Tony Aidoo makes strong case for bio-gas

Former Head of Policy Monitoring and Evaluation in the Atta Mills Government, Dr. Tony Aidoo, has said the development of bio-gas as an alternative source of energy should be given a critical consideration.

According to him, pit latrines, which are abundant in almost every rural area in Ghana, provides a ready source of raw material for bio-gas in the country.

All it takes is to cover up these pit latrines and create a small opening to harvest the gas, he said.

Speaking on Radio Gold’s Alhaji and Alhaji programme on Saturday July 6, Dr Aidoo said one of the key challenges for the production of energy has been the generation of power, and since 2009, bio-gas has been considered as a viable energy source.

He also noted that the KVIP in the city centres could serve as a viable source for bio-gas.

He was very confident that the development of bio-gas as an alternative energy source could prevent people from cutting down trees for charcoal.

Dr Tony Aidoo expressed disappointment at the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum for giving attention to a proposal by a Chinese company to set up a coal source generation of power.

“I know that in Ghana, we don’t have coal deposits, the only coal we have is charcoal, so obviously the coal would be imported from abroad”, he noted.

In his view, the Ministry should be ashamed of itself for even considering that proposal.

According to him, the technocrats at the Energy and Petroleum Ministry, who are charged with the responsibility of proposing innovative ideas to the minister on ways to meet the country’s challenges, should sit up.

“So far, we don’t have any innovation at all...how come the sun shines 99.7 days in a year and yet we cannot harness the sun for solar energy?” Dr. Aidoo asked.

The former Head of Policy Monitoring and Evaluation said although there are plans to develop nuclear energy, the infrastructural cost involved makes it a “discouraging” approach.

The State Atomic Energy Corporation of Russia (ROSATOM) and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum recently discussed the specifics of projects to facilitate the implementation of plans by Ghana to develop a nuclear industry.

But in Dr. Aidoo's view, “the usefulness of any [energy production] technology should be the extent to which [it] will answer the basic questions in the country, without huge costs to the nation."