52% of homes still use charcoal …putting energy-for-all goal at risk

Firewood and charcoal account for 52 percent of all energy used in the country, and this raises fears that the country may not achieve the Millennium Development Goal 7 (Target 9) and ECOWAS’ white paper for energy access by 2015.

The ECOWAS white paper, which is in line with the MDG, aims at increasing access to energy services, thereby creating a conducive environment for poverty reduction and enhanced economic and social development.

Apart from the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions, where more than 20 percent of households use Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), the ratio in the eight other regions is less than 15 percent, said Mr. Wisdom Ahiataku Togobo, an energy consultant.

He said research shows that there is low usage of LPG in the three northern regions (Northern, Upper West, and Upper East Regions). The research identified that these regions account for less than two percent of the national consumption.

He said governments in most developing countries have paid little attention to wood-fuel issues, compared to the case of petroleum and electricity.

The way forward, according to Kwabena Otu-Danquah, Head of the Renewable Energy Division at the Energy Commission, is effective implementation of the energy policies and energy sector strategy that were outlined by the Ministry of Energy in 2010, with a key policy objective to increase LPG access to households and public institutions from 9.5 percent in 2008 to at least 50 percent by 2020.

“[The] NPA is to establish attractive transportation and distribution margins and redirect the current subsidy on the consumption of LPG toward facilitating implementation of the cylinder re-circulation model,” he said.

President John Mahama in his recent State-of-the-Nation address said as part of efforts to discourage the reliance on wood as a source of fuel, government will launch an LPG promotion programme aimed at reversing the deleterious effect the continuous burning of some 13 million tonnes of firewood annually is having on the environment.

The programme is expected to achieve 50 percent LPG penetration in urban areas and 15 percent in rural areas. Under the programme, 50,000 LPG cylinders will be distributed for free.

The challenge facing the LPG sub-sector is inadequate production and supply as the maximum LPG production capacity of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is about 52,000 tonnes per year.

TOR supplied on the average 44.4 percent of total national consumption between 2000 and 2010, and according to Mr. Otu-Danquah there are constraints in discharge infrastructure for the importation of LPG as well as an unfavourable pricing policy. He added that subsidies on LPG discourage the importation, supply and distribution of the fuel.

Kwame Bona Siriboe, Deputy Director at the Petroleum Directorate of the Ministry of Energy, said the ministry has over the years spearheaded the promotion of LPG as a cleaner, safer and healthier form of cooking fuel for households.

He said the ministry began such efforts around the late 1980’s and raised overall consumption from 5,267 metric tonnes in 1989 to about 32,000 metric tonnes in 1996 -- adding that the promotion culminated in the setting-up of the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company to produce LPG cylinders and other related products to meet the country’s growing demand.

According to him, the ministry’s initial promotion -- though it yielded good results -- only impacted positively in the urban areas mainly, especially Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi. He said this, therefore, necessitated introduction of the Rural LPG Promotion Programme, which is targeted at the rural areas where there is low access to LPG.

He said the ministry intends to embark on the initial phase of a rural cylinder recirculation programme to distribute 50,000 pieces of 6kg cylinders and cook-stoves in 10 low-access districts in the country this year.

To make the promotion meaningful and ensure that beneficiary districts have a constant supply of LPG, and also to prevent users reverting back to firewood, he said the ministry will facilitate the setting-up of 10 mini-refill plant outlets in these low-access districts.

“We strongly believe this initiative will bring up rural access levels toward the achievement of total nationwide usage at 50 percent soon.”

In addition, he said the ministry in collaboration with TOR and the private sector is constructing a 10-inch LPG pipeline from the Tema jetty to TOR to add to the existing six-inch pipeline. This, he said, will increase the rate of LPG discharge from vessels to storage tanks.

“The ministry is also facilitating the construction of LPG storage tanks to increase the nation’s storage capacity to the required 100,000 tonnes in the long-term.”

By Benson AFFUL