Uganda has discovered over 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
According to Irene Muloni, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, the natural gas has been discovered over a number of years within the Albertine Rift.
The discovery is an addition to Uganda’s recent finding of more three billion barrels of oil. It is now understood that Uganda has more than 6.5 billion barrels of commercially viable oil.
Muloni was speaking during the launch of the Energy Efficiency Week in Kampala.
“Today, we are also promoting use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, often referred to as LPG. LPG is now readily available and a convenient source of energy for cooking.
“One is able to cook with minimum effort in a clean environment. With the gas discoveries of over 500 billion cubic feet in the Albertine region, we hope in the future using gas for cooking will even become more popular,” Muloni said.
The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift Valley, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert in Uganda to the southern end of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania.
Muloni said through the use of biogas technologies, her ministry is promoting bio-latrines in schools, higher institutions of learning, diary plants and homes.
She said the biogas technologies will not only offer Uganda alternative energy sources but also fertilizers which can be used to enrich the soils.
She said energy demand in Uganda is increasing rapidly yet supply is limited.
“Therefore, there is need for interventions to enhance energy supply and use energy sustainably to mitigate future energy crises.
“The reserves of our energy resources such as fuel wood are getting depleted. In particular, Uganda is losing its forest cover at an alarming rate and if no steps are taken, part of the country might turn into a desert,” Muloni said.
She said with advancement in technology, Uganda has more efficient lamps such as the Light Emitting Diodes which are more efficient than the Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) people are used to.
“Improved cook stoves exhibited reduces about 50% less use of charcoal or firewood,” she noted.
She said if all households use improved cooking stoves, the country demand for woody biomass would reduce by about 50%.
The new German ambassador to Uganda Peter –Christof Blomeyer said biomass energy is disastrous to the environment, with forest cover annually lost to deforestation.
He encouraged Ugandans to use renewable energies, which he said are not only secure but also clean and affordable.
Ronald Gyagenda Ssegawa, the Under Secretary in Uganda’s Energy Ministry said it is cheaper to save energy than creating it, urging Ugandans to save energy.
Business Week
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