Accra, March 24, GNA – Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, the Minister for Energy and Green Transition has said Cabinet has approved the construction of a second gas processing plant to process indigenous gas.
He said that the completion of the plant would increase domestic consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to about 80 per cent.
“We are not just looking at the LPG, but also looking at the infrastructure,” Mr Jinapor, said this at the opening of a first of two-day consultative workshop on the National Clean Cooking Policy (NCCP) to solicit inputs and comments on the draft NCCP and the Clean Cooking Strategy in Accra.
The NCCP seeks to harmonise existing policies on clean cooking, fill in the gaps and put together a comprehensive policy specifically focused on promoting a coordinated clean cooking along the value chain in the country.
The process, funded by the World Bank and spearheaded by the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition is seeking to promote the widespread adoption of four key clean cooking technologies fueled by improved biomass, LPG, ethanol and electric cookstoves.
Mr Jinapor said the government was putting in place plans to retool the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing company to be able to produce cylinders and refurbish them and that would create jobs.
He said the country was faced with a significant energy challenge in household cooking and that six out of ten Ghanaians used solid fuels like charcoal and firewood for cooking.
Mr Jinapor noted the reliance on wood fuel had fuelled deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating climate change and threatening biodiversity.
“The time spent collecting firewood and other fuel sources leads to significant productivity losses, with women and children bearing the greatest burden of inefficient cooking methods,” he added.
Mr Godwin Kudzo Tameklo, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in a speech delivered on his behalf said the Authority planned to expand the cylinder distribution model, an LPG last mile approach to serve the public.
“In 2025, we are going to re-look at our strategy to expand on education campaigns more and more, and also more importantly, try and get a lot more cylinder exchange points out there,” he said.
“It is projected that unclean cooking methods claim about 17,000 lives annually, including 2,000 children.”
Mrs Eunice A. Biritwum, the Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission hinted that the commission would commence the enforcement of the improved biomass cookstoves regulation. The regulation, she said, sought to monitor the manufacturing, importers, distribution, and sale of improved biomass cookstoves.
The objective of the L.I 2454 was to promote the efficient use of biomass resources and mitigate the impact of climate change by providing for the enforcement of minimum performance standards for improved biomass cookstoves, labeling and registration of improved biomass cookstoves.
GNA
LAA