Make use of renewable energy resources - workshop

Accra (Greater Accra), 16 Feb. '99- A five-day African Science Writers Workshop opened yesterday in Accra with emphasis on the need for African countries to make use of available renewable energy resources and save the environment. The workshop, being attended by 17 delegates from 10 African countries, was organised by the African Publishers Network (APNET) and UNESCO, to review, edit and re-orient six energy science textbooks for schools in Africa. The titles of the books, written by various science writers from Ghana, Lesotho, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi and Guinea, are 'Uses of Energy,' 'Sources of Energy,' 'Energy Conservation,' 'Energy Transformation,' ' Energy Storage' and 'Issues affecting Energy in Africa.'

Ms Mulekeni Moyo-Ngulube, Assistant Programmes Specialist (Culture), UNESCO, Harare, noted that the six science books have some commonalties as well as some cultural diversities. The purpose of the workshop is to improve upon the commonalties and neutralise the cultural diversities through sharing of ideas and experiences. "We intend to re-orient the six books into supplementary sources of energy science awareness to aid curricula developers to conveniently include energy science learning for children in school." Ms Moyo-Ngulube said this is to create awareness of the available sources of renewable and environmentally friendly sources of energy among African children, with the view to increase their use in Africa and prevent the energy generated from causing environmental hazards. In an address read for him, Mr Fred Ohene Kena, Minister of Mines and Energy, said 70 per cent of people in fast growing developing countries do not have electricity and depend on fuelwood and kerosene as sources of energy. The attendant effect is the emission of greenhouse gases, deforestation and desertification, among other dangerous effects on the environment.

He cited biomass, solar energy, sea wave and wind energy as abundantly available renewable and environmentally friendly sources of energy and urged African governments to make use of these sources to meet increased future energy supplies. "The use of solar dryers can reduce post-harvest losses, biogas for cooking and generating electricity can result in improved sanitation, bio- energy plantations can help to increase fuelwood resources and biomass gassification can also be used to produce electricity." Mr Ohene Kena however noted that the barriers inhibiting renewable energy production and use in Africa is the initially high cost and lack of information. He pledged the government's commitment at helping communities to develop such sources of energy through awareness creation and overseas aid, adding "currently we have signed an agreement with Shell International for a feasibility study for such a project. "The ministry is at the moment installing over 1,600 solar systems basically for lighting in 10 villages," he said.