You could investigate these facts:
Is fossil fuel still reliable for our primary energy source?
1. As we all know, fuel reserves are finite and soon the world will be completely depleted. Unfortunately, this possibility is becoming more and more likely and will create very serious difficulties in everyone’s life, especially for people in developing countries.
2. Fuel prices are increasing. As the volatile Middle East continues to affect the world’s oil supply, countries like Uganda are drowning in the costs of importing heavy oil. Crude oil prices hit $ 100, which is combined with the erratic and rising dollar exchange rate (in the last month, the dollar exchange rate translates to 230,000 shillings) per barrel this year and he expects them to reach the 150 mark (345,000 shillings) in two years.
3. Developing countries depend on heavy taxes on imported oil products to balance their budgets. This greatly increases the cost for the average person. Locally grown biofuel is tax-free.
Power systems of the future
4. The fact that the power grid coverage of Uganda and other developing countries is only less than 5% is a blessing in disguise. This opens an opportunity for a better exploitation of energy sources.
5. New power generation, monitoring and control technologies based on distributed rather than centralized power generation are the key to future power for developing countries.
6. Millions of local renewable energy producers can potentially produce much more distributed energy than old, less efficient centralized forms of power generation and distribution, using hydropower, oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear power that cannot be successfully implemented. in developing countries.
Use solar power, wind power, mini-hydro power, biodiesel generated power, biomass power. Introduce oil stoves and promote the cultivation of oilseed plants.
7. Firewood is the most common cooking fuel in developing countries.
8. Indoor air pollution and other health problems cause large numbers of deaths.
9. Cooking over an open fire every day, in the confines of an unventilated kitchen, has been compared to smoking five packs of cigarettes a day.
10. WHO estimates that more than 1.6 million people die annually from “indoor air pollution”.
11. The clearing of forests endangers the girl who goes further and further to find firewood from an increasingly remote forest cover.
12. Desertification resulting from the clearing of forests for firewood, the burning of charcoal, etc. destroy the climate and bring the desert closer to us.
13. Emerging research highlights black carbon (or soot) from cooking fires in developing countries as one of the main contributors to global warming. Second only to carbon dioxide (40%), black carbon accounts for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
14. Replacing traditional cooking fires in developing countries with clean stoves is considered a “quick fix” that gives nations in the developing world time to control CO2. Since black carbon only stays in the atmosphere for a few weeks (as opposed to carbon dioxide which stays for years). Clean burning stoves would have a dramatic impact, eliminating the heating effects of black coal almost immediately.
15. By reducing the amount of biomass fuel needed, families have increased their time, money, and choices on how to improve their family life.
16. Each of the biofuel stoves saves an average of 1 tonne of carbon emissions by year.
17. Two mature Jatropha trees absorb 1 ton of carbon per year.
18. Carbon credits can be traded on the stock market at around $ 40 per ton.
19. A one acre lot at 2 x 2 meters requires 1,000 trees.
20. The oil extracted from half an acre of jatropha can meet the cooking fuel needs of a family of 6 for a year.
21. Each mature tree (five years) gives from 3 to 6 kg of seed per year.
22. These benefits can fund a vegetable oil / jatropha project and deliver affordable stoves to the end user.
23. Jatropha, a drought-resistant perennial crop with a lifespan of more than 40 years, is a member of the Europhobiaceace family. Its seeds can produce approximately 37% inedible oil.
24. The global biodiesel market is estimated to reach 37 billion gallons in 2016, with an average annual growth of 42%.
25. The UN special reporter on the right to food recently recommended jatropha as a biofuel crop for developing countries. Jatropha was recommended due to its high inedible oil content, its gestation period, and its ability to grow in degraded soils.
26. Developing countries need to invest in biofuel production because with climate change, the world’s energy sources are bound to change for the worse.
27. Uganda can excel in biodiesel production, as the majority of the population derives their income from agriculture. Jatropha offers enormous potential to alleviate poverty and improve health. A farmer can earn up to $ 250 (sh427,500) a year from a 1 km jatropha hedge.