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Group launches online tool to assess economics of solar investments

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Group launches online tool to assess economics of solar investments

A tool that compares costs of solar power with the currently existing diesel generation costs for an individually planned PV project and generates an individual economic approximation for the considered solar investment has been launched.

Solar panels
Aerial view of solar panels on rooftop

Tagged “PV-Calculator”, the online tool is the brainchild of Let’s Make Solar Work, an initiative of SOLAR23, OneShore Energy, Solarmate Engineering and eclareon. It is co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development under the DeveloPPP programme.

Launched on the Let’s Make Solar Work website (www.letsmakesolarwork.com), the tool is meant to address the knowledge gap of solar power competitiveness. It is said to be handy, quickly generates numbered results and has demonstrated to be fully working after an initial one-month test period. Made by a team of German experts, the tool automatically calculates the LCOE, Payback, Equity IRR, Project IRR, NPV from just a few input data.

This, according to its promoters, allows potential buyers to gauge their planned solar system investment. Solar suppliers are able to prepare for customer/stakeholder meetings and to come into play with first concrete numbers. In this context, Let’s Make Solar Work has also published a Survey Report describing the energy situation specifically among mid-sized power consumers such as SMEs and social facilities: Demand-side requirements and planned power investments are analysed; recommendations on how to develop the solar market for SMEs and social facilities in Nigeria are presented and currently implemented.

“The obvious lack of reliable power is as hard-felt in this specific mid-sized power consumer category as in any other community, but here the power gap most immediately affects and hampers the economic success of Nigerians and Nigeria. Therefore, the question asked by Let’s make solar work partners is: Why not fill this power gap with solar PV systems, given that Solar Power can greatly contribute to make Nigerians and Nigeria more successful.

“Most mid-sized power consumers in Nigeria including small and medium sized companies (SMEs), public facilities, have one thing in common; they run their own diesel generators. Operation gets increasingly expensive as diesel prices rise. Also, surveys have shown that generators are often oversized and thus run inefficiently. This drives power costs further up,” says Dotun Tokun of Solarmate Engineering Ltd.

“In recent years, a silent revolution has been going on with solar power as it reached price parity with generator-based power production in a growing number of geographies. Using solar energy has become cheaper than running diesel generators, also in Nigeria. Many Nigerians are not yet fully aware of the specific new competitiveness of solar power, this is however very good news for many power consumers, especially mid-sized power consumers such as companies and social facilities,” notes Olivier Drücke, the project director of SOLAR23

Let’s Make Solar Work is a Nigerian-German solar initiative by solar companies teaming up to organise know-how and technology transfer from Germany to Nigeria. “Our partnership conveys this knowledge transfer through a series of seminars targeted at engineers and technicians who are already working in the solar business or have a professional energy background,” adds Drücke.

Reversing Africa’s cocoa paradox

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Reversing Africa’s cocoa paradox

Around the world, chocolate in all shapes and sizes symbolise Easter and bring joy to millions of kids and adults alike. And the demand for chocolate will most likely continue to increase, according to experts. There is huge opportunity for Africa, the largest producer of cocoa in the world, to rake in economic value that the global market offers.

Cocoa
Harvesting cocoa

Africa produces about 75 percent of the world’s cocoa. But the region faces a daunting paradox: though it accounts for a majority of the world’s cocoa production, Africa gets just 5 percent of the $100 billion annual chocolate market value.

Africa has been unable to extract a larger share of the global chocolate market value because it exports just raw cocoa beans. “Africa is stuck at the bottom of the cocoa value chain, dominated, instead of dominating, despite being the leading producer!” exclaims Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

In 2014, looking into the economics of the chocolate industry, CNN anchor Richard Quest visited Côte d’Ivoire. He made a startling revelation into this paradox: most cocoa farmers he talked to had never even tasted chocolate.

Adesina says: “African farmers sweat, while other eat sweets. While the price of cocoa has hit an all-time low, profits of global manufacturers of chocolate have hit an all-time high. It’s time to process Africa’s cocoa in Africa, and end Africa being at the bottom of global value chains.”

The AfDB is leading a call to action on Africa’s agro-industrialisation, which is key to transforming the cocoa value chain.

“Africa must not be locked at the bottom…it must rapidly add value to what it leads the world in producing”, says Mr. Adesina, adding that “it is time for Africa to move to the top of the global food value chains, through agro-industrialisation and adding value to all of what it produces”.

