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Pitch

The project looks at the various districts in Accra producing their own electricity by collecting biogas from households in the districts.


Description

Summary

The district assemblies of Ghana are a local/decentralized governing unit of the central government of Ghana and according to the 1992 constitution of Ghana Article 241(3); the District Assembly shall be the highest political authority in the district, and shall have deliberative, legislative and executive powers. This shows the enormous responsibility the district assemblies shoulder. Although various district assemblies are embarking on very creative ways of sustaining and developing their districts from their little funds, the task of generating electricity has been overlooked by the districts in their quest for development. This is because power generation headache has been left for the central government only, with district assemblies not seeing how they can contribute to the supply of power within their capacities.

The project therefore wants to create a system where the various district assemblies in Accra can generate their own electricity to make up for the deficit created by the excess demand. This will be done by converting ordinary septic tanks of households into biogas farms and collect it for the production of electricity. The project looks at laying pipes to collect septic waste from households to a central collection point and also the project will contact private firms who extract waste from household septic tanks to bring their waste to the biogas plants instead of going to pay a fee before dumping. Collected biogas will then be transported to the biogas engine located within the district for the generation of electricity. This generated electricity will then be sold to the Electricity Company of Ghana and distributed to the households in the district.

 


What actions do you propose?

The project wants to create a system where the various district assemblies in Accra can generate their own electricity to make up for the deficit created by the excess demand by collecting septic waste from households and chanelling it into biogas digesters to be used for the production of electricity.  Households will be educated before sewer systems are implemented, thus the connection of household septic tanks into a central collection system located away from households in the district.

This project can be done in two ways:

The district will then agree with the Electricity Company of Ghana to buy the electricity generated from the district biogas engine and distribute to the households in the district. This way the district will generate income to cover the cost of the project and have some to run other developmental projects, whiles at the same time producing electricity for the households in the district. 

Before the project team meets with the district assemblies, universities like the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science & Technology and research institutes like the Centre for Energy, Environment, and Sustainable Development,  the Africa Centre for Energy Policy and other prominent institutions will be consulted with this proposal to gain advice on its feasibility and modification if possible in order to make it work.


Who will take these actions?

This project will be championed by the District Assemblies in Accra and households.

The Ghana for Climate Change (G4CC) crew will organize seminars, workshops, trainings and policy round-table meetings. To bridge the knowledge gap and create a platform for the various stakeholders to meet and make the project to work.


Where will these actions be taken?

The project will be initiated in a small town called 'New Site' in the Adentan District of Accra.


How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?

From a study conducted by Diaz-Valbuena LR et al, (2011) 0.0271 kg CH4 /capita/day is produced from an average septic tank. There are over 800,000 households in Accra (Ghana.gov.gh, 2010), this implies that in a year (365 days) the average CH4 emissions will be; 0.0271 kg * 800,000 * 365 = 7,913,200 kg CH4/yr. 7,913,200 kg CH4/yr = 61772e5 mtCO2e with Accra only. The medium term will see this figure increase since other regions will be included.


What are other key benefits?

Apart from the generation of electricity, the District Level Electricity Production project will:

  1. Reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
  2. Create jobs for the youth and unemployed in the district.
  3. Improve air quality in the district.
  4. Generate income for the district to undertake other developmental projects.


What are the proposal’s costs?

The project team will need an estimate of $10,000 to organize meetings and consultations with stakeholders to make the project presentations and see to its initiation.


Time line

Short Term:

The project team seeks to partner with the local government to see the project take off in key municipal and district assemblies in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

Medium Term:

The project will continue to meet other municipal and district assemblies in other regions of the country.

Long Term:

The project team will seek to extend its experience to other developing countries with electricity supply challenges.


Related proposals

Generation of Biogas energy from animal waste for use in rural areas, this proposal looks at generation of electricity but it concentrates on generation for rural areas and from animal waste.

Using Biogas Technology To Improve Sanitation And Mitigate Climate Change, this proposal looks at generating biogas from schools and prisons in Kenya.

 


References

Diaz-Valbuena LR, Leverenz HL, Cappa CD, Tchobanoglous G, Horwath WR, Darby JL. (2011). Methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide emissions from septic tank systems. Environ Sci Technology. 2011 Apr 1;45(7):2741-7. doi: 10.1021/es1036095. Epub 2011 Mar 7.

Ghana.gov.gh, (2010). Government of Ghana: Greater Accra, Retrieved  May 28, 2015, fromhttp://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/about-ghana/regions/greater-accra