Uganda’s population is at an all time high, at 40 million and UBOS has predicted that it will be at 70 million in the next 20 years. Because of this growing population, much of which is living in poverty, more and more people are encroaching on natural resources, especially forests, for agriculture, firewood for cooking and wood for building houses. This encroachment on natural resources is making climate change worse, which rests the responsibility of mitigating climate change on us. We have the responsibility to do three things: look for technologies that are energy efficient, use technologies that facilitate adaptation to the changing climate and find solutions that are affordable. All these solutions must be affordable, efficient and adaptable if they are to mitigate climate change in the long term.
Climate change is real and its effects are more pronounced in low income regions, where people rely on farming for survival. Therefore, it is important to ensure affordability of any climate change solutions, to make them accessible for everyone. To reduce deforestation and mass use of woodfuel, people must be able to afford alternatives to firewood. Beyond affordability, any attempts at renewable energy must be efficient and easily adaptable if they are to see a great uptake and these are the solutions Bold Energy provides. To provide energy efficient solutions to households, institutions, corporations and boost the uptake of renewable energy.
We have designed and manufactured energy saving cook stoves that cater to the needs of homesteads and institutions efficiently. 90% of households in Uganda are dependent on wood for cooking, so it would be inaccurate to assume that people will stop cutting trees today, however, a reduction in cutting trees can be achieved with these energy saving stoves. Instead of cutting three trees, cut one, cook and put food on the table such that as you cut the second tree, the first one has grown back. In a bid to curb deforestation, it is important for every person and household to contribute to planting trees. In Uganda, we have many boarding schools, this means they use a lot of firewood for all their meals because it is seen as the most cost effective way of cooking for large numbers. The institutional cook stove boiler was designed to specifically address this concern and directly reduce the firewood consumption in schools by close to 60%.
Our solar products have facilitated adaptation and mitigation more directly through three components; solar energy for domestic and institutional use, smart agricultural solutions for solar and agriculture and post harvest handling. Climate change is increasingly making farming difficult due to the changing seasons and unpredictability of rainfall patterns. Because Uganda is largely an agricultural country, we must grow crops to address food security, but also look at agriculture as a commercial venture for socio economic reasons. We must adopt renewable energy technologies that enable us to counter the disparaging effects of climate change. Through powering irrigation systems using solar, agricultural production will be increased as crops can grow throughout the seasons. However, for maximum value, solar irrigation works best for high value crops such as vegetables, tomatoes, hibiscus on a smaller acreage.
By appropriating solar technologies in post harvest handling, such as refrigeration, drying, more value can be realised from the agricultural endeavor and farmers can be supported to add value to their produce for a better margin. For example, a farmer growing tomatoes can use solar technologies to transform their tomatoes into ketchup.
In designing energy saving solutions, it is important to consider price as a key element. People are price sensitive. A great strategy is to use locally available materials to keep manufacturing costs low and add to the local market chain. Partnerships and grants have facilitated Bold Energy to increase production and reach more people in a short amount of time.