Addressing urban indoor air pollution in Uganda

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1 Addressing urban indoor air pollution in Uganda By Michael Ahimbisibwe Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development 2 Introduction " Population of Uganda grown from 16.7 million in 1991 to an estimated 27.7 million by 2007 " Only 9.2% of the population lived in the 20 largest urban centres by 2002 " Up to 43% of households in Uganda have incomes not exceeding US$ 100 per month 3 Introduction " The poor d spend 10% of their disposable incomes on energy, the cvery poor d spend 14% and the cextremely poor d spend 22% 4 Urban " Urban areas in Uganda are defined by legislation. That is, only those areas gazetted by Government as Town Councils and Municipalities are defined as urban. " Many centers of trade such as fishing landing sites, trading centers, camps for Internally Displaced Persons are not considered urban " The energy access challenges are urban 5 Biomass use " Biomass fuels meet more than 90% of the Uganda 9s energy needs.

The urban poor depend upon biomass fuels for their basic needs for cooking, water and space heating using inefficient devices " This is applicable for both domestic and industrial levels 6 Indoor air pollution " ... more. less.

The most direct health impact of household energy use among the poor who depend almost entirely on burning biomass fuels in simple cooking devices in inadequately ventilated spaces 7 8 Policy overview " Power Sector Reform and Privatization Strategy of 1999 " Electrify Act (1999) " The Energy Policy for Uganda (2002) " Renewable Energy Policy (2007) " The Uganda Forestry Policy (2001) 3 cross cutting 9 Target for women and children " Women are in charge of cooking " Preparation food takes a lot of wood fuel due to inefficient method and technologies " Young children are usually carried on their mother 9s back or kept close to the warm hearth " As a result young children spend many hours breathing indoor smoke during their first days of life when their developing air passages are more susceptible to hazardous pollutants 10 Types of fuels in urban areas " Electricity " LPG " Charcoal " Firewood " Biogas " Solar 11 Health effects of fuels used in urban areas " Small particles, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and some carcinogens like benzene " Acute respiratory infections in children and chronic diseases in adults 12 Measuring the impacts of pollution " Poverty is a barrier in the transition to modern fuels " Loss of time and opportunities for economic development " Poverty and drudgery " Indoor air pollution responsible for 1.6 million deaths worldwide per year equal to one death every 20 seconds (WHO) 13 Programmes in place to improve urban indoor air pollution " Alternative energy technologies " Legislation " Tax incentives for imported technologies " Extensive awareness 3 Energy efficiency week 3 Free distribution of energy saving bulbs 14 Barriers to controlling pollution " Inadequate information on RETs " Inadequate Technical and Institutional Capacity " High upfront costs on RETs " Inadequate financing mechanisms " Inadequate local manufacturing capacity of RETs " Inefficiency in utilizing biomass " Resistance to use human waste for biogas " Social barriers (community union, smoke for pests) 15 16 The way forward " Introducing improved stoves " Cleaner fuels " Improving the living environment (better ventilation) " Improving user behavior " Involvement of the local communities " Strengthen inter sector linkages " Improve macro-economic environment " Capacity building

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