Ethiopia and its Renewable Energy Strategy

                                                                                                                             Taye Kebede

It is undeniable that renewable energy sources are the answer to the globe’s concern of air pollution and climate change. Taking into the economical and social mess the world is heading into, our country has started to work on renewable energy. Ethiopia’s energy strategy trickles down from its green economic strategy. Its green economy strategy consists four basic points.

The first has to do with building the country’s capacity with regards to its agricultural development and land utilization. The second concerns with undertaking forest development and conservation in way that it is friendly to the environment. The third describes utilizing the appropriate, superior and on-demand technological products for the development of the industrial sector, the transport service and construction works. The fourth is about generating renewable and clean energy for development. These points are taunted as vehicle that would take Ethiopia to its green economy objectives.

When we look into how renewable energy generation will serve as a cornerstone for the green economic development strategy, we’ll see that it’s the main alternative for clean air and sustainable economic growth – especially considering Ethiopia’s immense renewable energy potential. On top of its economic underlining, its political pinning cannot be underestimated. Nowadays, it has reached to a level of setting the tone for country’s relation. 

Of course considering the scarcity of oil, the alternative to renewable energy sources, choosing renewable energy has political connation. As guaranteeing energy supply is a main issue for environmental protection and for the economic base, it’s a main concern for politicians. So, they are in pressure to set up an economic development strategy that’s based on renewable energy sources.

Especially, if the effects of environment pollution intensify on the public, it will become an issue of grave national and existential issue. In relation to it, the political rhetoric and directive of the nation will be forced to change course. Of course, Currently Ethiopia is contributing its own part. This is because the effect of Global warming is significant on developing countries. This is why Ethiopia is focusing on green development; and pointed its attention towards renewable energy. The energy policy of the country stipulates that a step-by-step move from the existing traditional way of generating power to modern energy utilization is necessary.

It has an aim to provide enough energy supply to the market on fair price, while providing adequate power to the economy. In relation to this, the policy works to maintain (sustain) the health of the atmosphere through saving clean energy. As a result, Ethiopia has the vision to enter middle-income countries by 2025. In order to turn this into reality, works are underway to increase agriculture productivity to make the industry sector the basis of the economy and to raise the standard of export.

There is now an understanding that the country can realize its vision, by maintaining its sustainable growth, if it can play a central role in the effort to tackle climate change, which is posing a challenge on the International community’s all-encompassing development. It takes the experts suggestion that doing things the traditional or typical way will run into difficulty. And adhering to an economic growth strategy that takes this into account widens the chance to get away from the challenges climate change poses.

It also lessens scarcity of foreign currency that otherwise would be spent upon importing oil. This is part of the reason why it is said that there is no other choice for Ethiopia than following the path of green development strategy.

It is believed that actions that are taken as part of this strategy will bring about positive change with regards to investment, hastening the economic development and generating additional value-added job opportunities. When this strategy was formulated, it was projected Ethiopia will need 150 million USD for the next 20 years to build a green economy. 

To reach at this goal, the constructive role the international development partners and the private sector plays is taken into account. Also, it accounts to compensatory money that would be given to the country and continent.

Ethiopia is trying to build an economic order that revolves around the demand and supply of renewable energy. Here, it should be asked why Ethiopia peculiarly needed renewable energy strategy.

These days, if we take China and India (for instance), they now have more than double population of the segment that used to monopolize the world’s consumption. As these countries rapidly grow, inevitably their appetite for natural resources will grow as well.

Despite the fact that substitute energy sources can be produced using technologies, it’s impossible to fully substitute all of the natural wealth or lessen the demand for it. 

Thus, following the emergence of new economical centers, the demand on agricultural products and various minerals have grown immensely. For the first time in a long time, their price has increased or shown an indication towards rising even more.

Nowadays, it has become clear that the way natural resources used to be utilized by the Europeans cannot sustain the current global population income which is increasing in a lightning speed.

For instance, if we take oil, as its non-renewable energy source, there is not enough to supply China alone in a way it used to be utilized by Europe and American. Thus, unless a scheme that can hugely save resources in the way we utilize them is formulated, the initiated development will hit a dead end after a while. Before this approach hits dead end and stop, some suspicious signs that have that have the capability to devastate the world’s natural balance have already been seen.

So, unless new ways of doing things are set up, inevitably the already ‘in-use’ system will hit a snag due to scarcity of resources. There are efforts to create and expand technologies that would help save natural resources; like for example technologies that can generate oil and electricity from renewable energy sources. Obviously, this approach will need time (at least some decades).

The other positive outcome using renewable energy has on is climate change. The development directives western European countries and America adhered to is based upon generating power from nonrenewable energy sources like carbon chemicals. It heavily drives upon using coal and oil. However, these energy sources are nonrenewable.

Thus, not only this leads to a point where it couldn’t sustain the development any more, but it contributes to global warming through stocking up the level of carbon dioxide, their byproduct, on the atmosphere.

The stocking up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased the temperature of the globe by one degree centigrade at average, which is significantly changing the climate in various areas in unprecedented fashion. It’s forecasted that the temperature will rise to two degree centigrade if it continues with its current projection. When this happens, the huge quantities of ice bergs at North and South Pole will start to melt.

It’s expected that this will increase the level of the oceans in one to three meters. When the temperature and amount of the oceans rise, it is predicted that it would engulf many islands and low coastal plains by ocean water. In relation to this, it is expected that the climate of large swathe of areas will see tremendous change. This is a serious problem for our globe.

Africa, though not culprit in sending carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as or to the extent of the industrialized and developed countries, it has been in the front in respect to being the harmed party in the climate change. The cutting down of forests, which would help control and balance the climate change, has cost the continent dearly.

This is partly why it has become clear that our country development direction should incorporate a novel and renewable power alternative – the fact that carbon-based development strategy is hitting a dead-end. Also the fact that playing an active role in this endeavor provides additional hand for our economy and help build a positive image for our country, can be taken as an extra reason.

Based on this, this green development plan will enable Ethiopia to realize its goal of building carbon dioxide free nation by 2025. One way of doing this is through extensively producing electric power from renewable energy sources and selling surplus power to neighboring countries. Taking into account its immense hydro power potential, our country has initiated huge activities to generate electric power from water resources. There are also plans to generate power from wind, geothermal energy, and sugar byproduct and from sunlight.

Wise use of our power utilization, there are plans to install transformations and distributing lines. There is also plan underway to utilize electric power for train transport. Within this process, its planned to extensively generate electric power in a way that doesn’t release any carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. And these ideas are not left on the paper. There are wide ranging works being done on all these sectors. Especially, the efforts made to generate power from water energy are recording promising results.

When looking into the works done at all sectors; we can see that works are underway to strengthen and utilize the country's natural resources, setting up an effective and efficient energy utilization that would help make use of the tight foreign exchange, and providing a stable energy supply that would enable to fend off either domestic or foreign ignited supply deficiency and price fluctuation, thereby protecting the economy.