The AfDB says it has prioritised industrialisation in its High 5 agenda. This could create an opportunity for African countries to add value to their raw materials. It is this regard that the bank’s Annual Meetings for this year has the theme “Accelerating Africa’s Industrialisation”.

This year’s Easter celebration signals a further call to action for African cocoa producers to start producing chocolate to compete with countries like Belgium, Switzerland, U.S. and France. This will not only bring in money, but also afford opportunities for the many cocoa farmers who are yet to taste chocolate in their entire life, adds AfDB.

Partnership promotes ‘science we need for the cities we want’

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Partnership promotes ‘science we need for the cities we want’

In a joint statement, partners working on cities and climate change have laid down the foundations for better-informed city climate action and decision-making, as a result of greater engagement between the policy, practice, and scientific communities working in urban areas.

Diana Ürge-Vorsatz
Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Vice-Chair of IPCC Working Group III

The document, titled: “The Science We Need for the Cities We Want”, was signed at the recent CitiesIPCC conference hosted by the city of Edmonton, Canada, and brought together some of the world’s leading urban practitioners and researchers.

The Cities & Climate Change Science Conference was co-organised by UN-Habitat, UN Environment, Cities Alliance, C40, ICLEI, Future Earth, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the World Climate Research Programme, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and United Cities and Local Governments.

In the closing press conference, Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Vice-Chair of IPCC Working Group III and one of the co-chairs of the conference’s Scientific Steering Committee highlighted the momentum that substantial partnership engagement has awarded the CitiesIPCC initiative moving forward.

“The unprecedented engagement we have seen over the past three days at the highest levels of leadership from around the globe means that this meeting does not end with our departure from Edmonton. We now travel home with a new responsibility to create modalities of science that open the ivory towers of the academic establishment towards more engaged, accessible and actionable knowledge for cities,” said Ms Ürge-Vorsatz.

 

Better-informed climate decision-making

The partnership also outlines the importance of this research agenda in achieving our wider development goals.

“The milestone CitiesIPCC Cities and Climate Change Science Conference, held in Edmonton, Canada, March 5-7, created enhanced understanding of the impacts of climate change at the urban level, the range of possible responses, and the role of cities in the implementation of the Paris Agreement and other international global agendas,” reads the partnership agreement, endorsed by UN-Habitat and its partners.

“It has laid a foundation for better-informed climate decision-making at the local level as a result of greater engagement between the policy, practice, and scientific communities working on/in urban areas.”

“The main outcome of the Conference is the definition of a global research agenda on cities and climate change that advances climate change science and gives recognition and visibility to the knowledge generated by urban actors.”

In the next few decades the world will produce the same amount of urban space that we have built over the last 2000 years. According to UN-Habitat we will need a transformative approach to planning this space in order to ensure it has a positive impact on our ability to fight climate change.

 

A truly integrated approach

The fastest urbanisation is happening in the global south, not just in the big cities but mostly in secondary cities, in places with limited capacity and where access to livelihoods and basic services are the daily priority.

In one of the liveliest sessions of the conference, “Informal Settlements and Economies: Means for Transformative Climate Action”, Participants raised questions on incremental mainstreaming, rather than marginalising informal settlements; planning as an instrument of power, because of the implications of planning for various communities; and social mobilisation for confrontation and collaboration.

In addition, cities account for over 70 per cent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and are vulnerable hotspots for the impacts of climate change.

“There is no doubt, taking into account the scale, the complexity, the interconnectedness of the issues and the urgency that we collectively need to turn from inward looking actors to outworking looking actors, maximising the added value of what we offer to a truly integrated approach, connecting science, with policy and practice,” said Filiep Decorte, speaking at the conference.

UN-Habitat’s work in this field already explores the nexus between research and practice in this important field. At COP23, UN-Habitat launched Planners for Climate Action, an initiative that brings together associations of urban planning practitioners globally to coordinate and share best practice on climate change planning.

The Planning for Climate Change Guide, launched in 2014, already has over 40,000 downloads; testimony to the fact that planners are trying to absorb how they can plan better to reduce emissions and help guide people from building in harm’s way.

Climate chaos to continue in 2018, UN chief warns

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Climate chaos to continue in 2018, UN chief warns

UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has warned that climate chaos would continue in 2018, saying climate change is still moving much faster than human beings.

António Guterres
Secretary-General, António Guterres. Photo credit: UN /Mark Garten

The UN chief, therefore, called for the political will, innovation and financing to cut global emissions by at least 25 per cent over the next two years.

