| dc.description.abstract | Uganda is currently experiencing an energy crisis. This has forced many people to rely on relatively cheaper and available sources of energy, derived largely from natural forest biomass in form of firewood and charcoal for heating and cooking and paraffin for lighting and cooking. A few wealthy individuals mainly in urban settings use thermal power from fossil fuels like petrol, diesel and electricity. These are generally expensive and may not be sustainable in the long run.
The growing demand for energy has in the recent past led to increase in tree-felling for processing firewood and charcoal. The associated processes like long-distance transportation of firewood and charcoal also impacts on fossil fuel use and other greenhouse gas generating processes which in turn contribute to climate change and its negative effects. Various countries in Africa which are well endowed with renewable energy sources have tended to remain energy-poor due to lack of awareness and lack of energy-efficient technologies needed to utilize those energy sources such as solar power and biogas.
Energy-poverty in Uganda is therefore of great concern where over 90% of the population has no access to clean and safe cooking fuel, relying mainly on traditional biomass and unsustainable wood supplies, crop residues and cow dung (UNATCOM, 2010). As the firewood and charcoal are used in unsustainable ways, they contribute to deforestation and hence greenhouse
gas emissions. Directly they subject the users to the risks of respiratory diseases from the smoke emitted from inefficient biomass use. It is therefore important that our educational institutions impart the necessary knowledge and skills in energy usage that can assure the country of a future green economy with ecologically- conscious generation.
In terms of educational institutions, the number of Government primary schools was reported in 2009 to stand at 12,035 with a total enrolment of 8.2 million students. Secondary education is provided through a network of schools totaling 3,020 with a total enrolment of 1.1 million in 2009 (MOES, 2009). There are reported to be some 700 Business, Technical, Vocational Education and Training (BTVET) with an enrolment of 30,009 students (National Planning Authority, 2010). These statistics show that educational institutions could be a very significant contributor to environmental degradation and climate change impacts through their consumption of biomass energy particularly in rural areas where access to modern energy services is very limited. Access to electricity is extremely limited: it has been estimated that only 4.6% of primary schools and 27% of secondary schools have access to electricity (WWF, 2010). However, there are many rural schools with power cables overhead and hence with access, that are not connected mainly for electricity affordability reasons. | en_US |
