The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry have signed a €1.28 million agreement to promote the transfer of industrial-scale biogas technology.
The project will involve piloting industrial-scale biogas plants, providing business and enterprise development support to biogas companies, conducting collaborative targetted research on industrial-scale biogas, and raising awareness and recommending policies for biogas industry development.
Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General of UNIDO, at the signing of the agreement in Accra said: “The main objective of the project that we have launched is to provide a solid and technically sound framework for a broader and accelerated drive to promote biogas technologies in Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a whole.”
He said the project will use the experience and technologies of the Republic of Korea, which will also fund it for the next three years.
It will also be implemented in close coordination with the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), with a view to developing a regional programme on biogas technologies with Ghana acting as a centre of excellence in the region.
“This project will transfer knowledge on biogas technology from the Republic of Korea to Ghana. It is up to Ghana to receive, adapt, and utilise this knowledge to the benefit of the country. UNIDO stands ready to support this project and to mobilise other partners in the expansion and replication of the project in Ghana and the whole of the ECOWAS region," he said.
Industrial-scale biogas technology development in Ghana, according to him, will present a lot of opportunities and help industries that currently dump bio-waste into water-bodies to comply with environmental laws, and in the process produce heat and power to enhance their operations and productivity.
He added that the success of biogas technology hinges on the establishment of mutually beneficial and stronger partnerships between market players and market enablers.
In particular, he said, policymakers should support the dissemination of biogas technologies by creating an enabling environment for private sector investment.
On the other hand, the private sector, both local and international, should take advantage of such initiatives to invest in Africa so that the continent can meet its sustainable development objectives, he said.
Ms Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry, said the agreement will help stem the excessive dependence on wood-fuels which causes deforestation.
“The management of waste has become a major challenge, and this waste to energy technology seeks to address the significant amount of both liquid and solid waste generated in the country. The project will provide a sustainable avenue for the treatment and disposal of liquid and solid waste.”
She said biogas development presents opportunities such as increasing access to energy, raising productivity in local industries, reducing the risk of diseases related to waste water, and limiting emissions of dangerous chemicals.
UNIDO also presented to the Minister a report from a study it undertook to map and measure Ghana’s “National System of Innovation”.
The National System of Innovation measures the strength and quality of the systematically organised interactions and linkages between the government, knowledge-based institutions, industry, and financial arbitrageurs.
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