Guterres said: “Scientists are now worried that unless accelerated action is taken by 2020, the Paris goal may become unattainable.”

The Paris Agreement on climate change, adopted by world leaders in December 2015, aims to keep global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursues efforts to limit the temperature increase even further, to 1.5 degrees.

“I am beginning to wonder how many more alarm bells must go off before the world rises to the challenge,” Guterres said.

The UN scribe noted that 2017 had been filled with climate chaos and 2018 had already brought more of the same.

“Climate change is still moving much faster than we are,” he warned, calling the phenomenon the greatest threat facing humankind.

Recent information from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the World Bank and the International Energy Agency showed the relentless pace of climate change.

The UN chief said energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose 1.4 per cent, to a historic high of 32.5 gigatonnes in 2017.

Moreover, weather-related disasters caused some $320 billion in economic damage, making 2017 the costliest year ever for such losses.

In social as well as economic terms, the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was devastating, washing away decades of development in an instant.

In Africa, severe drought drove nearly 900,000 people from their homes while in South Asia, major monsoon floods affected 41 million people.

“Wildfires caused destruction across the world. Arctic sea ice cover in winter is at its lowest level, and the oceans are warmer and more acidic than at any time in recorded history.

“This tsunami of data should create a storm of concern,” Guterres said, announcing that he would convene a climate summit in New York in 2019 aimed at boosting global ambition to meet the level of the climate challenge.

“The Stone Age did not end because the world ran out of stones. It ended because there were better alternatives. The same applies today to fossil fuels,” he said.

The UN chief stressed the need for a further cut in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 25 per cent by 2020.

Guterres said his Special Envoy on climate change and former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, disclosed that the U.S. might meet the commitments made in Paris due to the positive reactions of the American business community and local authorities.

“All around the world, the role of governments is less and less relevant. The role of the economy, the role of the society is more and more relevant,” Guterres said.

By Prudence Arobani

NiMet prediction: Ogun may not experience severe flooding, says government

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NiMet prediction: Ogun may not experience severe flooding, says government

The Ogun State Government says the state may not experience severe flooding this year as revealed in the 2018 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) of the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet).

Bolaji-Oyeleye
Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Bolaji Oyeleye

Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Bolaji Oyeleye, in a statement in Abeokuta, the state capital, said that though most areas in the state might not witness serious flooding, as NiMet had forecasted a normal rainfall season for the state, however, flash floods could occur in flood-prone communities.

Oyeleye recalled that, irrespective of NiMet’s prediction of severe flooding, the state was generally flood-free all through the rainy season last year, saying this was as a result of the standard drainages that accompanied the road infrastructures constructed by the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration.

He said the Flood and Erosion Control Department of his ministry had, at the beginning of this year, embarked on the dredging of river/stream courses, as well as desilting of drainages in major towns, in preparation for the rainy season, to prevent flood disasters.

“The river and stream courses that have been dredged in the state capital so far include: Sokori stream course from Isale-Igbein to Ijeja, the drainage path of swampy areas within Lafenwa Market, Akingbade stream in Obantoko and Fatola Estate steam course at Camp.

“A dilapidated and submerged culvert linking Oke-odo to Abule Oloni in Abeokuta was also reconstructed. In addition, a river course in Owode Ketu area and another along Ilaro-Owode Road of Ogun West Senatorial District had also been dredged,’’ he said.

The Commissioner enjoined residents to play their part by clearing their drainages and road medians, cautioning motorists to drive carefully during the rainy season as, according to him, the period is characterised by strong winds capable of pulling down trees, thereby causing obstructions on the roads.

He added that temperatures may be warmer than normal, as the dry season peaks, advising residents to increase their water intake, while ensuring that they drink from clean and hygienic water sources.

NiMet predicts dust haze, cloudy weather for Saturday

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NiMet predicts dust haze, cloudy weather for Saturday

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted dust haze weather in the central states of the country on Saturday, 31 March 2018 with horizontal visibility of two to five kilometres and visibility of less than 1,000m in some places.

weather
cloudy weather

NiMet’s Weather Outlook by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Friday also predicted day and night temperatures in the range of 30 to 35 and 19 to 25 degrees Celsius respectively.

Southern states will experience partly cloudy to cloudy morning hours with day and night temperatures in the range of 32 to 34 and 23 to 24 degrees Celsius respectively.

