Browsing: Clean energy

• Firewood is responsible for killing at least 33,000 people yearly in Tanzania.
• A person who is exposed to firewood smoke for an hour has similar health risks as a person who smokes between 200 and 300 cigarettes.
• Tanzania is estimated to lose nearly 470,000 hectares of forest each year due to the rampant acts of cutting down trees for charcoal and firewood.

The use of clean cooking energy is no longer a luxurious thing. It is a necessity, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan noted recently during the launch of the 10-year National Clean Cooking Strategy in Dar es Salaam. However, this assertion comes at a precedented moment when women such as Magreth are seeking alternative energy.

“We ask President Samia to help us in any way possible with alternative ways of cooking such as gas,” says Magreth Ngole, a resident of Njombe and a frequent user of firewood for cooking …

A new commentary from the International Energy Agency (IEA) on the upcoming World Energy Outlook 2023 has revealed that despite improvements, global access to electricity still needs to catch up to the pace required to meet SDG 7. The commentary supports discussions from the recently concluded United Nations’ SDG Summit on 18-19 September 2023. It is also part of the IEA’s support of the first global stocktake of the Paris Agreement, which will be finalized in the run-up to COP28, the next UN Climate Change Conference, at the end of 2023.…

• To transition from fossil fuels to cleaner more sustainable energy, we need innovation and new technology.
• The earth has an array of minerals that carry huge energy potential that has little to do with burning.
• The World Bank: Harnessing natural resource wealth provides an opportunity to improve fiscal and debt sustainability of African countries

The race to combat global climate change challenge is offering Africa a fresh opportunity to attract investments in the decarbonization industry as countries adopt clean energy. The known patterns are gone, we now have unpredictable weather changes and ever-so-frequent catastrophic weather events all caused by global climate change.

The effect is desertification where there was vegetation, floods where land was arid, melting glaciers from the North Pole to Kilimanjaro, famine, food insecurity, and disease, all because of the energy we used to industrialize, it is time for the energy transition.

To transition from fossil fuels to …

• Green hydrogen is defined as hydrogen produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity.
• Green hydrogen is the future for Africa, especially in the wake of transitioning from old ways of energy production to modern systems featuring clean, renewable energies.
• The conversation on clean and renewable energy has become interesting over the years as technology and finance in the sector grows.

Africa has the potential to produce $1.06 trillion worth of Green hydrogen energy, according to a European Investment Bank report dubbed ‘Africa’s Extraordinary Green Hydrogen Potential’.

Global demand for hydrogen is projected to rise seven fold by 2050, with Egypt, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa primed to ride the demand for green energy.

Another report by Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance by 2050 asserts that green hydrogen could increase the GDP of the six nations by $126 billion, equivalent to 12 percent of their GDP.…

On a broader scale, gas is relatively cheaper than charcoal. Government reports note that an average cost of a family on energy stands at $51 per month, preferably going to charcoal as an option. Meanwhile, the same family could revert the prices and invest in a 15 kg cylinder of gas sold at $20 (The Citizen).

The LPG industry in Tanzania stands to change for the better as consumption increases. At the helm of introducing new investments in the oil and gas sector, Tanzania’s LPG industry is slated for the best.

On a comparison basis, the Tanzania LPG industry is doing relatively well compared to the past years. Via Taifa Gas Limited, 35 plans and storage facilities have been established since 2016.…

Findings show that increasing costs in every market due to a year of supply disruption did not deter data centre demand in most markets including Nairobi and Johanessburg.

The two African capitals were among 44 other locations that were surveyed. 

According to the study, despite the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, demand remained relatively steady when compared to other industries owing to governments’ decisions to make working and schooling from home mandatory. …

Africa’s post-Covid-19 growth recovery and economic prosperity are dependent on renewable energy which will be a critical driver. 

According to International Energy Agency data, scaling up Africa’s capacity to achieve universal access to energy by 2030 would require over US$100 billion per year. Of this amount, 40 per cent would be dedicated to solar, wind, and other low-carbon power generation projects. 

There are a number of initiatives meant to accelerate electrification on the continent among which is the African Development Bank (AfDB)’s New Deal on Energy for Africa which is a transformative partnership-based strategy that aims to increase access to energy for all Africans.…

Solar can power the continent’s industrial parks or light up homes whether in remote and isolated areas or in urban areas.…

So attractive is the sector in Africa that the UK has invested over £50 million into clean energy projects on the continent.…

Oil prices have plummeted heralding a tough time ahead- at least in the foreseeable near future- for oil exporters in Africa.

The chaos started when Saudi Arabia and Russia disagreed over production cuts leading to the oil price war which has led to the huge oil price drops the last of which were witnessed the 1991 Gulf War.

This tiff came after Russia refused to cut production as requested by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) due to the reduced oil demand occasioned by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. With Saudi Arabia retaliating, the world is now experiencing the biggest drop in oil prices to around $30 per barrel.

Africa’s most affected sectors, hope for survival

While this is happening miles away from Africa, oil exporters on the continent have not been spared. Nigeria and Angola are particularly affected with their economies registering the negative effects of the slump …