We can get electricity from garbage
Jan 29, 2009
UGANDA has lost many opportunities by not getting energy from the garbage and waste around the city. As a developing country, Uganda has all the resources that can be utilised but we seem not not in a hurry to solve the problem.
Doreen Katusiime
UGANDA has lost many opportunities by not getting energy from the garbage and waste around the city. As a developing country, Uganda has all the resources that can be utilised but we seem not not in a hurry to solve the problem.
Over 90% of the population use biomass energy which has its own effects ranging from respiratory diseases and death especially among children and women.
At the same time, municipalities and Kampala City are faced with the problem of waste in the process of collection, disposal and treatment. Poor garbage disposal has also caused water and air pollution. However, due to the wastes’ rich organic content, solid waste can be a good resource to get manure and energy.
It has been estimated that about 70MW equivalent power could be generated from urban and municipal waste alone. This potential is unutilised but if utilised will increase further the development of our economy. Currently we are concentrating on the construction of Bujagali Dam that has taken billions of money and yet it is associated with other impacts on the environment.
With the huge gap in the supply and demand of electricity, waste can be converted to produce electricity. Besides burning of garbage leads to the production of green house gases and its many effects.
We are already experiencing the ill effects of green house gases in the form of global warming, glaciers and polar ice melting, rise in the sea level and sudden, unpredictable variation in weather, turning catastrophic sometimes.
Solid waste generated at domestic level is the largest component of all wastes in the country and almost 300 to 600grammes of solid waste are generated per person per day. An average person produces one tone of wastes per year. The question is why can’t this waste be converted into electricity? Why can’t the Government eradicate two problems at once by keeping the surrounding clean and producing renewable energy at a low cost.
We can pick a leaf from China - Shanghai where over 120 thousand people enjoyed a cool summer after benefitting from the city’s successful practice of turning waste into electricity.
The writer is the programme assistant Africa Institute for Energy Governence
UGANDA has lost many opportunities by not getting energy from the garbage and waste around the city. As a developing country, Uganda has all the resources that can be utilised but we seem not not in a hurry to solve the problem.
Over 90% of the population use biomass energy which has its own effects ranging from respiratory diseases and death especially among children and women.
At the same time, municipalities and Kampala City are faced with the problem of waste in the process of collection, disposal and treatment. Poor garbage disposal has also caused water and air pollution. However, due to the wastes’ rich organic content, solid waste can be a good resource to get manure and energy.
It has been estimated that about 70MW equivalent power could be generated from urban and municipal waste alone. This potential is unutilised but if utilised will increase further the development of our economy. Currently we are concentrating on the construction of Bujagali Dam that has taken billions of money and yet it is associated with other impacts on the environment.
With the huge gap in the supply and demand of electricity, waste can be converted to produce electricity. Besides burning of garbage leads to the production of green house gases and its many effects.
We are already experiencing the ill effects of green house gases in the form of global warming, glaciers and polar ice melting, rise in the sea level and sudden, unpredictable variation in weather, turning catastrophic sometimes.
Solid waste generated at domestic level is the largest component of all wastes in the country and almost 300 to 600grammes of solid waste are generated per person per day. An average person produces one tone of wastes per year. The question is why can’t this waste be converted into electricity? Why can’t the Government eradicate two problems at once by keeping the surrounding clean and producing renewable energy at a low cost.
We can pick a leaf from China - Shanghai where over 120 thousand people enjoyed a cool summer after benefitting from the city’s successful practice of turning waste into electricity.
The writer is the programme assistant Africa Institute for Energy Governence