Ghana, UNIDO sign €1.28m biogas technology agreement
The United Nations Industrial and Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Monday signed €1.28 million agreement aim to encourage biogas technology and business for sustainable growth.
The project to be implemented by Ghanaian experts and their Korean counterparts would support the transfer of industrial-scale biogas technology between the two countries.
It will also involve piloting industrial-scale biogas plant and business and enterprise development support to biogas companies, conducting collaborative targeted research on industrial scale biogas and raise awareness and policy recommendation for biogas industry development.
Dr Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General UNIDO said, the biogas project would strengthen technical and business skills of biogas companies to ensure that they approach biogas technology as a business and provide technical support to biogas systems in the country in the long-term.
He said industrial-scale biogas technology development in Ghana would present a lot of opportunities and help industries that currently dumped bio-waste bodies to comply with environmental laws and in the process produce heat and power to enhance their operations and productivity.
Ms Hannah Tetteh Minister of Trade and Industry said the agreement would promote the transfer of industrial-scale biogas technology project in the country.
She said the project would help stem the excessive dependence on wood fuels, mainly for domestic use, causing deforestation.
Ms Tetteh said the management of waste has become a major challenge “and this waste to energy technology seeks to address the significant amount of both liquid and solid wastes generated in the country”.
She stressed that the project would provide a sustainable avenue for the treatment and disposal of liquid and solid wastes.
Ms Tetteh said the industrial-Scale biogas development presents opportunities that include increasing access to energy, productivity in local industries, reduced risk of disease related to waste water and emissions of dangerous chemicals.
In a related development UNIDO also presented a report of a study it had undertaken to map and measure Ghana’s National System of Innovation to Ms Tetteh.
A National System of Innovation represents the strength and quality of the systematically organised interactions and linkages between Government, Knowledge-based institutions, industry and financial arbitrageurs.
Source: GNA