A call on regional policy on renewable resources

PIC: Uganda, according to reports, loses more than 92,000 hectares of trees annually

KAMPALA - Experts say the Ugandan government needs to effectively implement the East African policy on renewable resources, if the country is to further development of the energy sector.

"At the present there are low levels of renewable energy penetration and use across the region due to lack of effective implementation of the policy by member states especially in frameworks that would support renewable energy market development,"  said Godfrey Ndawula.

He is a consultant who has worked in the energy ministry.

He was at a discussion on climate change in Kampala organized by International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) at the Innovations Village in Ntinda.

The East African Community (EAC) is mandated to increase the deployment of renewable energy and the adoption of energy conservation and energy efficiency practices through promoting, initiating and developing a comprehensive energy development of New and Renewable Energy Sources.

Ndawula said the cooperation would further increase the demand for renewable energy, sustainable development and competitiveness as well as reduce the environmental impact in the partner countries.

"If we were able to be ranked 9th out of the 55 countries in world and third among African nations in the 2015 Climatescope rankings, then we can make it to number one so soon," he said.

"But this is possible if we take EAC opportunities as priority in development."

‘Renewals more profitable'

Goal seven of the UN general assembly on new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires that countries "ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all" by 2030.

Maclian Senyonga, an energy officer in the ministry of energy, said the move would boost the trade in renewable energy in the region.

"Renewables, for example the biomass products, are more profitable to individuals than agriculture. More concentration on them will yield the country."

A 2014 World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) report titled Energy Report for Uganda a 100 per cent Renewable Energy Future by 2050, indicated that the biomass sector will continue to play a critical role in the energy mix of Uganda despite lots of investment in other sources like petroleum and hydro generations.

The report indicated that biomass energy demands may hit high and energy resources will run out of energy resources in the next few years.

Uganda loses more than 92,000 hectares of trees annually, with fewer hectares replaced.

In this case Senyonga suggests that the people should plant more trees to prevent further loss of energy resources.