Government will invest significantly in LP Gas - Vice President

Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday announced that government would spend a significant amount of money from the phase two of the Millennium Challenge Account on Liquified Petroleum Gas.

He said Ghana was taking up that move to make LPG accessible and affordable to replace the use of charcoal and fuel wood which was accelerating forest depletion in most parts of the country.

Vice President Mahama announced this when members of the United Nations representative on energy called on him at the Castle, Osu.

The delegation, which was made up of the European Union, United Nations Development Programme, African Development Bank and the World Bank, among others, were at the Castle to find out how they could tap the Ghanaian expertise to provide electricity to all communities of UN member countries in the coming years.

Vice President Mahama said Ghana had over the years lost about 10 million hectares of forest as a result of consistent illegal logging for lumber, and gave the assurance that investing on Gas could change that attitude for the better.

“Ghana government is trying to pursue the use of Liquefied Gas because of forest depletion and the repercussions of climate change, which can help sustain our environment for the next generations”, he added.

The Vice President said government would also divert into renewable energy to complement the hydro and thermal energy generation for all communities.

In that direction, Vice President Mahama expressed the hope that Ghana would achieve 50 megawatts of solar energy in the northern sector of the country, while other moves would be made to generate wind energy in the ensuing years.

Mr Luis Gomez Echavavia, Executive Officer of the Secretary General said their visit to Ghana was to find solutions to the Secretary-General’s initiative to provide energy, especially electricity to communities of member developing countries .

He said Ghana was flourishing with expertise in Energy because of her active staff at the Ghana Energy Commission and called for collaboration that could help achieve that goal.