By Abdul Tejan-Cole
Freetown — Black carbon – emitted by gas and diesel engines and released through the burning of wood, peat, charcoal, and other solid fuels – is the second most significant contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. For most Africans who lack access to affordable sources of power, burning charcoal and wood remains their sole source of energy.
However, as these fires burn across the continent, black carbon and smoke do more than accelerate climate change; they are also a source of serious health problems and a cause of ongoing forest destruction. Fortunately, recent progress suggests that it is possible to provide alternative sources of energy to those in need and, in so doing, address human health, climate change, and deforestation all at the same time.
Africa has the highest per capita wood fuel consumption in the world. It is estimated that across Africa, more than 80 percent of people use some form of wood fuel as their primary source of domestic energy; more than 80 percent of households in urban areas use charcoal, while firewood is used primarily in rural areas. All together, wood fuel consumption in Africa is likely to in billions of cubic meters each year.
All that wood going up in smoke has a real climate impact. It is estimated that cooking using solid fuels like wood and charcoal in Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounts for some 6 percent of global black carbon emissions. In addition, up to 34 percent of wood fuel in Sub-Saharan Africa is harvested unsustainably, contributing to widespread deforestation and land degradation.
According to World Bank data in 2017, only 23.4 percent of the population in Sierra Leone had electricity, while over 90 percent rely on charcoal and firewood for cooking. In fact, access to electricity is low across West Africa, including Guinea (35.4 percent), Liberia (21.4 percent), and Cote d’Ivoire (65.6 percent). According to Kandeh Yumkella, the former Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, if current trends hold, Africans will still be using such fuels to cook in 2050. Read more…
