Are Ghanaian Officials Stuck on Stupid? The Case For Solar Energy (4)

Read Comments Comments (14)

• Anita 10 years ago

  Simple arthmetic solar power would save Ghana;s productivity. We have Sun rise on a 24/7 basis.

  Simple arthmetic solar power would save Ghana;s productivity. We have Sun rise on a 24/7 basis.

  reply
• Bob 10 years ago

  You lunatics must get information as to how expensive solar system is and stop you stupidity.
  
  Tell readers just one country in the world using solar system as thier main source. Fools!!!

  You lunatics must get information as to how expensive solar system is and stop you stupidity.
  
  Tell readers just one country in the world using solar system as thier main source. Fools!!!

  reply
• Prof Lungu 10 years ago

  Bob,
  We are seeing the lunacy in Bob!
  
  Who says they want "solar system as thier main source. Fools!!!"?

  Bob,
  We are seeing the lunacy in Bob!
  
  Who says they want "solar system as thier main source. Fools!!!"?

  reply
• Abeeku Mensah 10 years ago

  The character trait of a fool is one who does not learn from past mistakes or mistakes of others; in Ghana we are yet to learn we cannot allow tribal and or political loyalty dictates to run our lives. It is the same ailment ...
  read full comment

  The character trait of a fool is one who does not learn from past mistakes or mistakes of others; in Ghana we are yet to learn we cannot allow tribal and or political loyalty dictates to run our lives. It is the same ailment that afflict us all when we delegate or defer use of our individual common sense to the class of classroom educated but ignorant folks whose policy ideas have taken Ghana from a land rich in mineral and natural resources and capable of feeding itself to a beggar nation. Would anyone who's all there in the mental faculties rather live near a dry water bed for easy access to water or build and live near a spring or brook supplied by mountain top rainfall? We choose to do what "massa" does for sure otherwise why else wiuld our classroom educated and political elite class always point to events and activities in non African nations as proof and need to normalize their cuckoo ideas?
  
  To say we are stuck on stupid is to insult temporary acts of foolishness but to color the failures of post Nkrumah era government administrations is to confirm some are born stupid. Nkrumah at least took to hydroelectric power generation because it was science of the day but what can anyone say about leaders the likes of Kufour who without hesitation or deliberations sell less viable government assets because our masters say so but blind to the use of solar, wind and thermal energy use by our masters? But let Dr. Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe explain ongoing events in Ghana he would prefer a backward Ghana under the leadership of his classroom educated but ignorant heroes than see a developed Ghana where sacrifices and hard work trump the ideologies of the tribal supremacy kind which undermines the very ideals put forth by the need to ride the freedom express to nowhere.

  reply
• Prof Lungu 10 years ago

  Abeeku Mensah,
  We agree, "...Nkrumah at least took to hydroelectric power generation because it was science of the day..."
  
  Solar power is the science and renewable energy of today, plus other non-hydro power sources (wind ...
  read full comment

  Abeeku Mensah,
  We agree, "...Nkrumah at least took to hydroelectric power generation because it was science of the day..."
  
  Solar power is the science and renewable energy of today, plus other non-hydro power sources (wind, solid waste/re-cycling)!
  
  We will keep on pushing by taking a brief look at policy in our next article!
  
  Greetings!

  reply
• YAW 10 years ago

  An intelligent, well written, easy to comprehend essay that combines the virtues of prudence and practicality. Trouble is, Are they [officials] thinking what Prof Lungu is thinking?

  An intelligent, well written, easy to comprehend essay that combines the virtues of prudence and practicality. Trouble is, Are they [officials] thinking what Prof Lungu is thinking?

  reply
• Abeeku Santana 10 years ago

  You fools must first check the cost of getting a complete Solar system to Power Ghana.

  You fools must first check the cost of getting a complete Solar system to Power Ghana.

  reply
• YAW 10 years ago

  Constantly changing your name from Wangara to Bob,Abeeku Santana etc does not cure your stupidity. Use your befuddled brain a little bit and read what poor countries like Costa Rica are doing to solve their energy problems in ...
  read full comment

  Constantly changing your name from Wangara to Bob,Abeeku Santana etc does not cure your stupidity. Use your befuddled brain a little bit and read what poor countries like Costa Rica are doing to solve their energy problems instead of trolling and dishing out insults.
  
  Costa Rica’s state-run electricity company announced that the country had gone 75 days using only renewable resources for electricity. Costa Ricans are the first in the world to power their country for so long without the use of fossil fuels, and the record-breaking achievement was quickly picked up by news agencies all over the world.
  
  Costa Rican residents have certainly benefited from the clean energy, with electricity prices set to tumble between 7% and 15% in April. But despite the world’s congratulatory backslaps for the renowned green country, its clean energy production is not likely to last at this scale, nor is it a model that would work in many other parts of the world.
  
  
  
  
  Costa Rica gets most of its electricity from hydroelectric plants and a recent period of unusually heavy rain allowed the country to reach the milestone. This clean power is bolstered by geothermic energy from the country’s volcanoes and a small amount of wind and solar power. Most years, these sources allow Costa Rica to generate approximately 90% of its electricity without burning fossil fuels.
  
  The abundance of natural resources, combined with Costa Rica’s strong commitment to environmentalism, spurred policymakers to set a goal for carbon neutrality by 2021. If Costa Rica meets the target, it will likely become the first carbon-neutral country in the world, but there are obstacles.
  
  The downside to hydropower is that it requires consistent rainfall. Though the dams in Costa Rica are now full, just months ago the country was suffering one of the worst droughts in its history. This forced Costa Rican utility companies to burn fuel to generate power, releasing greenhouse gases and causing rate rises.
  