According to the agency, there is prospect of localised thunderstorms over Umuahia, Owerri, Awka, Akure, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri, Calabar and Eket in the afternoon and evening hours.

Day and night temperatures of 31 to 37 and 23 to 27 degrees Celsius respectively will be experienced over the southern cities.

In the Northern States, a thick dust haze condition is expected with day and night temperatures of 30 to 37 and 20 to 24 degrees Celsius respectively.

“Thick dust haze conditions are expected over the Northern cities, dust haze conditions are envisaged over most parts of the central cities while chances of cloudiness and thunderstorms over few places in the southern cities are also expected within the next 24 hours,” NiMet said.

By Sumaila Ogbaje

German environmental group sues 11 more cities over air pollution

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German environmental group sues 11 more cities over air pollution

An environmental group in Germany says it is taking legal action against 11 more German cities for violating EU air pollution limits, bringing the total to 28.

Pollution
Vehicular traffic is a major source of air pollution in Germany

Compliance with the limits is only possible by rapidly implementing quickly effective measures, such as driving bans for dirty diesel vehicles, Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) said in a statement on Thursday, March 29, 2018.

A German federal court ruled in February that diesel-fuelled vehicles could be legally banned from certain roads or areas in the cities of Dusseldorf and Stuttgart, in order to combat air pollution.

The 11 cities named by the DUH on Thursday are Dortmund, Bochum, Dueren and Paderborn in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the central city of Offenbach, and Heilbronn, Ludwigsburg, Backnang, Esslingen, Marbach and Reutlingen in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Air pollution has become a growing problem in German cities, with much of the focus on nitrogen oxides, which could cause a variety of health problems affecting breathing and the circulatory system.

Vehicular traffic is responsible for 60 per cent of this pollution and diesel cars, which are popular in Germany, are a major portion of that.

Upper limits on the amount of such gases allowed in the atmosphere have been in place since 2010, but not universally enforced, despite lobbying efforts by environmental groups and actions by cities like Dusseldorf and Stuttgart.

Mosquito-borne diseases: US approves field trial for GM mosquitoes

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Mosquito-borne diseases: US approves field trial for GM mosquitoes

Despite inherent concerns, genetically modified mosquitoes (GMMs) will be released in the USA for the first time in 2018. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a field trial (Phase 3) for a GMM strain of Ae. aegypti (Aedes aegypti) (OX513A) developed by Oxitec Limited to be released in Key Haven, Florida.

Aedes aegypti
A genetically modified strain of Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, is to be released on field trial in the USA in 2018

This disclosure was made in a recently published paper titled: “Transgenic Mosquitoes – Fact or Fiction?” and authored by André B.B. Wilke, John C. Beier, and Giovanni Benelli.

The Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses, and other disease agents.

Technologies for controlling mosquito vectors based on genetic manipulation and the release of GMMs are reportedly gaining ground. But, according to the study, concrete epidemiological evidence of their effectiveness, sustainability, and impact on the environment and non-target species is lacking.

The writers contend that there is no reliable ecological evidence on the potential interactions among GMMs, target populations, and other mosquito species populations exists, adding that no GMM technology has yet been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Vector Control Advisory Group. Strategies based on the release of GMMs are however currently being tested and evaluated by the Vector Control Advisory Group.

“Our opinion is that, although GMMs may be considered a promising control tool, more studies are needed to assess their true effectiveness, risks, and benefits. Overall, several lines of evidence must be provided before GMM-based control strategies can be used under the integrated vector management framework,” states the authors.

GMMs is said to be one of the emerging technologies for fighting mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs), which are among the most important infectious diseases that afflict humans, livestock, pets, and wildlife worldwide.

Taken together, dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), yellow fever virus (YFV), chikungunya virus (CHKYV), West Nile virus (WNV), and malaria are responsible for endangering more than three billion people living in endemic areas, causing millions of deaths every year, countless long-term disabilities and sequelae, and costing billions of dollars annually in medical care and lost man-hours due to impairment of neurological and cognitive function.

Malaria and WNV are transmitted by several mosquito species with regional variation in their epidemiological importance, resulting in complex multispecies scenarios. Approximately 40 mosquito species of the genus Anopheles are capable of transmitting malaria to humans, and WNV has been detected in approximately 60 species from the genera Aedes and Culex.

