CAPACITY: THE CASE FOR SOLAR ENERGY IN UGANDA
Very few Ugandans are connected to the electrical grid; only
8% of Ugandans, the majority in Kampala, are connected. In rural areas, 95% of
people live without electricity. Biomass (wood, charcoal) make up 93% of total energy
supply, and 3% is generated via one hydroelectric dam at Jinja. The Jinja dam
is the only source, aside from small scale generators, of electricity in the
country. Electricity blackouts are frequent and last for a few minutes to several
days. Ugandans, witnessing the consistent disrepair of the electrical grid and
the inability of the government to resolve the problems of energy access,
staged massive protests in the spring of 2011 leaving nine dead and hundreds
arrested.
During the frequent blackouts that occur in Northern Uganda, people resort to using personal generators, like this one. They are loud, create a lot of exhaust, and are very expensive to maintain. |
Burning kerosene and charcoal brings with it a myriad of
health problems. The World Bank estimates that smoke inhalation from indoor
cooking is the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Through
anecdotal evidence collected via numerous interviews with village women, it is
suggested that everyone using a kerosene lamp or cooking with charcoal will
burn themselves at least once, often several times, as the scars on arms and
hands can attest. Smoke exposure also causes eye diseases, and reading at night
to the light of a kerosene lamp is a major cause of damaged vision leading to
blindness, as the light is often extremely dim. Interviews with local villagers
also suggest that property damage is common for people using flame-based lamps;
most interview participants said that they had themselves or knew of someone
who had destroyed their home due to fire. Premature death caused due to people trapped inside burning homes is a less common, but an especially dire result of using
these antiquated lighting and cooking techniques.
Deriving energy from kerosene and charcoal also limits what
off-grid Ugandans can consume. You cannot run a radio with kerosene; leaving
off-grid (mainly rural residents) vastly underserved and under informed. Radio
is the most prevalent form of information dissemination in Uganda, leaving
rural areas particularly vulnerable to information disparity. A second
limitation affecting education is that rural students cannot study at night if
there is no light. Rural students fall behind their urban counterparts, leading
to a future of missed opportunities and potentially a continuation of the
poverty that has affected their parents.
The cost of kerosene and charcoal must be measured in
Ugandan shillings, but also in time spent accessing these resources. Again,
village residents are disadvantaged as they have to travel longer distances
than their urban counterparts to purchase fuel. Through interviews, women
confessed that they use kerosene and charcoal several times a day, and often
make a daily trip into town. Kerosene sells at Ugandan shillings 30,500 for one litre.
Charcoal sells at Ugandan shillings 25,000 for a large bag that may last a few weeks.
Ugandans have adopted the cell phone as the means of
communication and banking of choice, mirroring the cell phone’s popularity in
other developing countries. Disruption of cell phone access is a risk; in
Ugandan villages, cell phones are often the sole banking access route. To
recharge cell phones, villagers must trek into urban areas and often leave
their device at the service station for two days. This increases incidental
costs such as time spent getting to town, as well as the price of fuel or
transport.
What does this mean? The environmental impact of millions of
Ugandans burning charcoal and kerosene is twofold; the deforestation resulting
in charcoal production increases CO2 levels by emitting CO2 into the atmosphere
as well as reducing the forested area that captures the CO2. The present state
of Uganda’s energy system means that productivity is very low. The latent
potential in all rural Ugandans is also unexploited; energy disparity only
aggravates the growing urban/rural educational divide.
A substantial advantage lies in Uganda’s year-round,
consistent 12-hours of direct sunshine due to the country’s position on the
equator. Taking advantage of this abundant resource is the logical answer to
the country’s problematic energy situation. Providing a solar energy solution
would solve many problems, ranging from health and well-being of people and
communities, to reducing the environmental impact caused by the millions
burning charcoal and kerosene. Solar energy distribution can also create
business opportunities for the upstart entrepreneur or village savings group, providing
much needed income to people who often live on less than $2 a day. Giving
villagers the possibility to earn money means they have a vested interest in
keeping the business running, ensuring sustainability.
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to approximately 590 million
people who live without connection to the national electric grid. Most of the
off-grid population use fossil-based fuels or charcoal; this method is
dangerous to the user’s health, is highly polluting, and demands constant
operational costs. A safe, affordable, durable solution that is also good for
the environment is required. Solar lamps and cell phone chargers provide this
solution.
Developing profitable, self-sustaining, solar-based small
businesses has the ability to give much-needed income to entrepreneurs desiring
financial freedom and self-respect. Developing business-based solutions to
pressing social problems in a Ugandan context requires creativity and
non-conventional thought. The Ugandan market presents a vast number of underserved
consumers; a solar energy distribution project is one way to address the
problem of energy inaccessibility.