  
  ‘While there is plenty of clean power today, it could just as easily be gone tomorrow.’
  This unpredictability in rain patterns isn’t unique to Costa Rica and is considered to be one of the primary effects of climate change. Ironically, this means that the bulging reservoirs that gave Costa Rica its green energy surge are likely to be attributable, at least partially, to climate change. And while there is plenty of clean power today, it could just as easily be gone tomorrow.
  
  
  
  Even if Costa Rica were able to
  sustain 100% clean electricity production, the country still relies on petroleum for transportation, and emissions from this sector are the largest hurdle the country faces in reaching its carbon neutrality goal. The environment ministry reports that fuel burned by cars, buses and trains accounted for almost 70% of the country’s carbon emissions in 2014. According to customs there are only 200 or so hybrid cars in Costa Rica to take advantage of the energy produced by renewables on the grid.
  
  The fact that even a country like Costa Rica, which has made major investments to produce clean energy, still struggles with these obstacles, shows just how difficult it would be for larger, more industrialised nations to follow in its footsteps.
  
  With a population under 5 million and no major industry, Costa Rica uses much less power than most developed countries, and its geography of tightly packed volcanoes, rivers and mountains is more suited to producing clean power than most. Though small, Costa Rica is able to produce enough energy to power itself while leaving much of its wilderness intact.
  
  To tap into all of the natural resources in the rest of the world would require environmental loss of a different kind, by altering rivers, displacing people and animals, and destroying vegetation. Solar and nuclear power offer other alternatives for clean energy but need more research and investment to make them cost-effective and safe. Even if it were possible to power the world’s largest countries with renewable energy, the destruction required would be unfathomable with only the current technologies.
  
  These limitations, along with a lack of political will, are what has meant the world relied on fossil fuels for almost 90% of its energy since 1999. As admirable as Costa Rica’s feats in energy production may be, its model is not realistic for the world’s largest energy consumers.
  
  But what most of the industrialised world lacks in natural resources, it more than makes up for with other assets. To seriously make a difference in global energy consumption would require significant investment in the research and design of new sources of non-polluting energy, a task most easily funded by richer nations.
  
  While the world may not be able to tailor its energy programmes to Costa Rica’s geography-specific model, the lesson here is not about science and infrastructure, but about volition and ideals.

  reply
• Prof Lungu 10 years ago

  YAW,
  "Volition and ideals"!
  
  
  WE SAY: That was the Nkrumah, two generations ago.
  
  Imagine how much children's reading scores and progress at school could advance, if the government was really serious about those improv ...
  read full comment

  YAW,
  "Volition and ideals"!
  
  
  WE SAY: That was the Nkrumah, two generations ago.
  
  Imagine how much children's reading scores and progress at school could advance, if the government was really serious about those improvements.
  
  ITEM: Your Costa Rica example and comment where we learn the richer countries (USA) will be slow in funding research and adopting solar), shows why the Terpker-signed MCC Power Contract with Ghana was poorly prioritized, leaving solar power merely as a test case in a few government facilities.
  
  The serious approach ought to have been all government facilities of a certain size previously identified and vetted.
  
  BUT TO DO ALL THAT, YOU MUST BE FORWARD-THINKING AND ENSURE YOUR BUREAUCRACY IS NOT ASLEEP. YOU MUST ARRIVE AT THE AGREEMENT WITH YOUR OWN PRIORITIES PROPERLY VETTED AGAINST YOUR OWN REALITIES!
  
  TESTING, TESTING, TESTING: The Mahama NDC government is doing solar power oncies and twocies dances, from left and right, right to left, all over the place, in Ghana!
  
  It is not enough given the emergency and opportunities!
  
  Accra, Ghana, we have a problem!
  
  Greetings!

  reply
• francis kwarteng 10 years ago

  Dear Namesake,
  
  Thanks for sharing.
  
  Good day.
  
  Thanks.

  Dear Namesake,
  
  Thanks for sharing.
  
  Good day.
  
  Thanks.

  reply
• Neither NDC Nor NPP 10 years ago

  This airport is the first in the world to be powered by solar energy, and they calculate they will recoup their costs in a mere 6 years! Way to go.

  This airport is the first in the world to be powered by solar energy, and they calculate they will recoup their costs in a mere 6 years! Way to go.

  reply
• BlackC 10 years ago

  Hopefully the following articles in this series covers the cost to Ghana to install more solar.
  
  It is not just simply Ghanaian Officials not being smart enough to implement solar. What happens when GE and other corporatio ...
  read full comment

  Hopefully the following articles in this series covers the cost to Ghana to install more solar.
  
  It is not just simply Ghanaian Officials not being smart enough to implement solar. What happens when GE and other corporations do not get the profit they were looking for when installing these solar installations? Ghana has to pay them the difference.
  
  You can scream and yell for solar until your lungs give out but are you going to help track down all of the institutions and individuals not paying their bills? This is the revenue needed in order to pay for this Solar messiah.

  reply
• KBK 10 years ago

  BlackC, relax, don't mind those fools who will stand up and write any garbage for Ghanaweb to publish.

  BlackC, relax, don't mind those fools who will stand up and write any garbage for Ghanaweb to publish.

  reply
• artbermiss@gmail.com 10 years ago

  I am building a solar energy cooperative based on land revenue. It is part of a sustainable rural development project I am working on. I am hiring several positions and have several board positions open. If anyone wants to be ...
  read full comment

  I am building a solar energy cooperative based on land revenue. It is part of a sustainable rural development project I am working on. I am hiring several positions and have several board positions open. If anyone wants to become a part of the cooperative, or fill any of my open positions, please email me artbermissatgmaildotcom

  reply