Prospects for preventing (re)emerging MBDs indicate the difficulty in anticipating and controlling the spread of diseases. Between 2015 and 2016, ZIKV reached more than 60 countries, infecting more than 700,000 people. This epidemic highlighted the lack of tools available to effectively control mosquito populations and prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases. As a result, such diseases are a major issue for developed countries and are out of control in many developing countries that have undergone rapid unplanned urbanisation and lack the means to install proper mosquito surveillance and control strategies.

To date, MBD control has mostly relied on the use of insecticides to suppress mosquito populations. However, this strategy is losing effectiveness in several key species. Ae. aegypti is said to be rapidly developing resistance to common insecticides such as pyrethroids and organophosphates. A similar scenario can be found for Cx. quinquefasciatus, Anopheles funestus Giles, and An. gambiae. Moreover, the application of larvicides on potential breeding sites to control immature mosquitoes has also resulted in the development of resistance.

Considering the above scenario and the decrease in effectiveness of current mosquito-control strategies, as demonstrated by the recurrent outbreaks of MBDs, new technologies to control mosquito populations are being developed and tested in the field. One of such is the development of GMMs.

According to the study, the advent of functional and stable germ-line strains of GMMs has made available several new perspectives for controlling mosquito vector populations. Essentially, two strategies are available and they include:

  • Population replacement – self-sustaining, involves the release of transgenic mosquitoes refractory to a given pathogen to replace the wild population, thus disrupting the cycle of transmission; and
  • Population suppression – self-limiting, involves the release of mosquitoes carrying a lethal gene, impairing offspring production in a targeted mosquito population.

World Health Day: World leaders urged to fulfill SDGs pledges

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World Health Day: World leaders urged to fulfill SDGs pledges

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged world leaders to live up to the pledges made toward advancing health for all while signing agreement on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Photo credit: AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI / Getty Images

The organisation made the call in a statement ahead of the 70th anniversary of “World Health Day’’ scheduled for April 7, 2018.

WHO said this meant leaders needed to ensure that everyone, everywhere could access essential quality health services without facing financial hardship.

It also urged world leaders to commit to concrete steps to advance health for all as half of the world’s population still did not have full coverage of essential health services.

According to the organisation, more than 100 million people across the globe are still being pushed into “extreme poverty’’ because they have to pay for health care.

It noted that over 800 million people, about 12 per cent of the world’s population, spent at least 10 per cent of their household budget on health care.

The world body stated that UN member states had agreed to achieve universal health coverage by 2030 as part of the SDGs.

It added that “protecting people from financial consequences of paying for health services out of their own pockets reduces the risk of people being pushed into poverty.

“This is because unexpected illness will require people to use up their life savings, sell assets or borrow, thereby destroying their future and often that of their children.

“Achieving universal health coverage is one of the targets the nations of the world set when adopting the SDGs in 2015.

“Good health allows children to learn and adults to earn, helps people to escape from poverty and provides the basis for long-term economic development.”

The theme for 2018 World Health Day 2018 is “Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere.”

By Yashim Katurak

Ahead rainy season, Akwa Ibom begins flood control intervention

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Ahead rainy season, Akwa Ibom begins flood control intervention

The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources, Dr Iniobong Essien, has said that government has embarked on various flood control intervention in the state since January.

Iniobong Ene Essien
Dr. Iniobong Ene Essien, Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources

Essien stated this on Thursday, March 29, 2018 at Ikot Oku Ikono Junction in Uyo, the state capital, during the monitoring of the ministry’s flood intervention programme.

He said the exercise was aimed at ensuring that the impact of the flood in the state was minimal.

He listed Akpan Andem Market, Ewet Housing, Unity Park and Udo Udoma Avenue as flood prone areas, adding that the flooding was due to blocked drains.

“A lot of these areas are flood prone and we have discovered overtime that the drains have been silted and what we are getting is a backlog of water.

“Once there is an interruption in the continuous flow of water, it leads to flooding.

“We are trying to ensure that we reduce flooding to the minimum, particularly with the prediction from NIMET recently that the intensity of the rains this year will be more.

“So, we are preparing for the rains.”

The commissioner stressed the importance of free-flowing drain and expressed the hope that the impact of the rains this year would be minimal in the state.

He advised residents of the state to desist from the unwholesome practice of dumping refuse into drainage systems.

He noted that what were de-silted from the blocked drains were predominantly leftover food, domestic waste, metals, sachet nylon and bottles.

Essien urged the residents to add value to what the government was doing by indulging in positive activities that would lead to cleaner environment and enhance the beautiful ambience of the state.

By Sunday Bassey

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