Politicians from 11 Southern African countries gathered in Maputo, Mozambique, over the weekend to examine how to address climate change issues without reducing access to energy.
Off-grid solar is seen as one of the continent’s strongest options, capitalizing on Africa’s abundant sunlight without the need to invest in expensive grid networks.
Renewable energy experts and politicians were shown practical examples of how sensitive green energy developments have the potential to satisfy both requirements.
According to the World Bank’s 2010 development report, 1.6 billion people in developing countries still have no access to electricity.
”Decentralized solar systems have a huge potential,” said Jasper Groening of e-Parliament, an international network linking global citizens to their legislators and one of the organisers of the event.
In Djabula – 50 miles south of Maputo – Mozambique’s National Electricity Fund established a photovoltaic standalone station providing electricity for 45 residencies, a primary school and a heath outpost. Legislators and politicians visited the project to see how schemes like this could provide answers to many of the energy and climate change problems facing communities across Africa.
“Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, said Mr. Groening, “and politicians are working on integrating schemes like this into their own national energy plans.”
Small scale projects like this are becoming more common in Africa.
”The demand for our solar kits is huge”, says Katie Bliss of Solar Aid, a British organization that aims to bring clean, renewable power to the poorest people in the world.
“In Tanzania the price of kerosene, the main energy alternative, is rapidly increasing,” added Ms. Bliss, whose organization has projects in work in Zambia, Kenya, and Malawi as well. “Our studies found that 20 perecnt of household income was being spent on fuel.”
As with other solar products targeting poor communities, SolarAid does not give away its micro-solar kits. “It’s not a hand out,” Ms. Bliss said. “We want to encourage a viable trade. Solar has a huge future here, and anyone we have trained with solar skills has a good chance of finding employment. We also encourage distributors to take solar products to rural villages.”
Groups like Solar Aid provide solar power kits — which typically consist of locally-sourced parts and simple construction — starting at about $20.
But when scaled up, some community schemes can challenge grid power. In an award winning project in Remu, Ethiopia, the Swedish Solar Energy foundation supplied electricity to 10,000 people with an off-grid solar photovoltaic system charging less than $2 per person.
上周末，来自南非11个国家的政客聚集在莫桑比克的马普托，研究如何在不减少能源使用的情况下处理气候变化问题。
离网发电是在非洲大陆最有力的选择之一，从非洲丰富的日光所获的价值已经没有必要去投资昂贵的电网。
绿色能源的发展有满足前面要求的潜力，相关事例已展示给了可再生能源专家和政客们。
根据世界银行2010年的发展报告，16亿发展中国家的人民仍然没有用上电 。
曾钰成在格罗宁的电子议会上说到：“分散式太阳能系统有巨大的潜力。＂这个议会是一个国际性的连接着全球公民和立法官的网络，他是活动组织者之一。
在马普托以南50英里的Djabula，莫桑比克国家电力基金成立了一个独立的光电站，能够为45户居民，一所小学和一个地处荒地的前哨基地提供电力。立法者和政治家前来参观这项计划，来看一看这样的计划，是怎样解决整个非洲所面临的能源和气候变化问题的。
格罗宁先生说：“各方反应一直非常积极。”政治家正在努力把类似这样的计划整合到他们自己的国家能源计划之内。
类似的小规模的项目在非洲越来越普遍。
太阳能援助机构的凯蒂说：＂对我们太阳能设备的需求量非常大。＂这是一个英国的组织，旨在把清洁，可再生的能源带给世界上最贫穷的人们。
“在坦桑尼亚，煤油作为主要能源，其价格正在迅速上涨。”布利斯女士说，““我们的研究发现，家庭收入的20%被用于燃料。” 她们的组织在赞比亚，肯尼亚和马拉维都有工作项目。
作为另外的针对贫困社区的太阳能产品，太阳能援助机构不会赠送它的微型太阳能电池设备。“这不是一种施舍，”布利斯女士说，“我们想鼓励可实行的贸易。太阳能在这里有巨大的未来，任何人经过我们的太阳能技能培训都会有一个良好的就业机会。我们也鼓励经销商把太阳能产品推向农村。”
像太阳能援助机构一样的组织提供太阳能设备——通常包括来源于当地的零件和简单的结构建造——起价为20美元。
但是规模扩大后， 一些社区的项目可以媲美电网电力。在埃塞俄比亚的雷穆，一项得奖的项目中，瑞典太阳能基金会采用离网太阳能光电系统为1万人提供了电力，平均每人收费不到2美元。
责任编辑：八月骄阳
