The ever-growing giant manufacturing industries and other practices throughout the world haves affected the environment through their harmful emittions. Therefore, the world should be united more than ever towards limiting the toxic Carbon emission into the environment.
Ethiopia is blessed with abundant renewable energy resources like hydro, wind, solar, and geothermal and is suitable for power production. Ethiopia’s energy potentilas can meet its own and the region’s demand for clean energy. However, in spite of all the available potentials, the country’s energy sector is still in its infancy. The majority of Ethiopia’s population lives in the rural area without access to modern energy and is relied solely on traditional biomass energy sources.
Nowadays, Ethiopia has one of the lowest electricity consumption per capita in Africa. Recognizing that energy access and security are crucial factors to economic growth, Ethiopia needs to cope with key challenges related to energy security and diversification of energy supply. As a result, the country prioritizes investing in renewable energy sources to fulfill its demand in this regard.
According to the Ministry of Water and Energy, Ethiopia is one of the countries that has abundant solar energy resources in East Africa. The solar resource is relatively lower in the most populous northern, central and western highlands of the country while the rift valley regions and western and eastern lowlands of the country receive higher annual average radiant energy.
Even though abundant solar energy resources were available in the country, only about 14 MW of solar potentials have been used for telecom service, lighting, powering water pumps in rural areas, and water heating in major cities. The rural households that need low electricity consumption, off-grid solar solutions should be prioritized by the government as an immediate solution for un-electrified rural households that are far from the electric grid and not covered by the densification program in the short term.
Gebru Yohannes is an energy expert working as a consultant for Eco Friendly Energy. He said that everyone has a responsibility to contribute his/her part towards controlling climate change and environmental pollutions through utilizing renewable energy solutions. There are numerous international as well as local organizations working on supplying solar panels which brought tangible solutions to promote the habit of utilizing green energy and addressing the rural community’s energy demand through providing sustainable solar energy technologies. The venture has proved that farmers have a greater demand for quality solar energy products and the suppliers’ organizations have been working in the sector for two decades.
His organization is engaged in integrating the market and ensuring weather consumers are satisfied with the solar products. It works in partnership with regional and woreda level energy offices, microfinance institutions, solar product distributors, model farmers, and farmers’ cooperatives, among others to avail latest solar technology products at the doorsteps of the farmers in the Central and Southern Nations and Nationalities Regions.
The company also avails loan opportunities from Vision fund microfinance, Omo microfinance and Metemamen microfinance to address the farmers’ financial limitations to buy solar products. Some of the microfinance institutions have more than 25,000 members which will have a significant impact to distribute the solar products sustainably with guarantees and loans.
“Currently, there is a huge demand and supply gap in the environmentally friendly solar technologies among the rural community. The country’s electricity access coverage is not more than 50 percent. And investing widely in the off-grid electricity access is fundamental to respond swiftly to the current electricity access challenges across the country,” he said.
According to him, most rural residents in Ethiopia utilize charcoal, wood, and kerosene as a major source of energy. Thus, using the traditional source of energy affects socially and economically and harms the environment. According to the Ministry of Health recent report, respiratory health risk prevalent in the rural part due to in-house pollution is responsible to 70 % of child mortality. Not only these, the reduction of trees and vegetation cover for household energy usage aggravates erosion, land degradation and desertification. As the result, the land productivity became dwindling which let them to stay in cycle of poverty. Therefore, utilizing the latest renewable source of energy like solar power is important to improve the farmers’ way of life and ensure environmental safety.
However, it is proved that some solar panel suppliers who want to maximize their profit illegally found distributing, fake solar products to farmers. Other solar product traders also avail low standard solar products with lower prices usually 40 to 50 % compared to the original solar products to the farmers. The low-quality solar products exposed farmers to repetitive loss and to quit utilizing solar products due to their less durability compared to the original products.
Eco Friendly Energy has distributed more than 500 reliable solar panels to the farmers in the southern regions of ethiopia and conducted a follow up the solar product’s safety to do maintenance. Unfortunately, the rampant conflict, road closure and the instability have affected the company’s aspiration to deliver up to 5,000 proven solar energy production technologies with affordable price to the rural community.
As to Gebru, the farmers choose solar products that are cheap in price but fake products sold on the streets. However, fake solar products do not serve more than a week or two weeks and cause pollution to the environment. Thus, it is important to identify fake solar products from the original products to curb the impact on the environment. The company also collects the damaged solar products and put in safe disposal to protect the environment from contamination through its waste management technique.
Sustainable use of renewable energy solutions will have long-term social, economic, and environmental benefits. It is expected that by the year 2050 renewable energy sources will cover 50 % of the global energy supply.
Currently, there is a sustainable demand for solar energy products in the country. However, the penetration of fake solar energy products has affected the market and public reliance on renewable sources of energy.
He recommended that establishing legalized and proper solar marketing system, restricting fake and defective solar products circulation to the market, and carefully working in collaboration with stakeholders will help improve solar energy products usage in the country.
As to Gebru, currently, working and prioritizing on solar, biogas, and energy-saving stove technologies distribution in various rural parts of the country has been a priority agenda. The demand for solar technologies is increasing among the rural community following its affordability and easily accessible from the microfinance operating in the local places. The woreda offices are working in coordination with Eco Friendly energy solutions to increase the number of solar energy alternative users through identifying and distributing the real solar energy technologies.
Farmers and users of the solar energy products distributed by the woreda energy bureau in coordination with Eco Friendly Energy solutions witnessed that the technology has brought a tangible change in their life.
Some residents living in the central Ethiopia region informed a local media that the utilization of solar energy product brought immense benefit to them and to their family members. They gave up using kerosene for household lightening which can stay free of pollution at night in their home. They also said that their children have been facing different obstacles to study in the evening and now all problems related to the matter are resolved. They also advise other farmers to buy solar products get relief from the health problems posed by house hold pollutions due to usage of fuel wood for lightening.
Their children can study for long through utilizing solar energy. The youth also can attend their education at night in schools.
Health centers also works for long without power interruption through the usage of solar power. They also said that the micro finance institution established in their local areas has played pivotal role in facilitating financial credit for the purchasing of solar panels.
BY ABEBE WOLDEGIORGIS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 9 MAY 2024
