Residents have been urged to adopt and embrace the use of clean energy in a bid to protect the environment amid escalating cutting of trees to make charcoal and biting electricity power tariffs.
Recently, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni banned charcoal production and sales in Northern Uganda, saying it had continued to deplete the environment across the region.
“Inadequate knowledge on energy efficiency technologies is affecting their adoption among the local people. Lack of awareness about energy efficiency technologies and their importance has caused people to spend a lot of money on appliances in their homes and businesses,” said Jacob Etunganan, an energy expert from SNV Uganda.
SNV Uganda, an international non-governmental organization, is currently promoting awareness and the development of sustainable, inclusive markets for appropriate energy-efficient (EE) products and services for households, businesses, and institutions in agriculture and the built environment to enhance livelihoods and increase the resilience and competitiveness of businesses in Uganda.
Recently, during a two-day orientation of media workers across Uganda that was held at Acholi Inn in Gulu City, Etunganan emphasized the need to create awareness to go the energy efficiency way, saying it can guarantee reductions in energy costs and emissions and build resilience in households and businesses.
To achieve this, Etunganan said the community should be sensitized on the benefits of using renewable energy like solar for lighting and an efficient cooking stove, among other appliances, to help save money and the environment.
He said purchasing energy efficiency technology is expensive but cheap in the long run because it is not paid for all the time as compared to the usage of charcoal, firewood, and electricity.
To address the affordability issue of efficiency technologies, especially in rural areas, Etunganan says the locals can liaise with existing private sector financing or get leverage on savings from VSLA to help them pay for the appliances.
SNV believes that Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programs can contribute to a range of policy goals above and beyond reducing emissions, like pro-poor rural development, better forest governance, and protection of basic human rights, as well as biodiversity conservation and enhanced ecosystem service provision.
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