Ghana’s Second Lady, Mrs Samira Bawumia, has suggested to the country’s Energy Commission and the Ministry of Energy to devise strategies to promote clean cooking in all schools.
The strategies, according to her, could include the promotion of the use of improved cookstoves and fuels such as pellets, briquettes and alcohol gels.
This, among others, would serve as a springboard to contribute to the target of achieving universal access to clean energy by 2030.
Delivering a keynote address at the national finals of the High Senior Renewable Energy Challenge in Accra on Thursday, Mrs Samira Bawumia encouraged the Ministry of Energy to also continue its promotion of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the country to reduce the dependency on firewood for cooking.
The High School Energy Challenge was the climax of a three-day 7th Ghana Renewable Energy Conference and Fair.
This year’s event was on the theme: ‘Removing Barriers In Development of Renewable Energy In Ghana’.
According to her, Ghana is far behind the target of achieving universal access to clean energy by 2030 so it is important to recognize the need to address the challenges of energy access.
“We are far from our target of achieving universal access to clean energy access by 2030. Initiatives like this provide the needed springboard if we are to achieve universal access to clean energy by 2030,” she stated.
“It is extremely important to continue and intensify our efforts to facilitate progress in technologies to utilise renewable energies and to spread the knowledge about these efforts,” the Second Lady said.
Mrs Bawumia said Renewable Energy sources do not only contribute to the diversification and energy supply security but also assist the government to widen access to modern energy services, while also contributing to sustainable development through their negligible carbon footprint.
“I am, therefore, pleased with this initiative by the Energy Commission and Ghana Education Service to promote the utilisation and development of renewable energy,” she said.
She said the challenge would help develop the skills and knowledge of Senior High School students in the area of research, innovation and development while preparing them for the future job market in an era that also requires such skills.
She believes developing these skills at such a young age would also help them improve their creative and cognitive abilities and come up with innovative ideas and projects that are designed to solve the challenges facing the country.
She congratulated the six participating schools and urged them to let their ideas and innovations solve problems in their communities and beyond.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
