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Contributions from
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InWEnt News
New development approaches discussed
Reconstruction should take disaster
prevention into account
An African perspective
8-9/2004 |
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[ renewables2004 ]
An African perspective
Renewable energies such as solar and wind energy, biomass, hydro and geothermal energy do not emit greenhouse gases and they are inexhaustible. “Our country is endowed with plenty of water, rendering hydro power a major source of sustainable energy. If we abandon this, we will harm our economy,“ argued Zambia’s Energy and Mines Minister, George Mpombo, at the renewables2004. “It is therefore the one source of renewable energy that seems viable, even if big dams stir up some controversy among environmentalists.”
Renewable energies can make a valuable contribution towards reducing poverty, creating jobs and increasing people’s access to energy, Mpombo stated. Although he is in favour of renewable energies, the minister pointed out that Zambia would rather diversify its sources of energy than abandon hydro power. Other sources of renewable energy such as wind, biomass and solar are more expensive. His country does not have the funds necessary to shift to renewable energies as it is trying to provide the basic needs of the people.
At the beginning of June more than 3,000 people from 150 countries converged on the Bundestag, the old German parliament at Bonn, to chart a way forward for the global expansion of renewables. According to the German government, renewable energies are preferable to other sources of energy since they are environmentally friendly. “They are a fundamental pillar in the fight against global warming and climate change,” said Jürgen Trittin, the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
Renewable energies are of key importance for climate and resource protection, for peace, security and for technological innovation. Renewable energies reduce reliance on energy imports and diversify energy supply mixes by making use of locally available resources, thereby contributing to security of supply. According to a statement, ministers from developing nations such as Brazil, Uganda, China, Ethiopia, South Africa, India and Zambia support the use of hydro power: “Africa cannot afford to dispense with hydro power as it is a natural resource so abundantly available, and it is already in use,” said the Energy Minister from Uganda.
“It is better to first look at the needs of the poor and then at technologies to fit those needs, because renewable energies work according to special and different conditions,” said Bernhard Walter of the Church Development Service, a German church organisation protecting the interests of the poor. Using biomass as an example, he said that the technology required is expensive and virtually beyond the means of the poor.
German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, therefore met with strong approval when he pledged an additional 500 million Euros, on top of the one billion Euros Germany had already earmarked for the purpose of developing renewables in third world countries. “The German government will create a special facility for renewable energies and energy efficiency in cooperation with the KfW development bank. The fund will be used to provide low interest loans over a period of five years to government and non-governmental organisations in developing nations”, he said.
China also gave a boost to the delegates by pledging to increase its use of small hydro, wind, solar and biomass power by 2010 to ten percent of its generating capacity. At the end of the conference, it was agreed that in the quest to reduce poverty there was a need to develop sources of energy for two billion people who have no access to electricity. Governments, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders in the energy sector adopted a Political Declaration and a Plan of Action for Renewable Energies, acknowledging that renewable energies together with improved energy efficiency can significantly contribute to sustainable development, to providing access to energy (especially for the poor), to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and to reducing harmful air pollutants, thereby creating new economic opportunities.
The delegates shared the vision that renewable energies together with an increase in energy efficiency will in future become a vital and widely available source of power. To halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and achieve environmental sustainability by 2015 may call for sources of energy such as hydro to be combined with other renewable energies such as wind, biomass and solar.
Grace Kasungami
works as editor for the Zambia Information Service (ZIS) in Lusaka (Zambia). Participating in an advanced training course for journalists specialising in environmental issues at InWEnts’ “International Institute for Journalism”, she reported on the Bonn conference renewables2004.
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