You could investigate these facts:
Is it still the dependable fossil fuel for our primary energy source.
1. As we all know the fuel reserves are finite and soon the world will run out completely. Unfortunately, this possibility is becoming more and more likely and will create very serious hardships in everybody’s life especially for people of developing countries.
2. Fuel prices are increasing. AS the volatile Middle East continues to affect global oil supply, countries like Uganda are chocking on heavy oil import costs. Crude fossil oil prices touched $100 this combines with the erratic and increasing dollar exchange rate (at last month high dollar rate this translates to Sh230, 000) per barrel this year and are expected to reach the $150 (Sh345, 000) mark in two years.
3. Developing countries depend on heavy taxes from imported oil products to balance their budgets. This greatly increases the cost to the average person. Locally grown bio-fuel has no tax.
A Power systems of the future
4. The fact that Uganda and other developing countries grid electricity coverage is just only less than 5% is a blessing in disguise. This opens out opportunity for better power sources exploitation.
5. New power generation, monitoring and control technologies based on distributed rather than centralized power generation is the key to developing countries power of the future.
6. Millions of local producer of renewable energy can potentially produce far more distributed power than the older centralized less efficient forms of energy generation and distribution, using hydro, oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear that cannot be successfully implemented in developing countries.
Use solar power, wind power, mini hydro power, bio diesel generated power, bio-mas power. Introduce oil cook stoves and encourage oil plant cultivation.
7. Fuel wood is the most common cooking fuel in developing countries.
8. The Indoor air pollution and other health problems result into high deaths.
9. Cooking over an open fire every day, in the confines of an unventilated kitchen, has been compared to smoking five packs of cigarettes a day.
10. WHO estimates over 1.6 million people die annually of “indoor air pollution”.
11. Clearing of forests, dangers the girl child who goes further and further to fetch wood from an increasingly receding forest cover.
12. Desertification which results from cutting down of forests for fuel wood, charcoal burning, etc destroys the weather and brings the desert closer to us.
13. Emerging research is highlighting black carbon (or soot) from cooking fires in developing countries as one of the top contributors to global warming. Second only to carbon dioxide (40%), black carbon accounts for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.
14. Replacing traditional cooking fires in developing countries with clean cook stoves is seen as a “quick-fix” that provides developing world nations time to get a handle on CO2. Since black carbon only stays in the atmosphere for a few weeks (unlike carbon dioxide which lingers for years). Clean-burning Cookstoves would have a dramatic impact, removing black carbon’s warming effects almost immediately.
15. By reducing the quantity of biomass fuel needed, families have increased time, money, and choices about how to improve their family life.
16. Each of the bio fuel stoves saves an average of 1 ton of carbon emissions per year.
17. Two mature trees of Jatropha sink 1 ton of carbon per year.
18. Carbon credits are tradable on the stock exchange at around $40 per ton.
19. One-acre land at 2 x 2mts takes 1,000 trees.
20. Oil extracted from half an acre of jatropha can supply the cooking fuel needs of a family of 6 people For one year.
21. Each mature tree (five years) gives 3 to 6 kgs of seed per year.
22. These benefits can fund a jatropha / plant oil project and deliver affordable stoves to the end user.
23. Jatropha, a drought- resistant perennial crop with an over 40 – year life span, is a member of the Europhobiaceace family. Its seeds can yield about 37% non-edible oil.
24. The global bio-diesel market is estimated to reach 37 billion gallons by 2016, growing at an average annual rate of 42%.
25. The UN special reporter on the right to food recently recommended jatropha as a bio-fuels crop for developing countries. Jatropha was recommended because of its high unedible oil content, gestation period and ability to grow on degraded soils.
26. There is need for developing countries to invest in bio-fuels production because with climate change, the world’s energy polices is bound to change for the worst.
27. Uganda can excel in bio- diesel production since the majority of the people derive their incomes from agriculture. Jatropha offers enormous potential to alleviate poverty and improve health. A farmer can earn up to $250 (sh427, 500) annually from a 1km hedge of jatropha.
