Global Environment Facility-Backed
Projects to Harvest Power from Millions
of Farmers across Eastern and Southern Africa
Nairobi, 8 November 2007-Cups of tea are
becoming more environmentally-friendly courtesy
of a new UNEP-led initiative, announced
today to deliver small-scale hydro electric
power to plantations across East Africa.
Those who enjoy a spoonful of sugar in
their favourite day time drink have double-cause
to celebrate. In a separate but related
initiative, sugar farmers will take part
in a cogeneration project funded by the
Global Environment Facility. Farmers will
use waste from the sugar industry to generate
electricity, in turn fuelling economic and
rural growth in an environmentally safer
way.
These GEF-funded projects build on the
successes with cogeneration in the Indian
Ocean island of Mauritius, where up to 40
per cent of the country's electricity needs
are met by waste by-products from the sugar
industry.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General
and UNEP Executive Director, said today:
"Tea is known to be good for you, now
it is also getting better for the environment.
The decision by some countries in East Africa
to establish Power Purchase Agreements -
contracts that allow unconventional generators
of electricity to sell surplus power back
to the Grid - has opened up a raft of new
opportunities for cleaner and renewable
energy generation".
Monique Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of
the Global Environment Facility, said this
latest partnership between GEF and UNEP
is a concrete example of how under the right
government policy framework, sustainable
development can work, and does work.
"These two new UNEP-led projects showcase
the multiple benefits sustainable development
can have for rural areas, offering social,
economic and environmental benefits that
help locally and globally, " she said.
Barbut and Steiner noted that the two new
projects, announced today, offer the chance
to develop new forms of indigenous energy
generation that will assist with development
in rural areas and help overcome poverty;
reduce dependency on often imported and
expensive fossil fuels while having the
spin off benefit of contributing to the
reduction of greenhouse gases.
The importance of harnessing alternative
forms of energy generation is highlighted
in the latest assessments of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and UNEP's
new state of the world environment report
- the recently launched Global Environment
Outlook-4.
"In December, in Bali, governments
will meet to define the ground rules for
a new international emissions reductions
regime to kick in post 2012.UNEP's slogan
is 'Transition to a Low Carbon Society'-this
is a transition that is just as important
for developing and for developed countries.
There is no reason why nations of the South
must or should follow the dirty development
paths of the past," said Mr Steiner.
The two pioneering initiatives - Cogeneration
for Africa and Small Hydro for Greening
the Tea Industry are being spearheaded by
UNEP with the African Development Bank as
co-implementer, supported by the Global
Environment Facility (GEF).
The projects, worth around $100 million
in total, are also being executed by the
East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA)
and the Energy, Environment and Development
Network for Africa(AFREPREN/FWD).
Greening the Tea industry
The small-scale hydro initiative is expected
to reach over 8 million people in the tea
industry - a principal source of convertible
currency for Eastern and Southern Africa.
With an initial target of 10MW of small
hydro, the project is eventually expected
to stimulate 82MW of small hydro capacity
in the region. Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique,
Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia are
among the countries which have already endorsed
this initiative.
As well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
the hydro power will reduce energy costs,
enhance the African tea industry's global
competitiveness, and spread clean electricity
to rural communities. In the long run, the
scheme will also set the stage for the development
of a vibrant local industry for hydro design,
manufacturing, operation and maintenance.
Cogeneration for Africa
This first-of-its-kind project is designed
to boost cogeneration - the use of agricultural
waste to produce energy - across Eastern
and Southern Africa. The scheme will aim
to reach around 10 million sugar farmers
and their dependants in Kenya, Ethiopia,
Malawi, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and Swaziland.
The initiative is expected to bring on
stream 60MW of cleaner power generation
capacity in its initial pilot phase, and
eventually set the stage for the installation
of over 200MW of cogeneration capacity across
the region.
By relying on low-cost, renewable indigenous
fuels such as sugar byproducts and offcuts
from the timber industry, these cogeneration
units will cut greenhouse gas emissions
and reduce energy costs for the region's
agro-processing and forest industries. They
will also enhance the competitiveness of
the region's farm and forestry products,
boost investment in the region and set the
stage for rural electrification in the region.
Notes to editors:
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is
an international financial mechanism with
178 member countries that addresses global
environmental issues while supporting national
sustainable development initiatives. GEF
grants support projects in developing countries
related to biodiversity, climate change,
international waters, land degradation,
the ozone layer and persistent organic pollutants.
Since its inception in 1991, GEF has achieved
a strong track record of support to developing
countries and countries with economies in
transition, providing $6.2 billion in grants
and leveraging $20 billion in co-financing
for over 1,800 projects in over 150 countries.
Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP),
GEF has also made more than 7,000 small
grants, up to $50,000 each, directly to
nongovernmental organizations and community
organizations.
UNEP is involved in a series of projects
to address environmental consequences of
energy production and use, and assists decision-makers
in governments and the private sector to
make better, more informed energy choices
which fully integrate environmental and
social costs.
GEO-4, which was released on 25 October,
is the latest in a series of flagship UNEP
reports assessing the current state of the
global atmosphere, land, water and biodiversity.
It is the most comprehensive UN report on
the environment, prepared by about 390 experts
and reviewed by more than 1,000 others across
the world over a five-year period.
For more information on the projects, go
to:
http://greeningtea.unep.org
http://cogen.unep.org
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson
