Jatropha - Least Appreciated Wonder Crop in UgandaPosted by Duus Mcguire on March 12th, 2021 Jatropha - Least Appreciated Wonder Crop in Uganda This world famous oil plant is a well known in Uganda. Its local name is Ekiroowa. It is used mainly as a support for vanilla plant or as a hedge and fencing material for animals. It is well known that its seed can produce oil. However very little is known as to what use its oil can be put to. Few people know that if you light the seed it will burn properly with a smokeless flame. And that the seed is poisonous if eaten. The sap of the plant is known to cure wounds. Since people have no use at all beyond the above not commercial uses, if it is used as a vanilla support of fence, it is pruned regularly and not allowed to generate a lot of leaves and the seeds, if they come are completely ignored. Vanilla at one time was a very important cash crop generating Ug sh 150,000 ()per kg. but the price dropped drastically to Ug. Sh. 2,000 (per kg. This caused people to get fed up and start uprooting the vanilla and its associated Jatropha support. Its ironical, farmers are cursing the resilience of the plant that it is difficult to destroy as it will germinate almost anywhere. Renewable Energy Power Station In developing countries like Uganda, more than 95% of the people in rural areas do not have access to electricity or any form of modern energy source. The 5% in urban areas who have electricity are faced with constant load shedding and black outs because of insufficient power supply by the national grid. The country's growing energy demand far outstrips the projected generation capacity by the national grid. Installing of Combined Heat and Renewable Energy Power System based on pure plant biofuel in the range of 30 to 180kW would solve the rural electrification problem. This would generate power to be distributed to the village households through prepaid meters. Farmers of the area would then be stimulated by the created market to grow various oil plants as cash crops. A similar power systems can be installed in smaller buildings, such as; hotels, schools; colleges; office blocks and retail premises to greatly reduce the current load shedding problem faced in the electrified areas, and the owner of such system can even sell power back to the national grid. This would go a long way to solving power problems faced by developing countries. Some engineering workshops should set up facility to convert fossil fuel diesel vehicles to run on pure plant oil so as to create more markets for the locally grown plant oil and reduce countries dependency on imported fossil fuels. Modern power of the future New power generation, monitoring and control technologies based on distributed rather than centralized power generation is the key to developing countries power of the future. By generating renewable energy on a grid technology, we should enjoy common facility such as, putting the surplus power to other uses. Like pumping water. Heating water, Running cottage industries, and use in recreational and educational activities. This is better that power from solar systems or isolated solar home systems (SHS). Solar energy is mostly suited to light loads. Also theft of delicate parts like solar panels is a big problem and a major deterrent to solar installations in developing countries. Biofuel not biodiesel We should point out that we are advocating the use of biofuel not biodiesel, a product offered as an alternative fuel for vehicles. Biodiesel manufacture often uses waste veg oil or fresh vegetable oil as a feedstock but this goes through a complex esterification process, which involves the use of toxic reagents and chemical catalysts. In our opinion it does not make a particularly 'green' fuel. Demonstration facility We have 2 acres by the shores of Lake Victoria; Busaabala Kigo as a demonstration and training renewable energy centre all planted with jatropha. The facility will demonstrate recovery of renewable energy from various sources like wind, solar, bio etc. We intend to install an oil mill and a diesel gen-set converted to pure plant oil to generate renewable energy power for local use. The property owners contribution to Global warming There is now little dispute amongst experts that our climate is changing and that this is due to the activities of humankind since the industrial revolution. As a property owner or occupier it hardly matters whether you agree with this statement or not. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) In all developed countries It is now mandatory for organisations to reduce their carbon footprint and these will get a positive rating if they make an effort to reduce CO2 emissions and a good response from their customers. Display Energy Certificates (DECs) and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) Display Energy Certificates (DECs) are required to be properly displayed by such organizations to show the actual energy usage of a building, the Operational Rating, and help the public see the energy efficiency of a building. This is based on the energy consumption of the building as recorded by gas, electricity and other meters. Similarly, Energy Performance Certificates are required on all public buildings of any size and all commercial properties whenever the building is sold, built or rented. These certificates provide a rating for the building; a numerical indicator of the actual annual carbon dioxide emissions from the building and a scale from A to G, where A is the lowest (best) and G is the highest (worst). A Renewable Energy Power Station give a building a better rating. The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) The CRC will be a mandatory emissions trading scheme, targeting emissions from large non-energy intensive organisations; estimated to cover up to 5,000 large businesses and institutions. This scheme will include, for example, supermarket chains, hotel chains, office-based corporations, government departments and large local authorities. The CRC will cover all organisations whose electricity consumption is greater than 6,000 MWh per year; the equivalent to an annual electricity bill of approximately �500,000. All energy (other than transport fuels) will be covered, including electricity, gas, and heating oil. Our organisation is involved in solving local energy solutions we deal in renewable energy like solar, wind and jatrpha processing. We also have reliable sources of power and further reading. Developing countries would do well to know more about Jatropha curcus the wonder tree that produced the dream fuel. We need a Renewable energy Power Station composed of a diesel generator, modified to run on bio-fuel and connected to an alternator, which generates electricity. All the farmers of the area, would then grow Jatropha in their backyard and on all the unused land. Plant oil stoves would be used for cooking to eliminate indoor air pollution (IAP). This would reduce on the carbon pumped in the atmosphere from developing world kitchens which predominantly use fuel wood- a major contributor to global warming. This would also eliminate sickness caused by IAP. Some people would make jatropha soap locally. And all people would use it for smoother, healthier and more beautiful skins for the whole family. Front Desk Jobs In UgandaLike it? Share it! |