Highly recommended ! Interesting point !

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http://technorati.com/posts/tag/desertification

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http://clickafricana.com/2007/05/28/get-filthy-rich-by-saving-african-forests/

Get filthy rich by saving African forests

“Renewable Energy is energy derived from resources that are regenerative or for all practical purposes cannot be depleted.[1] For this reason, renewable energy sources are fundamentally different from fossil fuels, and do not produce as many greenhouse gases and other pollutants as fossil fuel combustion. Mankind’s traditional uses of wind, water, and solar energy are widespread in developed and developing countries; but the mass production of electricity using renewable energy sources has become more commonplace recently, reflecting the major threats of climate change due to pollution, exhaustion of fossil fuels, and the environmental, social and political risks of fossil fuels and nuclear power.

Many countries and organizations promote renewable energies through tax incentives and subsidies.” - Renewable energy - Wikipedia

Forget the obvious benefits to the environment for a minute. In the developing world, where firewood often is the main source of energy generation, no one is interested in saving the trees. The unfortunate mindset being: what good is a healthy environment when the people in it are unable to put food on their tables, because they have no money in their pockets?

It needs to be understood that the global economy is a capitalist one. Usually, people think in terms of what’s profitable. And not what’s good for the Rwandan mountain gorilla. Rwanda for one is approaching the concept of renewable energy in terms of economic viability. The small landlocked East African country has little natural resources. Rwanda imports its oil from Kenya and Tanzania. This added expense to the oil makes fuel unaffordable for many rural Rwandans. So what do these people do? The go out into the forest and chop down trees. It’s as simple as that.

We know that wide-scale deforestation is an invitation to desertification, a problem Africa has been faced with for decades. However, this is primarily an environmental issue, so nobody really cares. We all want to fed and warm at night. The question arising from this is, what happens when we run out of trees? What happens when the sinking water table hinders us from accessing safe drinking water? Inaccessibility of safe drinking water is yet another one of Africa’s growing problems today.

Worldwide, energy production is firmly in the grip of the oil industry and its allied sectors. Oil is big business. Western nations wage war over it. So who do we talk to about moving away from oil and switching to renewable energy? The government? To put it in simple terms: government runs the people, corporations run governments. So who do we talk to? How much is the current oil price? It’s usually in somewhere between $50 to $60. With the war in Iraq and the rising conflict in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, oil is not about to become cheaper anytime soon.

Oil won’t be here forever, either. Much like with the disappearing forests, what do we do when we run out of oil to pump, ship and consume? Oil exploration is hugely capital-intensive, and devastating to the environment. In Rwanda, the use of methane from the depths of Lake Kivu will boost the country’s economy, by supplying their neighbours, who are as much in need of energy as they are. It is a very profitable way of saving the trees.

And this is what we need to keep in mind when addressing the issue of oil vs. renewable energy. Put down the “Save the trees!” banner and pick up the one that says “Get filthy rich by saving African forests! Here’s how….”

The main reason why research into renewable energy technology is still not as much mainstream as it needs to be, is due to this “tree-hugger” reputation that comes with it. This makes it very difficult to get any research funding. We need to avoid talking about how much good solar cars will do to the environment. We should emphasize the profitability of solar cars that run without fuel.

Imagine the following scenario: your city’s public transport system completely adopts the use of solar vehicles. Everything from trains, buses to taxi cabs. Imagine how much money the transport companies will be able to save, when they no longer need to buy and stockpile diesel. Imagine how much cheaper the use of public transport becomes for you and yours.

Leave the oil in the ground and may the sun shine down on you today and tomorrow.