Ghana has the cleanest fuel in West Africa – Dr Abdul-Hamid

Ghana has the cleanest fuel in the West African sub-region, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has said.

He said Ghana’s fuel specifications, which are set at a sulphur content of 50 parts per million (ppm) in fuel was the cleanest in the West African sub-region.

Dr. Abdul-Hamid was speaking as a panellist on “Downstream Decarbonisation and Circularity – Going Full Circle” at the Egypt Energy Show in Cairo, Egypt.

He said that calls on the government by civil society organizations and the public to adhere to the decarbonisation objectives and the protection of the environment caused the policy change in Ghana to reduce the sulphur content in fuel to 50 ppm.

The NPA Chief Executive, who is also the President of the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA), said Ghana was changing the LPG distribution model to improve clean cooking across the country.

He said a series of accidents at LPG refilling stations in the past, which created a need to improve the environment, prevent deforestation and improve the lives of rural women especially had made the new LPG distribution model called the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) more imperative.

He emphasized that the CRM would enhance access to LPG, as exchange points are being constructed across the country.

He added that the government’s LPG for Development Programme aims to achieve a 50 percent penetration of LPG in households across the country by 2030.

Dr. Abdul-Hamid disclosed that government provided free LPG cylinders to poor households in rural areas under the programme adding that some people could not afford cylinders and cookstoves in the first place, and that informed their reliance on wood fuels.

He added that the government had ordered 100 electric-powered buses for the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMT) as a way of showing an example in the energy transition agenda.

Dr. Abdul-Hamid also highlighted government’s policy for state institutions to be powered by solar indicating that an incentive was given to private individuals who wanted to power their institutions and houses on solar.