THE CASE OF SOLAR ENERGY - MY PERSPECTIVE

When you mention solar energy, why do people only think you are talking about bulk infrastructure?

Solar is more than that. Solar is modern technology driven by local innovation.

In fact, the solar revolution in Africa today is driven by small solar lighting solutions wired to Pay As You Go (PAYG) software and hardware. It has less or 'nothing' to do with bulk infrastructure!!!

First and foremost, nobody pays for it, it’s just there and for the next ten billion years humans can and will be able to tap it. Interestingly, developing solar energy may seem like a no brainier but there are legitimate concerns when it comes to the capabilities of it and its implementation.

Photo Credit : Google

Over the years, there have been a lot of arguments concerning solar energy which ranges from the cost involved where the general notion is that it’s too high when adopted. But from further readings and research, it has been identified that, there are different ways for calculating costs and the alternative methods also doesn’t compare easily to each other.

There’s also been the case of how feasible it is to generate power when the sun shines on them. Other factors such as its storage, its accompanying environmental costs are all valid points in the argument for and against the case of solar energy but in my opinion, I believe the positives outweighs the negatives.

The Government of Ghana and for that matter most African governments in my opinion doesn't believe in solar energy, it is rather the citizens who do.

Njeri appointed as Greenpeace Africa Executive Director

PRESS RELEASE

Kenyan born Njeri Kabeberi, has been named as Executive Director for Greenpeace Africa after an extensive search for a combination of skills required to drive the organisation towards a people powered movement.

According to the Greenpeace Africa Board, Africans are hungry for a new story, one with a better take on nature, on humanity, their livelihoods, their future and their connection to the earth. “It was critical to find someone who embodies passion, activism and understands the context of environmental justice in Africa and we are confident that Njeri represents that” said Greenpeace Africa Board Chair Brian Kagoro.

Greenpeace currently runs campaigns on four key issues on the continent, to protect the Congo Basin from large scale deforestation, stop overfishing in West Africa, promote ecological farming in the horn of Africa as well as demand a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources in South Africa in order to reverse the impacts of climate change.

With a long history in human rights activism, Njeri will be leading Greenpeace Africa into a new wave of environmental justice for Africans by Africans.

“We will continue to work on our flagship campaigns but more so, we shall be working closely with communities to ensure that our campaigns speak to the local realities on the continent and can effect change in the day to day life of our people” said newly appointed Greenpeace Africa Executive Director Njeri Kabeberi.

“Africa has a major role to play in the global efforts to reverse climate change, protecting its vast natural forest and safeguarding its rich ocean resources is centre to the continent’s contribution in averting the catastrophic effects of climate change. It is important that the continent works together to push for an end to illegal logging, unsustainable fishing and a shift from industrial agriculture to ecological farming to ensure that our biodiversity is protected” added Njeri.

Njeri joins Greenpeace after serving as CEO of the Civil Society Reference Group and as the immediate former Executive Director of the Centre for Multiparty Democracy.  She is also a member of the board of advisors of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and chairs the board of the International Centre for Policy and Conflict.

  

Njeri is passionate about social justice and women’s rights, and in 2010, amongst others, received the ILO Wedge Award.  She also has extensive INGO leadership and management experience and was on the Board of the Kenya Human Rights Commission for many years.  

CANS OF FRESH AIR SOLD IN CHINA

More than 300 cans of fresh air from south China’s Hainan Province have been sold at the 2016 Hainan International Tourism Trade Expo.

Selling for 29 yuan (US$4.50), the cans of clean air have generated significant interest from businesses and tourists from smog-effected cities in the north and northeast China.

It was bottled in the seaside tourism resort of Bawangling, Changjiang County in southwest Hainan, where the forest coverage is up to 98 per cent.

Bawangling’s average negative oxygen ions per cubic centimetre are as high as 6,000, which is six times the standard of clean air stated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Liu Jin, deputy county chief of Changjiang at the Expo, said: “The first batch of 300 cans were all sold out, and it will start selling to the public in two months.”

