{"id":253034,"date":"2016-09-29T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T06:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=253034"},"modified":"2016-09-29T06:00:15","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T06:00:15","slug":"group-warns-govt-against-coal-powered-plant-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/09\/group-warns-govt-against-coal-powered-plant-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Group warns gov’t against coal-powered plant project"},"content":{"rendered":"
A civil society group, 350 Ghana Reducing Our Carbon (G- ROC), is calling on government to consider using renewable energies such as wind, solar and biogas to augment the country\u2019s current energy capacity rather than coal-fueled plants.<\/p>\n
According to them, coal has severe negative environmental, health, and social impact on humans.<\/p>\n
The group raised the concern following a publication by Volta River Authority (VRA) in January this year, announcing government\u2019s intention to collaborate with the Shenzhen Energy Group Co., Ltd. of China (SEC) to develop a 2\u00d7350MW super-critical coal-fired generating units including affiliated coal handling terminal, at Ekumfi in the Central Region.<\/p>\n
The plant is estimated to cost about US$1.5 billion dollars to be financed by the Chinese-Africa Development (CAD) Fund. But speaking to Citi News<\/strong>, Coordinator for 350 G-ROC, Chibeze Ezekiel, said Ghana must take a cue from other countries that have suffered serious negative effects using coal power.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIn India, one hundred and fifteen thousand people die every year as a result of coal which is costing the government $4.6million; a lot of death because there is a component\u00a0 in coal emission that\u2019s mercury. We think that the devastating effect of coal is not appropriate for our country\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He added that; \u201cThis is why countries like United States and China are shying away from coal. Our demands are that there are better alternatives which are more efficient and can promise jobs such as renewable energies, we have enough sunlight, wind, biogas which are available and natural that we can use to harness energy. We are calling on government to stop the coal dream and focus on renewable energies.\u201d<\/p>\n