Dumsor or more appropriately Dum Sɔ
is a popular Ghanaian term used to describe persistent
electric power
outages. The term is
coined from two separate words from the Twi dialect of the Akan
language (a language
spoken widely in Ghana), dum (to
turn off or quench) and sɔ (to turn on or to make light).
The term was adopted because of the frequent blackouts due to insufficient power supply.
Insufficient power supply refers to a load shedding exercise carried out daily by the Ghana
Grid Company and Electricity Company of Ghana.[2] The term started gaining prominence in
2006/2007 when Ghanaians under the President John Agyekum Kufour's
administration went through a painful eractic power supply for more than one
year at a time water levels of the Akosombo Dam dropped significantly which
consequently led to a load shedding exercise due to the reduced generation capacity
of the country's main hydro-electric dam. The load shedding exercise has since
been a periodic experience and has plunged the country into major power crisis.
The word has been used by the general public in Ghana since 2009 in
expressing anger, mockery, worry and disappointment in authorities of the
ruling Government.[according to whom?] It has also gained popularity via social
media websites such as Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #Dumsor. In 2015, President John Mahama used the word in a state visit to Germany while talking with Angela Merkel, he indicated he has been nicknamed
"Mr. Dumsor" due to the power crisis,[3] where he attributed it to Nigeria for not
supplying gas as required to Ghana through the West Africa Gas Pipeline.
RENEWABLE ENERGY- THE WAY TO GO
The race for
renewable energy has passed a turning point. The world is now adding more
capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas, and oil
combined. And there's no going back.
The shift occurred
in 2013, when the world added 143 gigawatts of renewable electricity capacity,
compared with 141 gigawatts in new plants that burn fossil fuels, according to
an analysis presented Tuesday (April 14, 2015) at the Bloomberg New Energy
Finance annual summit in New York. The shift will continue to accelerate, and
by 2030 more than four times as much renewable capacity will be
added.
"The
electricity system is shifting to clean,'' Michael Liebreich,
founder of BNEF, said in his keynote address.”Despite the change in oil
and gas prices there is going to be a substantial buildout of renewable
energy that is likely to be an order of magnitude larger than the buildout
of coal and gas."
The price of wind
and solar power continues to plummet, and is now on par or cheaper than grid
electricity in many areas of the world. Solar, the newest major source of
energy in the mix, makes up less than 1 percent of the electricity market today
but could be the world’s biggest single source by
2050, according to the International Energy Agency.
The question is no
longer if the world will transition to cleaner energy, but how long
it will take.
GREEN KNESSET- INSPIRATION AND EXAMPLE
Knesset is the
parliament of Israel.
Knesset Speaker
Edelstein: "It is not just the solar panels; it is the message, the idea
and the new path."
The Knesset unveiled
on Sunday (March 29, 2015) the largest solar field of any parliament in the
world. During the festive dedication ceremony, which was held on a balcony
located near one of the Knesset's roofs, Knesset Speaker Yuli-Yoel Edelstein
said, "What is happening before our very eyes is indeed exciting, a
true revolution. It is not just the solar panels; it is the message, the
idea, the new path. This is not merely a revolution in energy-saving; it is
also a turning point with regards to the environmental awareness revolution
that we have been promoting over the past two years."
"The installment
of the solar panels, the highlight of the Green Knesset Project, will bring
about the optimal use of solar energy, which, thank God, we have here in
abundance, and will lead – along with the other [energy-saving] measures we
have taken – to major savings in the consumption of electricity – which
constitutes a third of the Knesset's total energy consumption," Edelstein
told those on hand.
"This saving of
energy has far-reaching environmental implications, not only in the direct
economic sense, but also in the sense that it will dramatically reduce the harm
caused to the environment," the Speaker stated.
"We are at the beginning of the initiative, rather than at its end,
but this is undoubtedly an important turning point, in which we can look back
with satisfaction at everything that has been done with great success. I wish
to thank you all very much, and I hope to see the Knesset many years from now
leading the green revolution while serving as an example of vision and
inspiration for organizations, parliaments around the world, government offices
and every citizen."
TV personality Avri
Gilad, who hosted the event, said the solar array presents a new opportunity to
"enter the heart, imagination and creativity of each and every citizen in
the country, particularly teenagers."
"The
Knesset," Gilad continued," has a garden, a large roof, and employees
with a big heart – all of the things that are
needed in order to turn it into the greenest place in Israel. Turning the
Knesset into a model of environmental creativity and the saving of resources is
an uplifting idea. I envision in the near future busloads of tourists arriving
at the Knesset and taking the green tour, and in my dreams I see groups of
excited children coming to the Knesset to witness the green revolution. We can
see how a parliament can change an entire country. I hope the green will
trickle down from the roof into the committee rooms and the plenum and also
influence the parliamentary activity."
Naor Yerushalmi, CEO
of the Life and Environment organization, said "Yesterday, Earth Hour was
marked all over the world. Two days prior to
that we all moved to Summer Time - which saves energy - and here we are today,
taking another step together on the way to sustainability, and mainly towards
what we will leave for future generations. Environmental protection is not a
luxury. We must preserve it, for ourselves and for the next generations. The
new government will face many challenges, and dealing with the environmental
challenges in Israel is one of them."
"It is wonderful
to find out that less than a year after the Knesset received the Green Globe
award, most of the promises have been fulfilled. This is true environmental
leadership. I hope the leadership you have displayed here in the
Knesset will encourage others, mainly the new government, [to follow
suit]," he said.
Source:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-14
Hey, there is a broken link in this article, under the anchor text - could be the world’s biggest
ReplyDeleteHere is the working link so you can replace it - https://selectra.co.uk/energy/news/environment/solar-largest-electricity-source-2050