Reduced firewood consumption, minimal smoke released, shorter cooking hours
How to adopt and implement energy saving strategies is the conversation everyone is having today. Climate action has gradually gained momentum and efforts to mitigate and conserve the planet are more visible across the globe. From the public to private sectors, actors are taking a stand against climate change and global warming through mitigation strategies and use of renewable energy. By ratifying the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, the Ugandan government demonstrates commitment to climate change mitigation. Through the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), Uganda has put in place strategies to increase energy efficiency through the use of biomass, promoting renewable energy and increasing efficiency of the electricity sector. Effort has been placed on mitigation through the NAMAs which address, among other things, energy saving technologies through institutional stoves. The private sector and Civil Society have championed efforts to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-induced impacts as well, through advocacy, infrastructural and capacity development.
The education sector presents many opportunities for renewable energy and adoption of energy saving technologies. A great number of Ugandan schools are boarding schools, which house and feed thousands of children at any given time. Almost all of these schools use firewood to cook in open cooking styles. While firewood offers a cheaper option compared to charcoal, gas and electricity, it presents some short term and long lasting negative impacts to both people and the earth. The fumes from the smoke released in using firewood have been proven to cause long lasting health complications.
“These include increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing, or difficulty breathing, decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, development of chronic bronchitis, irregular heartbeat, nonfatal heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease. Furthermore, although wood smoke conjures up fond memories of sitting by a cozy fire, it is important to know that the components of wood smoke and cigarette smoke are quite similar, and that many components of both are carcinogenic.” – ICEED
Popularising and promoting the use of clean energy and energy saving stoves is at the core of what we do. With the institutional stove, we are able to provide an alternative to open fire cooking which reduces firewood consumption by close to 60% and reduces the cooking time. This way, we are putting food on the tables of many school children while using less firewood and emitting less hazardous components into the air. This stove is tried and tested by the Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation and has therefore been proven to be safe for use and efficient in saving energy. With support from SNV, we are reaching several schools in the western region of Uganda and soon, other parts of the country. In addition to energy conservation, the installation of this stove is a great way for schools to save as a result of reduction in firewood costs.
Both globally and locally, campaigns and behavioural change strategies have been implemented to ensure mass consciousness and action to the dangers of climate change. However, the problem still remains and the situation gets dire each year. Natural resources – forests, water bodies, rainfall patterns, the atmosphere – are at risk and will continue to dwindle if encroachment is not stopped. Global warming is currently at its highest, at 1 degrees since the pre industrial era. In Uganda, the forest cover reduces by 100,000 Ha every year. Water and rainfall patterns have changed and this has grossly affected agriculture, which is the backbone of the country. While nationwide campaigns for planting trees have been launched, we are simply not planting trees as fast as we are consuming them. Identifying more ways in which climate change can be addressed in all sectors has become a priority.