In the midst of the global call for countries to transition to renewable energy sources, Ghana has been cautioned to be meticulous in its transition process.
As part of efforts to turn the tides of climate change and minimize the pollution of the earth, world organizations are pushing for countries to transition to more cleaner and renewable energy sources. This worldwide campaign is affecting investments in hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons is the chemical composition of crude oil. Crude oil is therefore a mixture of hydrogens and carbons from which we obtain fuels like petrol, diesel, and others after refining.
Mark Agyemang, a Technical Manager at the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) believes that the clarion call for a transition is inimical to Ghana and other Africa and Middle East countries who have large deposits of hydrocarbons.
He argues that such countries including Ghana must benefit from these natural resources to support their socio-economic development.
In an interview with The High Street Journal, the Technical Manager emphasized that Ghana must not rush in the implementation of the energy transition process but must find sustainable means to exploit the hydrocarbons to our advantage.
“Africa and the Middle East still have huge deposits of Hydrocarbons. Therefore no Middle East and African country is going to be in a rush to transition. You will have to rather sustainably develop your hydrocarbons while also implementing the transition strategy. That is what we have to do. We need to get GNPC strengthened. We need to capitalize GNPC for them to lead the process by getting partners from the Middle East and Africa to exploit the resources that we have,” he explained.
He believes that the country is endowed with must not be allowed to become “stranded assets” where it is of no use to the state stressing on sustainable ways of exploiting them.
He argues that currently, the much-touted renewable sources of energy have not answered certain energy security and economic development questions. He maintains that hydrocarbons is the cheapest form of energy and the most reliable to power Ghana’s industrialization agenda.
“As we speak, the cheapest form of energy is hydrocarbons, not renewables. Renewables are very expensive. These renewables have not even checked box a lot of questions. They have not answered certain energy security questions. Can we rely on renewables for transportation? Can we fully rely on renewables for manufacturing? Can we fully rely on renewables for electricity generation as a country? Can we fully rely on it for industrialization?” he quizzed.
He is therefore admonishing Ghana to implement the transition in a manner that supports our economic goals. Mr. Agyemang further calls on the country to draw lessons from countries like Russia, India, China, and other South American countries that have made it known that they can’t be rushed to transition while they have large deposits of untapped resources.
“We should not rush the energy transition. We should look at our economic and development circumstances and pursue the transition in line with our development and economic priorities,” he argued.
