents.”
Solar, wind and other renewables are the best sources of energy for Africa’s rural households, however the exploitation of these resources has been wanting not just in Kenya but in the continent as a whole.
That Kenya is a hotspot for wind and solar energy is not in doubt.
Kenya leads the rest of the continent in terms of her exploitation of both geothermal and solar power, but much more still needs to be done.
Presently, the continent is gearing itself to harness the benefits accruing from Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and the issue of energy is crucial as most ICT gadgets rely heavily on power.
African governments must enable the citizenry access these solar panels by reducing the tax tariffs imposed on such materials; offer incentives; and provide subsidies alike to enable more people access power.
After all, energy from renewables provides clean, cheap, reliable, safe power to remote areas, and provides a healthy alternative to fossil fuels.
ENDS
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment