L'energie renouvelable - The way to go (part two)

Settle down please!

Now where were we? Yes…

Biofuels

Fuels derived from remains of recently dead organisms or waste of a biological nature.

a
)      Wood fuel

Self-explanatory – burning of charcoal or firewood for energy. Used a lot in Africa. Briquettes however are a better alternative to charcoal as their usage significantly reduces deforestation and is also better for human health.

b)      Energy can also be derived from conversion of biomass from agricultural plants. What I mean is that it is possible to produce substances like bioethanol from sugarcane. Bioethanol is alcohol from plants. Bioethanol can be used to make ethanol & used to fuel vehicles. However it is mostly used as an additive in conventional fuel. Brazil is the largest producer of bioethanol.

c)      Biogas basically means methane produced from the anaerobic decomposition ofanimal waste. This methane can be used as cooking gas as well as in lighting up homes. This is a particularly easy method of acquiring energy especially in rural agricultural areas where farmyard manure is in plenty. 
 All one needs is some money or a creative mind to build a biogas digester, do the connections and you are ready to go. It is very practical, efficient and cheap after the initial installation costs.

The one uncool thing (so as to speak) is that burning methane produces carbon dioxide.

Nuclear energy is energy derived from nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. That basically means splitting an atom, or merging two atoms into one. Most of the developed world uses this energy as it is cheap and easily available as well as reliable.  It actually has a lot of potential because it is a virtually inexhaustible source of energy. The reason why electricity is cheaper in the United States than Kenya for example is because over18% of it is from commercial nuclear power plants.

Cons: if there was a nuclear meltdown or accident, it would be catastrophic because of radiation poisoning, genetic mutation and basically a good number of us would be ushered into the next life with horrendous suffering.

Case studies would include the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs in the Second World War as well as the Fukushima nuclear meltdown in 2011.

Most developing countries also do not have the economic resources and the skilled manpower necessary to develop and operate nuclear power plants.

A nuclear reactor - image courtesy of decision science

It is also a tad risky because if every country in the world was allowed to develop nuclear power, then the entire planet alongside everything in it would cease to exist because some of us would gladly finish others off.

Also, the process of generating nuclear energy produces radioactive waste which must be kept far away from living things at all costs. A somehow environmentally conscious method I’ve seen is that Americans use sewage water from cities to cool reactors.

Hydrogen as fuel

Basically it involves burning hydrogen atoms with oxygen to produce energy and water as a byproduct. Also known as rocket fuel.As with nuclear energy, this type is for large scale, massive amounts of energy. It has huge potential for development.  However, the infrastructural development and technical skills needed to properly harness this energy may well be out of the reach of many countries. It is also expensive but cheaper in the long run.

By the way, a hydrogen bomb is created by fusion of hydrogen isotopes. The problem with this sort of power is that it is explosive in nature so it would need complicated technical processes and a lot of trained manpower to handle it.

Piezoelectricity

This is basically electrical energy harnessed from application of mechanical pressure to objects. One could basically harvest energy from huge moving objects. It could be ideal for cities with huge traffic jams like Dhaka or Nairobi. The potential for this is enormous. The state of California in the USA is looking into how this energy can be harnessed.

piezoelectricity - is it really than the ultimate solution? - image courtesy of Zahir Salam

Making renewables attractive to businesses

Now, it is important to involve businesses/ companies in the push for renewable energy because when we talk about countries reducing their emissions, basically we are talking about businesses and industries. As you know, a good number of these companies have an international footprint, that is they are multinationals; they have crossed borders and are found in multiple countries.

Another aspect of renewable energy and companies is that 80% of GDP (gross domestic product) is generated in cities. To be real, most companies are located in cities and inorder to change emissions from cities, we need to encourage businesses to use renewable energy.

Therefore it is necessary to involve them in efforts to replace fossil fuels with renewables. What are the key questions? How do you make renewables business friendly? How do you make them more attractive?

