Africa underachieving in development of 'green' energy economy

Post date: Mar 13, 2010 11:24:03 AM

UNEP report Africa Renewables

Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world in developing renewable energy projects with initiatives

aimed at producing clean and 'green' energy remaining largely under-exploited, warned a new report

released today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Methane gas from landfills to electricity

A UNEP assessment noted that the entire continent has just over 120 carbon market projects up and

running or in the pipeline in areas ranging from wind power to forestry schemes, and harvesting

methane gas from landfills to fuel electricity generation makes up 20 per cent of all such initiatives.

Larger economies in Africa such as Egypt and South Africa are home to the lion's share of the schemes,

with 32 and 13 projects respectively, while Zambia, Madagascar, Cameroon and Mali only have one or

two projects each and several countries have none, according to the report.