Category Archives: News

Uganda Moves to Ratify Paris Agreement on Climate Change

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Friday, 16th September 2016

Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa has signed Uganda’s instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa signing the Paris Climate Change Agreement in Kampala

The agreement was opened for signing on April 22 at a high-level signature ceremony. 174 states and the European Union signed the deal at the event while 15 states deposited their instruments of ratification.

There were 180 signatories as of September 7 2016 to the agreement. Of these, 27 states have deposited their instruments of ratification, accepting or approving accounting for 39.08 percent of the total Global Green House Gas Emissions.

Foreign Affairs Ministry official Margaret Kafeero said today, that the Paris Agreement will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 countries, accounting for 55 percent of global greenhouse emissions, deposit their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the UN Secretary General.

Ban Ki-moon has since invited world leaders to attend a Special Event on September 21, 2016 at the UN Headquarters in New York to deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the agreement.

The event will also provide an opportunity to other countries to publicly commit to joining or ratifying the agreement before the end of 2016.

Kafeero said Uganda’s instrument will be deposited at this ceremony.

Uganda’s New Solar Plant

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10 MW Solar Power Plant to Boost Uganda’s National Grid

The Energy ministry in partnership with Access Uganda Solar Limited has launched a 10MW solar power plant in Soroti District, aimed at increasing power access in the eastern district.

The power produced from the $19m solar power plant is expected to be added to the national grid in July and will power 40,000 homes and businesses in an area where electricity access is still very low.

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The power plant earlier on during its setup in Soroti district.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, the State minister for Mineral Development Peter Lokeris said Uganda still faces energy challenges and yet industrialization that the government seeks to expand requires more energy and investment.

“Government priorities such as Agro-processing can only get lifted off the ground with sufficient and reliable energy. I have confidence in the project because our country enjoys an all year round sunny climate which is the resource for solar power,” Mr Lokeris said in a statement.

The project will also avail clean water to the surrounding communities by constructing two boreholes, six houses for teachers and provide solar power panels to public primary schools. Two thousand tree seedlings of orange, mango and pine will also be given to the neighboring communities as part of the afforestation programme to conserve the environment.

Mr. Reda El Chaar, the executive chairman, Access Power, said African governments need to be supported to avail power to their populations. He added that because of the need for power, the continent has attracted a $25b investment in renewables in the past six years.

The Soroti project is the first solar power plant to be successfully developed under the GET FiT scheme, in partnership with the government of Uganda through the Electricity Regulatory Agency.The project is funded by the European Union Infrastructure Trust Fund, and supported by the governments of Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Our New Steering Group

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FC-ES has created its new Steering Group integrated by the Danish Society of Engineers, the Institution of Civil Engineers UK, and the Energy Centre at the Institution of Chemical Engineers UK. This new group will meet in March 2016 to discuss and define the new strategies that help accomplish the objectives of supporting governments to deliver solutions that address climate change and foster renewable energy systems.

Please keep with us for more updates on this

FC-ES At Cop21

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FC-ES participated at the UNFCCC Convention of Parties (COP21) in Paris, 2015 as a speaker at the side event discussing “Technology solutions for a 20C world: Investing in renewables,storage, energy efficiency, and CCS in collaboration with The Danish Society of Engineers, the Grantham Institute, the IChemE Energy Centre, the Carbon Trust and Global CCS”. Watch the full event

 

Dr Alison Cooke, member of the Future Climate – Engineering Solutions project, talks about the role of engineers in the implementation of strategies that deliver real practical solutions to address climate change

 

Beatriz Fernandez, also a member of FC-ES, discusses the core objectives of the global network around the climate change agenda

 

Future Climate – Engineering Solutions will be attending and presenting a paper at the 10th SDEWES Conference in September 2015

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Future Climate Engineering Solutions has been invited to present a paper at the 10th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES), which will be held from September 27th to October 3rd 2015 in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

The paper Integrating energy solutions through smart collaboration: A look into energy and climate plans developed by a global network of engineers will be presented at the Special Session Smart Energy Europe. The abstract of the paper can be downloaded here. This Special Session will gather research work focused on energy systems analysis or feasibility studies that can bring Europe into a future without fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

For more information about the 10th SDEWES Conference, please visit the official website

CEE – Newsletter April 2014

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The WFEO‘s Standing Committee on Engineering and the Environment (CEE) have published their latest Spring newsletter (2014).
The newsletter explains how engineers can initiate programs to “maximise energy efficiency and reduce demand” as well as ” reducing users’ costs for energy and lowering Greenhouse gas emissions”.

Click here to see the the newsletter for Spring 2014.

‘The Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See’

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It is likely that many of you would have seen this video. It was originally posted in 2007 by Greg Craven on his Youtube account wonderingmind42 and has made a recent resurgence on Social Media via upworthy.com. If there is one thing that cannot be argued it is that the video has been brilliant at stimulating conversation on Global Climate Change (GCC). The issue of GCC is something that many feel passionate about and through the social nature of websites like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, we have a platform to openly discuss our opinions.

What is the Video about?
For those of you who don’t know – the video is simply an American high school science teacher writing on a whiteboard and talking to a camera. Although basic, the fundamental argument is compelling and discussion-worthy. Since its upload, 11 million people have seen it and that number could easily be more if you calculate the contributions from the upworthy website.

Within the video and the description beneath it, Craven was open to criticism and has since published a refined argument in the form of a critically acclaimed book. However, the basic principles remain the same. He simplifies the potential of global warming happening with two options: true or false. He then measures these two potential outcomes against the choices that we as can make: action or non action. He then rationalises the potential outcomes.

What is the argument?
‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ argues Craven. Using the table, he highlights the combination of potential results. The best and worst combinations are when no action is taken but whether it is positive or negative depends on something we cannot predict: which row it falls into – true or false

The argument has been criticised as being simplistic. Craven himself acknowledges the lack of probability attached to the criteria but says ‘do it for yourself’ and add your own information in – the overall effect will be the same. It is hard to disagree that based on his diagram ‘the risk of not acting far outweighs the risk of acting.’

Summary
To summarise the video in Craven’s own words: If we do not act, we could face ‘a conclusion that is inescapable and terrifying’. The argument itself has been great for promoting positive change of thought and it raises awareness of the topic. What do you think about the video?