First of all you reduce the cost of generating them. While renewables are at first expensive they are much more cost effective in the long term because they are sustainable, they never run out.

Next you remove the knowledge gap in the supply and acquisition chain.

People who are in charge of deciding on energy for companies basically do not know about renewable energy or how it can be acquired.

For example in Kenya, most companies rely on the country’s grid for electricity. In case of power interruption, they have diesel powered generator.

But if one installed solar panels, though the initial cost of installing would be high, after that the company can have free, uninterrupted and independent power source for a long time. This would drastically cut costs and improve the company’s bottom line.

Capacity building is necessary in creating, reinforcing and training personnel and structures to bring about development of renewable energy and overcome challenges thereof.What I mean is, there is a shortage of technically skilled people who can help companies turn to renewables.

Banks are also needed in order to finance clean energy initiatives. Africa Development Bank for instance has set aside quite a big amount of money to finance renewable energy projects.

The Re100 is an initiative targeting 100 big companies to turn to 100% renewable energy. Ikea, Microsoft, Apple, SwissRe, CocaColaand General Motors amongst othersare all members of this group. They use significant amounts of renewable energy to power their operations. Each has set a target year by which they’ll be using 100% renewable energy. See why it’s trending now?

Why should businesses turning to green energy?

a)      To save the planet.  Renewables produce very little amounts of greenhouse gases. After all, if you help make Earth uninhabitable then where are you going to set up shop? Mars?

b)      Improved public health

c)      It would have bring in more jobs

d)     Prices would eventually stabilize unlike the seesaw of petroleum oil

The potential here is vast. Countries would stop pegging their economic development on petrodollars & the price of oil. This would mean way, way faster and clean growth.

e)      It is simply just a matter of sustainability. Economic sustainability is really just premised on ecological sustainability. If we derive our resources from the environment, what will happen when we destroy this very same environment? Our businesses go down.

Also, if company x relies on fossil fuels, then it’s business model is not sustainable because, what will happen after the Earth runs out of fossil fuels? The company, no matter how big it is, falls with a tremendous thud. If such a business is quite big, say a multinational, it supports thousands of jobs and contributes to a significant part of the economy then entire countries would in big financial trouble.

f)       To attract environmentally conscious clientele. More and more people are becoming aware of climate change and its effects. An example will suffice. If you used to be a farmer but your area dried up because of lack of rains as a result of climate change, your livelihood was affected and so was your family, then you are really going to hate the people who are responsible for it no?  You won’t buy their products or services. This is really not good for them so they’d rather change.

If a big number of environmentally conscious people with considerable purchasing power say no fossil fuels companies and their ilk, then they’ll have to turn to renewable.

Now, how can we as the rest of the world make renewable energy really popular?

As a potential employee, you have the skills, training and passion; avoid working for companies that champion use of fossil fuels. Work for green companies. If clean energy companies attract the best and most productive talent, then it would make sense to go green.

Choose to buy products or do business with companies that use renewable energy. This would make such companies green companies (so as to speak).

So if we ignore and shun companies that contribute to global warming, then we are encouraging a shift to renewables which then would make green businesses more profitable.

That is, it would make economic sense to go clean.

Use of renewable energy combined with energy efficiency is really just more profitable in the long run.It’s also important to note that recycling is just as important when used in combination with renewable energy. For example, instead of condemning furniture as old and unfit, take it apart and redesign it. That way, no more trees will be felled (reduces greenhouse gas emissions) and cost of buying new furniture is significantly lowered and less energy will be used.

Now class, that was a crash course on the relationship between renewable energy and climate change.

It was a double lesson and I’m glad you paid attention.

Just a few points to note;

Ø  70% of the exam is classwork, 30% is your effort.

Ø  Two, I am going to ask that your P.E lesson be extended by half an hour.

Ø  Again, why should you care? Because it is your life.

I’m really glad you are all back safe after the break.

Class Dismissed!