The world needs to reduce gas emissions by half in the next six years to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
A new analysis of energy research by 23 scientists around the world has concluded that the world can reach a 100% renewable energy system by or before 2050.
The world is working towards ending overreliance on fossil fuels and is investing in alternative sources of energy that are clean, accessible, affordable, sustainable, and reliable.
Luckily, Kenya has not been left behind.
The government, engineers, scientists, organisations, and investors are working closely together to ensure that there is availability of green energy, the production of electronic vehicles, machinery that uses solar energy to help farmers achieve their harvest easily, maximum recycling of waste materials for a clean environment, and planting trees to increase the green cover.
To this end, the Kenyan government launched a campaign to plant 15 billion trees in ten years from 2022 in a bid to reach 30% tree cover in the country.
By so doing, tree planting will help in:-
A) Reversing deforestation.
B) Mitigating the effects of climate change.
C) Reducing environmental degradation.
So far, Kenyan companies have contributed a lot towards efforts in combating climate change. Here are a few and what they do which includes producing electric vehicles, bikes, and solar pumps for small-scale farmers.
Irri-Hub Kenya
Irri-Hub Kenya, which mostly assists youth and women, aims to provide sustainability and provide farmers with long-term solutions to practice farming all year round. Irri-Hub provides awareness to the farmers who acquire their products from the initial stage to the end. The advantage of Irri-Hub Kenya is that it also draws farmers to the ready markets, whereby farmers will reap big after harvest.
“Irri-Hub Kenya serves best the small space farmers; they don’t need to depend on rain farming but to adapt to the new technologies. Plants only need water and not rain,” says Deborah Nyang’ara, a Sales Executive at Irri-Hub Kenya.
Some of the products Irri-Hub help farmers set up are water harvests by dam lining, a drip system irrigation that drops water directly to the crops that only requires farmers to raise water tanks high to be connected.
They also have solar systems that harvest water from the wells and ponds, as well as shade houses mostly used in dry areas, for example, in Marsabit in the northern region. Shade houses are used to do closed farming and control pests. Products such as the agricultural nets and solar dryers helping in keeping the fruits or produce dry so that they don’t perish as soon as they are out of the farm.
Ecomobilus
Electric vehicles are also a great method of environmental conservation. For every one liter of petrol consumed in the internal combustion of the engine, an equivalent of 2.31 kg of carbon dioxide is released. If you do the math of the number of vehicles multiplied by the number of liters of petrol and diesel, keeping in mind that diesel produces more carbon dioxide than petrol, you can see that our environment is being polluted. Recently we have seen sporadic weather patterns, like the El Niño phenomenon, and long spells of drought, and all these are attributed to climate change.
The Co-founder at Ecomobilus Technologies Limited, Paul Waweru, says they’re working hard on changing this.
“E-mobility is coming in handy to help reverse the effects of global warming. I urge all Kenyans to embrace this technology; we are going to have a cleaner environment, work easier, and enjoy life. Kenya is leading in e-mobility adoption in Africa even in terms of investments coming to Kenya.”
To support this initiative, the Kenyan government has come up with policies that are going to facilitate easy, fast-tracking of mobility in the country and beyond through its policies on E-mobility and the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).
“President William Ruto has also campaigned for e-mobility; we have seen him riding on electric vehicles. This is a plus and an opportunity that everyone can go for e-mobility solutions,” adds Paul Waweru.
So how is Ecomobilus doing it?
“At the site, we convert conventional fuel-powered vehicles to electric vehicles through what we call electrofitting. We are specialists in battery assembly, looking at lithium-ion batteries. The batteries are used in electric vehicles – two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers,” says Mr Waweru.
Adding” “We also create special fitting electric vehicles suitable for farmers, like the quad bikes fitted by fork jembe for tilling and electric handcarts used to carry loads of agricultural produce for a weight of half a tonne. We have a lot of knowledge and skills, and we are well-poised to take E-mobility to the next level. We do have electric tuk-tuks and design their battery packs from scratch.”
Mr Waweru also says the company is investing in solar energy to provide affordable alternatives adding that the financial savings and value addition would be great.
“We are to design Kenya’s first solar-powered electric tuk-tuk; for this, we will give it an extra 30 percent of mileage by tapping energy coming from the sun. This is going to save a lot of cash in terms of the cost of running a business.
“Also, we are tapping energy from the sun to have solarised solar charging stations, whereby boda boda riders can charge their electric bikes as they wait for customers at a nearby shade.
“E-mobility is a comfortable, quiet, and silent vehicle with no vibrations. It saves on costs, charging a bike or a vehicle compared to purchasing petrol or diesel, and you save almost 50 percent on costs. The use of e-vehicles is healthy; there would be no sicknesses emanating from inhaling the fumes or gases from combustion engines.”
The Marketing Manager of FAR Ocean Trading Company, Jacob Nyangasi, agrees with Mr Waweru.
“Electric mobility, especially the electric bikes that we sell out, is economical as compared to the price of fuel, which keeps on rising. Electric bikes are easy to use, maintain, and charge; safe; portable; and with a token of 50 shillings, you can charge the bike three times.”
However, Mr Waweru also believes that Kenyan institutions need to incorporate learning about green solutions in schools.
“Academic institutions should rethink the academic curriculum they are teaching our citizens; we may have an introduction of such a curriculum concentrating on electric vehicles, looking at the trends worldwide,” Mr Waweru says. “I am glad that Ecomobilus has spearheaded the training of mobility with a key number of institutions like Kenyatta University, where we are domiciled. Citizens can get training in electronics and electrical engineering, battery assembly, the benefits of e-mobility, and the whole spectrum.”
Recycling
Incorporating conservation techniques into corporate culture is not just about agriculture and transport; hospitality companies are also doing the same by recycling and involving their local communities.
“Part of what we do as corporate social responsibility is helping us combat the effects of climate change, rampant global warming, and the increase in humidity affecting the whole world. We involve the community in collecting coconut husks and shells and crafting jewelry, ashtrays, bangles, cutlery sets, and spoons made from coconut trees,” says Jane Kihura. “The community sells these products back to us at the hotel for our guests, visitors, and tourists. By cleaning our environment, we maintain that it helps us create a better future for our children.”
