A German organisation, Agora Energewide, has called for the use of electric vehicles in an effort to address the adverse effects of climate change globally.
The project manager of the organisation, Mr. Philip Litz, made the call during his presentation on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at the Africa Taz foundation workshop, via zoom, from Berlin, Germany.
In his paper, titled “How Germany Could Reach Neutrality by 2045”, Litz said that for Germany and other countries to achieve the feat, gasoline should be replaced with electricity as energy, to reduce harmful emissions from vehicles.
He explained that the transport sector constitutes 20 per cent of Germany’s emission, while the power plant and the industry sector constitute 30 per cent and 24 per cent respectively, saying it required government policies, technology and behavioral change to achieve the target.
He said that the feasibility of adopting the alternative energy for vehicles is capital intensive which required huge financial commitment by African governments and partnership with private organisations, suggesting that African countries should benefit from such collaborations to ensure its sustainability.
Litz added that more efficient use and reduction in energy consumption and increase in use of renewables, driven by wind and solar, would also address global issues of climate change, saying: “They are basically the same strategies for also other countries in the world, they need to decrease their emission and decrease their energy consumption.”
The African workshop is organised by Taz Panter Foundation with support from the German Foreign office, with participants from 15 African countries of Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The workshop, the with theme “Access: Connecting in Times of Pandemic”, started on April 28, 2021, and will run through February 2022. It is aimed at strengthening collaborations among African journalists.
By Martha Agas
