GULU: Citing media practitioners as key actors in promoting the use of sustainable and inclusive markets for appropriate energy-efficient products and services for households, businesses, and institutions in Uganda, SNV Uganda a not-for-profit international development organization working in the agri-food, energy, and water sectors rolled out a media training in Gulu city.
The two-day media training held at Acholi Inn on May 24 and 25 comes after a similar training that was held in Fortportal in March 2023 as part of the four-year IMEU project.
Spearheading the training, Jacob Etunganan an Energy Efficiency Expert revealed that the project will develop sustainable, inclusive markets for appropriate energy-efficient products and services to conserve the environment and enhance the livelihoods of the people in Uganda and increase the resilience and competitiveness of businesses.
“Save energy, save money, shift to renewable energy resources, and save the planet”, he said, noting that when one saves energy, for example, by using low voltage light bulbs, switching off the light during the day, and using efficient cookstoves, he/she saves money and this saved money is later used to purchase energy-efficient resources like solar systems, efficient electric cooking appliances like pressure cookers and gas cylinders.
He also noted that saving energy, in the long run, helps to conserve the environment since after saving money through the use of efficient products, people later substitute cooking energy resources like charcoal and firewood for efficient electric cooking appliances, solar cooking stoves, ethanol cookstoves, and efficient biogas stoves.
In return energy efficiency not only transforms livelihoods economically by increasing savings and personal incomes, but it also conserves the environment by preventing deforestation, hence leading to an increase in vegetation cover as per the COP 2023 climate change mission of cutting down carbon emissions around the globe.
Elaborating on how to best save energy, Etunganan explained possible actions that can be taken to maximize energy efficiency in businesses and households.
First and foremost, he also advocated for the adoption of occupancy sensors and photocells
to control lights, use translucent sheets on the roof for maximizing daylight, use turbo-ventilators for extracting exhaust air, use energy-efficient motors, leverage on time of use tariff reduction, use energy efficient compressor and use it efficiently, ensure regular maintenance of machines and equipment, and lastly, use dry and billeted wood for biomass boilers.
In conclusion, Etunganan said, “To save energy, save money, save the environment, and create jobs through energy efficiency, there is a strong need to raise awareness to attain behavioral change both in mindset and attitude”.