Electricity demand in Ghana had been reduced by 124 megawatts in 2008, translating into an annual cash savings of US $ 33 million to the economy as well as carbon savings of 105,000 tons per annum. Professor Abeiku Brew-Hammond, Chairman of the Board of the Energy Commission, who made this known at a news conference in Accra yesterday, attributed the development to the introduction and mass adoption of the Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs).
Ghana is firmly committed to the goal of linking various national transmission grids in the sub-region to create a wholesale power market in West Africa. Deputy Energy Minister, Inusah Fuseini, who gave the assurance, said Ghana would continue to support efforts by West African Power Pool (WAPP) programme as a vehicle to promote a common approach to specific national and regional power projects.
The Mass adoption of solar panels by the public as the standard lighting device in Ghana has been on the increase due to the current load shedding of electricity from the national power. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, Mr. Ebenezer Ashie, member of the Renewable Energy unit of the Ministry of Energy, said the public especially people in the urban areas were encouraged to patronize the solar panels, but added that the problem with its large-scale adoption had to do with affordability.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Sherry Ayittey, says Ghana’s vision of attaining middle income status by year 2020 will be dependent on Science and Technology to generate resources. In view of this, the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology together with partner-agencies on Wednesday out-doored a Science Technology and Innovation Policy in Accra. The Minister said technology is a critical rate factor for the survival of humanity and socio-economic development of any country. She indicated that the policy seeks to create a heterogeneous national capacity for development and to achieve this, an inter-sectoral committee would be formed both local and foreign to coordinate the activities formulated by the policy.
A rare celestial phenomenon occurred in the skies on Wednesday. A huge ring of a red-yellow-green band of halo circled the sun, much to the amazement of many. The phenomenon, referred to as the halo phenomenon, can be sighted around the world wherever the sun can be seen, meteorologists say.
