Clean Energy
BK Labs, provides a holistic approach to power consumption, presenting
solutions to produce efficient renewable energy, and remedies for conservation.
Many people wouldn’t think that energy would not have that great of an effect on the famine in many countries. Just think if every person in Africa could produce their own electricity.
Africa is the world’s largest consumer of biomass energy (firewood, agricultural residues, animal wastes, and charcoal), calculated as a percentage of overall energy consumption. Wood, including charcoal, is the most common and the most environmentally detrimental biomass energy source.
Deforestation
is now one of the most pressing environmental problems faced by most African
nations, and one of the primary causes of deforestation is wood utilization for
fuel. Deforestation has negative implications for the local environment
(increased erosion) and the global environment (acceleration of climate change,
threatened biodiversity). Many African nations have had over three quarters of
their forest cover depleted. Women and children suffer disproportionately from
negative health effect due to the smoke generated in the use of fuel wood for
cooking (smoke is a carcinogen and causes respiratory problems). About 75%
of wood harvested in sub-Saharan Africa is used for household cooking.
Production of traditional fuels is often insufficient to satisfy rising demand. Fuel available to the poorest communities is expected to decline, which will intensify environmental degradation in those communities. End-use efficiency for most traditional fuels is low. A high concentration of fuels is needed to produce a low level of energy, and a significant share is wasted. South Africa is unique in sub-Saharan Africa; biomass accounts for only energy consumption. There is a range of energy options available in South Africa: biomass, kerosene, coal, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electricity, and solar power. This range of choices reflects the country’s high level of economic development, relative to other African countries.
Climate Change in Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the world’s second largest rain forest, in West Africa. It is one of the world’s most important carbon sinks. (Carbon sinks capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.) Thus, there is worldwide incentive to be interested in Africa in the context of climate change.
Gas "flaring" is still practiced in Africa. In the process of oil production, natural gas is released. Because the gas infrastructure in Africa is extremely limited, the gas is often burned off rather than captured for use. Not only does this waste a potentially valuable energy source (the World Bank estimates that every day Africa flares gas equivalent to twelve times the energy that the continent uses), but it releases the carbon dioxide directly into the atmosphere. This practice is being stopped, especially in Nigeria, through dramatically increased fines for flaring.
Climate "variability" associated with climate change could have seriously negative implications for the local African environment and African welfare. Climate variability could worsen rainfall and water problems, already prevalent in Africa. Desertification and environmental security are important issues in Africa, and climate change would have negative implications for both. Global warming could expand the home range of mosquitoes in Africa, and in turn make mosquito-borne malaria an even greater problem than it is today.
One of the world’s major coral reefs, located in Seychelles, is already suffering from a slight increase in water temperatures. Climate change could have devastating effect on the reef, and others in the region.
Non-Biomass Renewable Energy
Renewable energy demand is expected to grow in the coming decades as renewable energy technology becomes available for more Africans, especially in rural Africa.
Photovoltaic/Solar Power
African nations have made considerable advances in the use of photovoltaic (PV) power. In Kenya, a series of rural electrification and other programs has resulted in the installation of more than 20,000 small-scale PV systems since 1986. These PV systems now play a prominent role in decentralized, sustainable electrification. Solar power has played an important role in rural electrification, a trend that is expected to continue. A program to supply PV systems to 100 rural homes began in Namibia in April 1996. The Independent Development Trust, a rural electrification project in South Africa, has installed PV systems for clinics in remote areas. In 1998, Shell International Renewables Ltd. and South Africa’s state utility, Eskom, initiated plans to provide stand-alone solar power units to 50,000 homes currently without electricity. In 1998, Sweden and Zambia agreed to a PV rural electrification project. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) started a pilot solar program in Zimbabwe in 1993 that was extended beyond its 1998 termination date due to popular demand.
Hydropower
In Africa, hydroelectric power is the only significant grid-connected renewable energy source. In many African countries, hydroelectricity’s share of total installed electric capacity is quite high. In Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Zambia, the vast majority of on-grid electricity generation comes from hydropower. Africa has considerable unexploited hydropower potential. Many new projects are planned or are under construction.
We specialize in:
Project Development