Project to convert waste into renewable energy in senior high schools
The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), will this year, roll out a national programme that seeks to convert human waste of 800 senior high schools into renewable energy sources.
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The programme, which will be implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service (GES), is intended to cut down on the consumption of wood energy by switching from the use of firewood to biogas.
The Sector Minister, Mr Mahama Ayariga, announced this when he toured some of the agencies under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) last Friday in Accra.
The visit was to familiarise himself with the operations of CSIR following his appointment as minister of MESTI.
“We want these schools with bio-toilets to convert waste from students into biogas so that instead of using firewood, they can use biogas for cooking,” he said.
Currently, Ghana uses 42 million tonnes of wood annually.
Technology importation
Mr Ayariga observed that Ghana’s addiction to the importation of technology was the bane of the country’s economy, adding that until that addiction was addressed, the economy would always be under pressure.
“We are importing everything into the country and this has put so much pressure on Ghana’s currency,” he said.
To address the situation, Mr Ayariga underscored the need for the scientific community to shift their attention to inventing commercially viable innovations that would improve businesses and accelerate development.
CSIR
The Director –General of CSIR, Dr Victor Kwame Agyeman, said the mandate of the CSIR was to pursue the implementation of government policies on scientific research and development.
He explained that CSIR’s research programmes covered wide range of activities, including agriculture, agro-processing, fisheries, forestry, water resources, human settlement infrastructure, environment, health, natural and social sciences.
Dr Agyeman assured that CSIR would lead the crusade to address the importation of technological innovations by inventing new ones.