Decarbonizing waste for cleaner energy: Stakeholders call for stronger public-private collaborations

Stakeholders at a climate change and sustainability forum have re-echoed the need for closer government and private sector collaborations to help mitigate the effects climate change.There is the need for effective partnerships between government and the private sector to enhance energy transition initiatives, climate-adapted buildings, access to clean water, solar kiosks, as well as climate smart agriculture programmes.Projects such as waste to energy, needed significant research and development and well-equipped infrastructure to facilitate successful implementation and this required substantial funding to generate viable ideas in executing them.Again, it is important that investors clearly define areas of investment within projects and establish their own regulations and standards.The stakeholders raised these issues at the third edition of the Climate Talks Series in Kumasi.It was put together by the German Embassy and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation to bring together local communities, exper ts, and stakeholders to engage in critical discussions on pressing climate change issues that demanded immediate attention.The forum was themed 'Energy Transition Dialogue' and discussed the topic of Decarbonizing Waste for Cleaner Energy.Ms Sivine Jansen, Deputy German Ambassador to Ghana, noted that in mitigating climate change, there was the need to adapt to alternative sources of energy.She observed that almost every country around the world produced waste and if properly transformed into a valuable source of energy, could support communities.She cited Germany as one country that used to rely heavily on traditional sources of energy (coal, gas, and oil) but in recent times managed to have over 50 percent energy mix coming from renewable sources - wind power, solar, bioenergy (organic matter burned as a fuel).Ms Jansen encouraged cooperation among stakeholders to create job opportunities and promote renewable energy sources in Ghana as well.Dr David Ato Quansah, Director of Brew-Hammond Energy Center at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), said the Center had been examining such issues regarding energy, waste, and a number of actions ought to be considered.'With the quality of waste, there must be some investments in understanding the resource availability and how much could be deployed.We cannot deploy any technology without understanding the resources we have.There is also the need to look at data credibility, techno-economic analysis (whether the technology is going to work in Ghana given the fact that it works well for other countries), and the socio-cultural bits.Standards are also issues to be looked at.Waste goes beyond those getting to the landfills, these are some of the prominent issues to be tackled 'and we simply do not have credible data,' he disclosed.Mr Noah Gyimah, Chief Investment Officer of the Jospong Group, underscored the importance of communities embracing climate-smart infrastructure, particularly as government incentives and taxes often played a vital role in funding such initiatives.Source: Ghana News Agency