Stakeholder calls for accommodating policy for alternative sources of energy
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Winner of the 2018 edition of the annual WWF Africa Youth Conservation Award shares his experiences on how his innovation can contribute to the reduction of the use of charcoal as a source of energy.
He said that his technology offers solutions leaning towards that end.
Dar es Salaam. A stakeholder in alternative energy sources has urged the government to make the respective policy in the area accommodative so that efforts to reduce the use of charcoal can bear fruit.
Mr Iddi Hamis, an entrepreneur and inventor of charcoal briquettes machine at Green Power Group, made the remarks on Thursday, February 7 during a forum organised by Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL).
The event was part of a series of forums that MCL has been organising covering various themes. While the previous two forums focused on health and industrialization respectively, Thursday’s event focused on charcoal and its role in Tanzania’s economy and environment.
“Our charcoal briquettes are good, particularly in its relation to the health of the user,” he said. “The problem is, very few people know of its existence and where to get it. Why? I think this is the issue of policy discrepancy that needs to be looked at.”
The winner of the 2018 edition of the annual WWF Africa Youth Conservation Award shared his experience on how his innovation can contribute in the reduction of charcoal use as source of energy.
“The technology used to produce this charcoal briquettes was invented a longtime ago but was delayed to enter into Tanzania,” he pointed out.
During the forum, which drew attendance of government officials, business sector and the general public, members had an opportunity to participate in the discussion on the use of charcoal and debated solutions on how Tanzania can move from the traditional source of energy to cleaner and renewable sources of energy that would protect the forests and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Officiating the forum, the Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union Affairs and Environment), Mr January Makamba, said that the issue of charcoal had many dimensions: economic, health and environmental.
“Unless we control the use of charcoal we cannot ensure the sustainability of our communities,” warned Mr Makamba.
The Bumbuli MP (CCM) mentioned three factors that he thought influenced people into opting for charcoal than other sources of energy. He mentioned these as being units of sale, availability and affordability.
“But it’s deceptively cheap because it doesn’t take into consideration the cost of environmental degradation which takes place due to longtime deforestation,” he said.
“The way to stop the use of charcoal is to make sure that it’s price take accounts the real cost associated with its production,” suggested Mr Makamba.
