Harnessing Green Energy in Kenya

  

Date Posted: 7/23/2012 3:15:07 PM

Posted By: moff J  Membership Level: Silver  Total Points: 485

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Green energy refers to the energy generated from renewable sources such as wind, solar, rainwater (hydro power), and geothermal heat. The purpose of green energy is to reduce pollution which is a major contributor to global warming and climate change.

The world is now very caused about global warming because of the resultant climate change which is threatening the livelihoods of some of the species on earth. That is why all the countries are emphasizing on green energy so as to reduce the effects of global warming resulting from sources of energy such as hydrocarbons and coal.
Kenya has not been left behind in this noble task.

The Kenya government has been making attempts at producing green energy. One of the projects for green energy is the wind generation plant at Ngong Hills.
There is geothermal power plant at Olkaria, which is the biggest geothermal power generation plant in Africa. The potential of Geothermal Power is quite huge in Kenya such that the country is focusing a lot of resources towards that project. KENGEN, the company charged with the responsibility of power generation in the country, was to launch the Olkaria 3 project on 23rd July 2012. The project is set to add another 280 MW to the national grid and is to be complete by 2014.

Solar energy is another green energy source that has huge potential in the country but is yet to be fully exploited. The government needs to invest in this sector which can be a very reliable source of energy especially in the arid and semi-arid parts of the country which experience a lot of sunlight. It can be an alternative source of energy to substitute other sources such as hydro electricity power source.
The government also wants to invest in nuclear energy which, though a green source of energy,

it can also be quite destructive if the waste is not disposed in a good way.

All in all green sources of energy are more reliable and are more eco-friendly. The government therefore needs to put in more resources in developing the green energy sources even as it focuses on Vision 2030 which has huge energy requirements.

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