By Stephen Asante, GNA
Kumasi, Oct 26, GNA - The government has been urged to ensure that the development of renewable energy is made an urgent national priority. Dr. Rudith King, a Senior Research Fellow of the Brew-Hammond Energy Centre (TEC), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), said the nation was endowed with renewable energy resources, particularly biomass and solar, which needed to be tapped speed up socio-economic and industrial growth.
She indicated that, globally serious efforts were being made to develop appropriate technologies to mitigate global warming, while achieving energy security and Ghana could not sit on the sidelines.
She was delivering a paper at a two-day seminar organized by the Centre in Kumasi and her topic was 'Energy through the lenses of the sustainable development goals (SDGs)'.
The SDGs seek to make sure that by year 2030, there would be universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services - substantial increase in the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
Additionally, it is pushing for doubling of the rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
Dr. King asked that the nation worked harder to enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology.
She said a lot needed to be done, considering the progress some countries were making in the area of the renewables.
She cited Sweden, where, as of year 2014, 61.1 per cent of its energy mix was from renewables, while in Denmark and Germany, these came to 51.9 per cent and 37.3 per cent, respectively and compared these with Ghana's 0.031 per cent.
Dr. Gabriel Takyi, Director of the Centre, said it was time, the nation's development programmes and policies took into account the growing threat of global warming.
'We should begin to look at the possibility of coming out with more environmentally-friendly innovations such as the development of hydro-operated vehicles and environmentally-friendly buildings' he added.
He underlined the Centre's determination to deepen the engagement with technocrats and experts to tackle the energy needs of the nation.
The two-day seminar is on the theme 'Alternative energy as a tool for mitigating the effect of global warming', and has brought together a team of experts to discuss ways of dealing with the menace. GNA
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