Chinese firms are already in negotiation to research and develop larger sizes and different applications, according to Liu.

Source: Climate Action News

A Call Well Made

Professor Samuel Nii Odai, the Pro Vice-Chancellor, has called on businesses to consider the

PROFESSOR SAMUEL NII ODAI

implications of their activities on the environment. He made this call at the launch of this year’s Trade and Technology Fair (TRATECH) organised by the Students Representative Council (SRC).

The fair has the theme “People, Planet and Profit: Embracing Sustainability and Innovation for Business Growth”.
Prof. Nii Odai explained that profit was good but businesses should not only consider profit to the neglect of the environment. This was because a negative attitude towards the environment would affect generations. He made a passionate appeal to businesses to adopt innovative strategies to save the environment.

“As a science and technology university, equipping students with the requisite entrepreneurial skills, it is our responsibility to ensure that future generations do not suffer due to our actions today,” he stated. He therefore commended the students for choosing the theme.

Joseph Baffour, Chairman of the TRATECH Committee, observed that this year’s fair sought to provide employment and capacity-building to exhibitors with good and amazing business ideas. Exhibitors would compete under the SRC Business Development Challenge. Viable businesses that emerge winners would be brought into partnership with the Kumasi Business Incubator (KBI) and the Centre for Business Development.

Items on exhibition include electronics, clothing, drugs, cosmetics, footwear, ceramics, paintings, sculpture, decorative accessories, food, beverages and drinks. There were exhibitions from multimedia, travel and tourism companies and other service providers in the Kumasi Business Incubator (KBI).

Duke Sasu, the SRC President, believes that students’ ideas should be supported and therefore fourteen (14) start-up businesses and ideas of students would be supported with funds.
Apart from the usual college and departmental exhibitions, a significant number of exhibitors were students and alumni entrepreneurs. Wise Technologies, an electronic company owned and funded by some students, exhibited universal modems and power banks. The power banks are power devices for charging smartphones, tablets, cameras, Go Pro, MP3 players among others. The power bank would help students to charge their mobile devices in this time of the power crisis.
Mtrotech is also a student-owned business. They exhibited cane furniture and handmade customized t-shirts made from sea shells, clay, wood and other natural materials.

Some undergraduate students from the KNUST School of Business (KSB) also exhibited Fresh Drinking Yoghurt. The drink known as Lese Fresh Drinking Yoghurt comes in strawberry, mango and orange flavours.  At the KSB stand were assorted bead products such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, among others under the label Queens Pearl.

Story Credit: www.knust.edu.gh

Summary: IPCC Report

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The issue of climate change no doubt is a big issue that a section of the world find it difficult to believe that it's happening. As the world were in shock and wonder how the Westgate Mall terror acts would end, some of us were waiting on Friday, 27th September, 2013 for the IPCC report.

A few things came up and as I gathered in summary from the climate journals, websites as well as co-climate championing organisations all over this is what I have to share with my readers of this blog.

Leading climate scientists said on Friday they were more certain than ever before that mankind was the main culprit of global warming in a report meant to guide governments in dealing with rising temperatures. After reading, I find the following key facts standing out;

Following are the report's findings agreed by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) :

1. Human responsibility

The panel raised the probability that human activities, led by the burning of fossil fuels, are the main cause of global warming since the mid-20th century to "extremely likely", or at least 95 per cent, from "very likely" (90 per cent) in its previous report in 2007 and "likely" (66 per cent) in 2001.

2. Slowing warming this century

The panel said that short, individual periods, such as 1998 which was an exceptionally warm year, are influenced by natural variability and do not, in general, reflect long-term climate trends.

3. Projected warming

The panel said temperatures were likely to rise by between 0.3 and 4.8 degrees by the late 21st century. The report uses new computer models that are not directly comparable with scenarios in 2001.

