Going the clean energy way will boost health and safety

A fishmonger uses biogas made from hyacinth to cook fish at the shores of Lake Victoria in Kisumu on February 2, 2019. Bio gas is eco-friendly. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The life cycle of fossil fuel production pollutes the environment and exacts a toll on population health and the economic stability of an entire nation.
  • Strong commitments to tackling climate change through legislation and support for innovation is a great opportunity to tackle public health concerns.

For years, the effects of burning solid fuels indoors have been associated with the poor in developing countries.

In Africa, the rural poor who use wood, charcoal, and other solid fuels to cook are most likely to suffer adverse effects of carbon emission not just because they use biomass fuels but also because, being agrarian, global warming will hit their economic activities the most.

To consistently ignore the forces of nature and the role we must play is no longer tenable.

Exploitation and use of unclean energy come with costs to our health.

Such energy materials contain harmful chemical substances such as methane and carbon which when released into the air, water, or soil, can adversely affect human health and environmental quality.

From mining through transport and combustion to waste disposal, the life cycle of fossil fuel production pollutes the environment and exacts a toll on population health and the economic stability of an entire nation.

POLLUTANTS

Take the example of smog which hangs over Nairobi every morning as tangible proof of the toxicity of our economic activities. Our buildings also take a powerful tint from these emissions.

The combustion of fossil fuels releases both primary and secondary air pollutants, with the former being released directly at source thereby affecting health locally.

While secondary pollutants are formed through reactions of primary pollutants in the atmosphere, they possibly have wider health impacts on a regional scale.

Coal, another source of energy classified as unclean, is unfortunately the world’s largest source of electricity at 37 per cent according to the World Coal Association.

Coal, throughout its life cycle, contaminates water sources and uses more water than any other energy source — further compounding the challenge.

NUCLEAR ENERGY

Unconventional oil and gas exploration pose public health risks associated with air and water pollution.

On its part, nuclear energy production leads to radioactive and chemical emissions and waste streams which contaminate water and food chains.

Moreover, nuclear power plant accidents — although rare — when they happen, they result in intense radiation exposure leading to potentially severe physical and mental health effects.

Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar need precautionary measures regarding noise pollution and waste disposal.

Because they have much lower health effects as compared to fossil-based fuel sources, it would be encouraging to see this architecture taking shape across the country from Ngong to the shores of Lake Turkana and the deserts of Garissa where they are now harvesting wind.

There are millions of workers involved in energy systems performing construction, extraction, processing, transportation and waste disposal work.

INJURIES

Most of these people, especially from low- and middle-income countries, are exposed to physically challenging work conditions that put them at risk of injuries, lung disease, cancer, poisoning, hearing loss, heat stroke and other traditional effects.

Although the health burden of fossil fuels is larger in aggregate for the public as a whole, workers in the coal, oil, gas, and nuclear industry generally suffer greater health risks.

It would be a tragedy to escalate these challenges onto our communities.

The gains made globally in development and health over the last 50 years are threatened by the destabilisation of the earth’s climate occasioned by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere.

Majority of these gases - carbon dioxide, methane and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - come from the burning of fossil fuels.

Heatwaves, floods, droughts and storms are just some of the direct pathways through which climate change threatens human health.

INNOVATION

Strong commitments to tackling climate change through legislation and support for innovation is a great opportunity to tackle public health concerns.

This is where innovations and incubations with home-grown solutions come in.

Such incubations have also catalysed innovations in solar and wind energy thereby reducing overreliance on unclean energy sources, hence ensuring a reduction in the cost of health.

It will take concerted curves and arches to save our lives. Individual energy users must make conscious decisions to use clean energy stoves or travel in carbon efficient footprints like in carpooling or using solar powered bicycles or cars.

But this is not possible without supportive, robust government policies and private sector strategic involvement to make our health and safety a sustainable reality.

The writer is the Corporate Services Director at Kenya Climate Innovation Center; [email protected]