LAWI JOEL, 11th November 2009 @ 22:00, Total Comments: 3, Hits: 1440
TANZANIA has started going green to build a better tomorrow and save its children from roasting in a warmed globe.
The country may not be able to change overnight or in the near future, its pattern of life to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases, but it cannot wait much longer to start commuting with bicycles as a simple alternative to driving a car.
Cutting CO2 emissions for such a small and developing country is both a difficult and expensive task. The country still depends largely on fossil fuels.
All its cars use gasoline oil, and its alternative power source in urban centres and indeed all over the country when hydro power fails, is almost 100 per cent thermal energy to run generators.
Thermal power is the chief source of carbon emission in the country particularly in urban centres. But conversion from thermal energy to other sources such as wind means heavy investment that demands huge funds that the country does not have.
It therefore means that if the country diverts the necessary funds for conversion to other power sources, the people would miss the services they need.
This must, and should not happen. On 9 October this year former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, speaking at the Editors’ Forum about climate change in Copenhagen warned nations of the world and said:
“We must also ensure action to tackle climate change does not come at the expense of trapping millions in abject poverty.”
It was a loud message for Tanzania not to trap its people in the fight to contain climate change. But the country finds itself pathetically handicapped to cop in the global war against climate change.
The rising East African economic giant, with other developing countries, will require at least US dollars 100bn (over 130tr/-) a yearfor adaptation, which, says Annan, is “far more than committed so far by the richer countries, but a figure around which there is a growing consensus.”
Nicholas Sterns Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, says that a global deal on climate change is urgently needed.
“Concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached 435 parts per million (ppm) of CO2-equivalent, compared with about 280 ppm before industrialisation in the 19th century.”
The Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science adds that: “If we continue with business-asusual emissions from activities such as burning fossil fuels and cutting down trees, concentrations could reach 750 ppm by the end
of the century.”
Should that happen, the probable rise in global average temperature relative to pre-industrial times will be 5°C or more, adds Sterns who is also a member of the UK House of Lords.
That is a disaster many nations are working hard to avert. Tanzania, which like other nations has not, in Annan’s words, escaped from the shock waves of climate change, is doing what little it can do, given its economic might because in the former UN Secretary General words, “we have learnt that we sink or swim together”.
But riding a bicycle is cheap. To swim with other nations in the global race of ‘going green’, the country on 24 October in its Oceanside city of Dar as Salaam staged a demonstration of how useful a bicycle can be in commuting to and from work.
Close to a hundred people cycled a distance of about three miles in the blazing morning sun.
Dar es Salaam small roads may not make it safe for cyclists, given the Devil-may-care attitude of most drivers.
But the application of bicycles as a commuting means of transport would cut dramatically CO2 emissions from vehicles most of which were imported from Japan as second-hand and are now old and smoke like diesel factories.
If Dar es Salaam decided to cycle it will not be alone. Many other cities of the world are cycling too.
Copenhagen is cycling a lot. “It is easy for us to do that because our country is mostly flat,” a man told the 'Daily News' recently in the Danish capital.
Bikes don’t usually require a loan. So if you can’t get a car, you can probably get a bike. Biking saves money on gas, oil, parking and general car upkeep.
It is not only a great exercise, but can also be a great stress reliever. Medical doctors say riding a bicycle has low impact on your body.
An injured athlete, for instance, can bike as an alternative light exercise until they are fit enough to resume the previous, more vigorous athletics training.
When there is a traffic problem it is much easier to keep going, making it possible for one to get to work on time despite a traffic jam.
But most of all riding a bicycle is environmentally friendly. Exuding no fumes, biking reduces air pollution. The fact that bicycles do not drip brake fluid, gas or oil, protects water from pollution.
If you are driving, you will need to keep to the road and so maintain the usual route. With a bicycle you can change your route if necessary.
Total Comments on the above stories (3)
Comment
Great article! For more information about UWABA who organised this bike ride, see www.uwaba.or.tz
Comment
Great article! For more information about UWABA who organised this bike ride, see www.uwaba.or.tz
Comment
Hi there,
I am so happy to hear that Tanzania is now on the track of cycling the bicycles as developed country. I am so impressed to hear the great achievement. I am in Denmark studying global change education and hope will be around to hear the decisions made during the COP15.
Cheers,
Joyce from Tanzania
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