Cups of tea are becoming more
environmentally-friendly courtesy of a new UNEP-led initiative, announced
today to deliver small-scale hydro electric power to plantations across
East Africa.
Those who enjoy a
spoonful of sugar in their favourite day time drink have double-cause to
celebrate. In a separate but related initiative, sugar farmers will take
part in a cogeneration project funded by the Global Environment Facility.
Farmers will use waste from the sugar industry to generate electricity, in
turn fuelling economic and rural growth in an environmentally safer way.
These GEF-funded projects build on the successes with cogeneration in the
Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, where up to 40 per cent of the country's
electricity needs are met by waste by-products from the sugar industry.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director,
said today: "Tea is known to be good for you, now it is also getting
better for the environment. The decision by some countries in East Africa
to establish Power Purchase Agreements - contracts that allow
unconventional generators of electricity to sell surplus power back to the
Grid - has opened up a raft of new opportunities for cleaner and renewable
energy generation".
Monique Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility,
said this latest partnership between GEF and UNEP is a concrete example of
how under the right government policy framework, sustainable development
can work, and does work.
"These two new UNEP-led projects showcase the multiple benefits
sustainable development can have for rural areas, offering social,
economic and environmental benefits that help locally and globally, " she
said.
Barbut and Steiner noted that the two new projects, announced today, offer
the chance to develop new forms of indigenous energy generation that will
assist with development in rural areas and help overcome poverty; reduce
dependency on often imported and expensive fossil fuels while having the
spin off benefit of contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases.
The importance of harnessing alternative forms of energy generation is
highlighted in the latest assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) and UNEP's new state of the world environment report
- the recently launched Global Environment Outlook-4.
"In December, in Bali,
governments will meet to define the ground rules for a new international
emissions reductions regime to kick in post 2012.UNEP's slogan is
'Transition to a Low Carbon Society'-this is a transition that is just as
important for developing and for developed countries. There is no reason
why nations of the South must or should follow the dirty development paths
of the past," said Mr Steiner.
The two pioneering
initiatives - Cogeneration for Africa and Small Hydro for Greening the Tea
Industry are being spearheaded by UNEP with the African Development Bank
as co-implementer, supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The projects, worth around $100 million in total, are also being executed
by the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) and the Energy,
Environment and Development Network for Africa(AFREPREN/FWD).
Greening the Tea industry
The small-scale hydro initiative is expected to reach over 8 million
people in the tea industry - a principal source of convertible currency
for Eastern and Southern Africa.
With an initial target of 10MW of small hydro, the project is eventually
expected to stimulate 82MW of small hydro capacity in the region. Burundi,
Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia are among
the countries which have already endorsed this initiative.
As well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the hydro power will reduce
energy costs, enhance the African tea industry's global competitiveness,
and spread clean electricity to rural communities. In the long run, the
scheme will also set the stage for the development of a vibrant local
industry for hydro design, manufacturing, operation and maintenance.
Cogeneration
for Africa
This first-of-its-kind project is designed to boost cogeneration - the use
of agricultural waste to produce energy - across Eastern and Southern
Africa. The scheme will aim to reach around 10 million sugar farmers and
their dependants in Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and
Swaziland.
The initiative is expected to bring on stream 60MW of cleaner power
generation capacity in its initial pilot phase, and eventually set the
stage for the installation of over 200MW of cogeneration capacity across
the region.
By relying on low-cost, renewable indigenous fuels such as sugar
byproducts and offcuts from the timber industry, these cogeneration units
will cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce energy costs for the region's
agro-processing and forest industries. They will also enhance the
competitiveness of the region's farm and forestry products, boost
investment in the region and set the stage for rural electrification in
the region.
Background on GEF and GEF Projects
The Global Environment
Facility (GEF) is an international financial mechanism with 178 member
countries that addresses global environmental issues while supporting
national sustainable development initiatives. GEF grants support projects
in developing countries related to biodiversity, climate change,
international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer and persistent
organic pollutants. Since its inception in 1991, GEF has achieved a strong
track record of support to developing countries and countries with
economies in transition, providing $6.2 billion in grants and leveraging
$20 billion in co-financing for over 1,800 projects in over 150 countries.
Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP), GEF has also made more than
7,000 small grants, up to $50,000 each, directly to nongovernmental
organizations and community organizations.
UNEP is involved in a series of projects to address environmental
consequences of energy production and use, and assists decision-makers in
governments and the private sector to make better, more informed energy
choices which fully integrate environmental and social costs.
GEO-4, which was released on 25 October, is the latest in a series of
flagship UNEP reports assessing the current state of the global
atmosphere, land, water and biodiversity. It is the most comprehensive UN
report on the environment, prepared by about 390 experts and reviewed by
more than 1,000 others across the world over a five-year period.
For more information on the projects, go to:
