We have the right strategy! But the right portfolio of tactics?
Zimbabwe has the right energy strategy – cheaper fuel with a 20% ethanol mix and a more responsible green impact! We are ahead of others. But… where is it? And can car engines handle 20% in the long term? What about the inordinate hours wasted in queues!
According to a group of MPs, adding more ethanol to the UK’s fuel mix would cut carbon by as much as taking 700,000 cars off the roads. The All-Party Parliamentary Group for British Bioethanol says the swift introduction of E10 fuel would also help the £1bn British biofuel industry. Zimbabwe did E10 years ago – we are on E20 already!
“Our fuel consumption patterns have been such that if we were to consume 50 million litres of fuel, we would mix it with ethanol and, therefore, make savings of about US$10 million because we have 20% ethanol going into fuel,” Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Mangudya said.
At ZW6.10 or 0.64 US cents a litre, it all sounds good – not only greener fuel but cheaper than others in SADC. But where is it? And what to do about it? Hire someone to sit in the queue for you, because the cost saving on the price and the depressed wages make it profitable to do so? Or buy a golf cart and a solar system? Or just cycle or walk to work. You’ll be fitter and fuel queues won’t stress you! But that won’t solve the problems faced by industry and business.
What options are open for a long term solution?
Lights out – pushing us ahead of the world in alternative energy – and, what on earth is a
With only 6 hours electricity a day – if you are lucky – we are all looking for alternatives.
The Sun releases an estimated 384.6 yotta watts (3.846×1026 watts) of energy in the form of light and other forms of radiation. If all the sunlight energy striking the Earth’s surface in Texas alone could be converted to electricity, it would be up to 300 times the total power output of all the power plants in the world. https://ag.tennessee.edu/solar/Pages/What%20Is%20Solar%20Energy/Sun’s%20Energy.aspx
But a simple solar system will cost you ZW$10,000 to install and a more comprehensive 5000w system more like ZW$60,000! Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) has 22 recommended solar providers in Harare, 3 in Bulawayo and 1 in Mutare – but there are many hundreds more than this. But can the population afford to do it alone?
Access levels to electricity services in Zimbabwe is 40% (16% in rural areas, 78% in urban areas). The primary energy source for cooking is firewood, with a statistic of 63% of households using wood. Increasing energy access through rural electrification is viewed by the Government as a major pillar in enhancing socio-economic development in rural communities – probably through more coal-fired stations, and perhaps Batoka Gorge (Sustainable Energy for ALL Initiative).
So, what should we be doing about it? Well ZESA is training us to cope – we are busy innovating right now! The strategy – how to move away, in a sustainable manner, from heavy reliance on fossil fuels, specifically coal and wood.