4. Sea level rise

Sea levels are likely rise by between 26 and 82 cm by the late 21st century, after a 19cm rise in the 19th century. In the worst case, seas could be 98cm higher in the year 2100. The 2001 report projected a rise of 18 to 59cm, but did not take full account of a melt in Antarctica and Greenland.

5. Climate sensitivity

The report estimates that a doubling of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere would lead to a warming of between 1.5 and 4.5 degrees, lowering the bottom of the range from 2 degrees estimated in 2007 report. The new range, however, is the same as in other IPCC reports before 2007.

One might wanna ask the basis for the report and the essence of it and why they should be interested in it. Well I took the time to research for the simplified summary online and below is what the conversation on IPCC entails.

The Conversation

The part of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report, dealing with the physical basis of climate change, has now been released.

The report – released on Friday in Stockholm – is more than 2000 pages long, has assessed nearly 10,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies, most of them published since the previous assessment in 2007, and (as with previous assessments) went through three rounds of  detailed review by 1089 expert and government reviewers worldwide to ensure balance and accuracy.

So what new does it have to say about our climate problem?

The short answer, at least with respect to the big picture: not much. Despite a recent slowdown of surface ocean warming, the world is still warming and humans are still behind most if not all of the change. Much larger changes loom in the future if business-as-usual continues. If emissions come down, those changes won’t be as bad.

Little progress has been made in narrowing the range of future global warming rates or quantifying the role of aerosols (airborne particles such as soot) in offsetting the warming to date. Confidence in regional predictions of climate remains low. This does not mean, however, that no progress has been made.

Climate Watch Ghana

First, the report does ratchet up confidence in the basics. Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer that any preceding decade since widespread observations began in 1850. While previous reports already stated that the world is warming, and that human greenhouse gas emissions (mainly carbon dioxide) were causing warming, AR5 expresses 95 per cent certainty that the latter caused more than half of the former.

Indeed, human activities can account for all the observed warming, and there is no evidence of a significant contribution from natural causes. This warming is now more clearly evident in the deep ocean. We are also more confident in the positive feedback on global warming by water vapour, clouds, and the net release of CO2 from perturbed ecosystems.

Projected warming by 2100 is still about 3-5 degrees above 2005, under the high-emissions scenario. AR5 takes a longer view than previous reports, noting that the most likely global warming by 2200 under this scenario is a shocking 9 degrees above preindustrial. It also expands its consideration of the palaeoclimate record indicating that the last three decades were likely the warmest of the last 1400 years.

There has been a lot of fuss about the slower warming over the past 10-15 years, which AR5 acknowledges and attributes at least in part to natural variations within the climate system. AR5 also acknowledges that short term trends are a poor indicator of long term changes.

When combined with all other evidence this has a fairly small effect on the conclusions, reflected in a range of 1.5 to 4.5 degrees per doubling of CO2 for the so-called “equilibrium climate sensitivity”. This is a return to the range in the first three assessment reports but broader than the 2 to 4.5 degree range assessed in 2007. The upper limit of the “transient climate response", a related measure, is also down by 0.5 degrees.

New studies have shifted a few conclusions on the question of whether predicted changes can be detected in past observations. It is now clear that both major ice sheets and nearly all glaciers are melting. High-rainfall events (behind disasters such as recent Queensland floods) now seem to be heavier in many places.

But AR5 expresses less confidence that tropical cyclones are on the increase globally or that there are more droughts globally. This does not mean these things aren’t happening but reflects a more nuanced understanding of how difficult it is to confirm them based on the imperfect information available.

Projected future climate changes remain what they have been for years: hotter summers and heatwaves, milder winters, heavier extreme rains, and longer periods between rain in most places.

Probably the biggest change since 2007 is that sea level by 2100 in the high-emissions scenario is now expected to be 0.5-1m.

