Counties must push for clean energy

NAIROBI: Energy is a hot issue in all societies worldwide. Forget about the energy produced by multinationals. Wanjiku is in need of a new energy regime to quickly transform her fortunes socially, economically and culturally at the micro level. Well, at least the spirit of the recent COP 21 engagements in Paris paid credence to the desire for sustainable clean energy at the grassroots. In any case, that will form the foundation for greater transformation of an industrial scale, and perhaps rescue the planet on the brink.

Prior to COP 21, the United Nations, under the Secretary General’s initiative, had conceived and rolled with Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All). This is a mega dream of ensuring opportunities and strategies are created to ensure clean energy for masses right to the household levels.
In Kenya, the initiatives are captained by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum in collaboration with organisations such as SNV Netherlands Development Organisation.

But this effort should not end there. County Governments are best placed to play a catalytic role in the search for clean energy especially as espoused in the SE4All proposal and actions. The success of SE4All initiative is pegged on the triad of: first, universal access to modern energy services, second, doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency and finally, doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

This way, households at the county level will experience a major paradigm shift on how their energy is sourced and utilised. Besides, there are new and advanced technologies in the market that can easily be adopted at the bottom of the pyramid. Such changes include the increased adoption of biogas digesters, solar lanterns, improved clean cook stoves, or production of briquettes. These efforts should be scaled up, and the county governments should take the lead. Take the example of Keekonyokie Biogas Project in Kiserian, Kajiado County. Here, a local development association is on the cusp of revolutionising the concept of biogas.

With assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency and Climate, the group is now ready to package and sell biogas in cylinders. That is why to succeed in this great agenda, counties, led by their governors and the executives charged with energy docket, should take the lead. If anything, these new techniques and proposals are geared to benefit the counties to spur growth and create job opportunities.

County governments should also encourage entry of energy investors into their jurisdictions through friendly policy and necessary infrastructure. The adoption of the Public Private Partnership framework towards the provision of sustainable energy will be critical in this endeavor. Only counties that will adopt new technologies and sources of energy will remain afloat.