One new topic not covered in previous IPCC assessments is climate geoengineering, including measures to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or to reflect more sunlight to space in order to offset the impact of emissions. The report is not optimistic about either option. Reflecting additional sunlight to space is possible but carries many risks and does not fully address the impacts of CO2. The IPCC mitigation assessment, due in early 2014, is likely to take this topic up further.

Do we need another blockbuster IPCC report in 2019? Possibly not. As we authors can now attest from personal experience, these reports require a massive investment of time.

Some advocate changing to a system more like the US Climate Change Science Program, run about a decade ago, in which smaller and more frequent reports are targeted at key areas of interest to policymakers. This idea, or other possible innovations, deserves serious consideration and was trialled in the IPCC’s SREX (Special Report on Extremes) published in 2011.

The trend in the last several IPCC reports has been growing certainty about the basic things that we already thought we knew. This collectively gives us every reason to think that CO2 emissions are a serious problem – but with little reduction in stubborn projection uncertainties.

The take-home message may simply be that while scientists should continue to strive for improvement, policymakers and the public had best get on with decisions based on the information at hand, rather than hoping for a crystal ball to appear.

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Can Sustainable Energy be achieved by 2030?

Through out my growing life, I have been very concerned about what happens in the near future in relation to the environment and human livelihood. No doubt it has reflected in my activism being an A Rocha International member and rose to the University of Cape Coast president, Greenpeace member to mention but a few. I found this interesting piece online and I decided to blog it so the conversation can still go on. The future is what we have, so I am sure if we take all the necessary steps to keep it safe, and take the right actions, we will have a better place to live in. Continue reading.



The World Economic Forum’s Energy for Society initiative places secure and affordable energy access as the first of its five principles of which leading energy companies commit to deliver in order to meet the needs of a growing world population. Can we, however, go one step further and achieve universal access to energy by 2030 as is the target of many countries and the United Nations.



Renewable energy can play a transformative role in making this objective a reality. With the right policies, investment and public-private partnership models, we can achieve sustainable energy for all, and perhaps even before 2030.

By using our renewable resources, energy can be generated in a carbon-responsible, cost-effective manner that also creates jobs and mitigates climate change, providing a workable and affordable solution that will keep our planet healthy.



The potential of renewable energy is immense. For example, every megawatt (MW) of wind energy installed creates up to 20 jobs; a single 1.5 MW turbine can reduce CO2 emissions by over 3,000 tons every year. And, technological advances have increased the efficiency and productivity of renewable energy. In the wind industry, for example, improvement in technology have made wind turbines 100 times more powerful compared to designs from the 1980s. This is essential to meet our growing energy needs – industrialized countries need more energy to strengthen their economies and developing countries to accelerate progress.



Technological advances have also reduced the cost of renewable energy. For instance, sophisticated materials, electronics, aerodynamics and instillation of larger MW machines have brought down the costs of generating a kilowatt-hour of energy from wind by over 50%. The World Bank report, “Inclusive Green Growth: The Pathway to Sustainable Development”, also demonstrates that the capital costs of wind, solar and hydropower are more than balanced by their low operational costs.



New innovative business models present an economic opportunity for incorporating renewable energy. For example, integrated desalination plants and electric cars (that can also be used to store excess energy) offer ways to reduce costs, increases efficiency and facilitate economic growth. The island community of Samso in Denmark is an example where community-owned renewable energy has helped drastically bring down carbon emissions. Wind turbines power 100% of their electricity needs, and 75% of heating needs are met through solar power and biomass. The community also makes a profit by selling excess energy to the mainland.


Renewable Energy Sustainability


Replacing traditional sources of energy completely with renewable energy is going to be a challenging task. However, by adding renewable energy to the grid and gradually increasing its contribution we can realistically expect a future that is powered completely by green energy.



If we act now, we can mitigate the threat to our planet, reduce our dependence on limited traditional sources of energy and provide every person with their fundamental right – access to energy.



This original piece was authored by, Tulsi Tanti the Chairman of Suzlon Energy and a founding signatory of the World Economic Forum’s Energy for Society Initiative.