Assessing Urban Energy Strategies in East African Cities: Optimising for Innovative Waste Management and Energy Efficiency in the Region
Urbanisation in East Africa continues to grow, with an average 4.5% annual increase in the population of the region’s urban areas between 2000 and 2018. With this increasing influx of people into urban areas comes an added strain on existing energy and waste management systems. This is exacerbated by the fact that a large proportion of East Africa’s urban population lives in informal settlements, which tend not to benefit from government waste management and energy supply systems.
Due to a lack of vehicle capacity, majority of the waste produced in East African cities ends up in landfill. These landfills, which themselves tend to neighbour the same informal settlements in which majority of urban populations reside, pollute soil, water, and other land resources, and hence greatly endanger human and animal health. It is also common for waste to be burnt in domestic compounds or on roadsides, leading to air pollution and increased risk of fires.
Figure 1. Waste management techniques used in lower middle-income and developing nations (Ntagisanimana et al, 2010).
Energy inefficiency is another plight faced by the rapidly urbanising East African region. Eastern and Southern Africa together form the region of the world with the largest proportion of the population lacking grid access to electricity. Many residents in overcrowded informal settlements resort to living ‘under the grid’ – purchasing small generators or batteries to meet their electricity needs. This arrangement does not ensure stable electricity supply and can increase the risk of hazards like fires, explosions, and exposure to toxic battery electrolytes.
Given the above challenges faced by East African nations, and the climate-related concerns prevalent in the world at large, it is imperative that practical and forward-thinking waste and energy management systems like recycling, energy generation from organic waste, and smart grids are implemented within the region.
Recycling
Plastics and electronic waste make up the majority of non-organic waste materials in East Africa, and as such, recycling is one of the most urgently needed waste-management techniques. East African governments have pledged to invest more heavily in sustainable waste management; Kenya, for example, has pledged to develop its waste management system and achieve 95 % waste recycling by 2050. Currently, recycling initiatives are led by informal waste workers, who largely work in unsanitary conditions without proper equipment or sufficient pay. A concerted investment effort in the sector to ensure formal employment of waste workers and the purchasing of suitable equipment and protective gear could yield much higher recycling outcomes. This could save many businesses, especially manufacturers and those whose products are sold in disposable packaging, significant amounts of money alongside winning the favour of environmentally conscious customers. The e-waste sector is particularly profitable, with up to $91 billion worth of recyclable metals available worldwide in out-of-use electronics. In East Africa specifically, over 150,000 tonnes of e-waste were produced in 2019. This figure is only likely to grow and the market for recycled materials from electronics shall undoubtedly grow alongside it.
Energy Generation from Organic Waste
The most abundant form of waste generated in East African cities tends to be organic waste, with 57% of the region’s waste being organic. Thus, there is great potential for repurposing waste towards energy generation.
Biological treatments can be utilised to convert all types of organic waste into animal feed, fertiliser and/or fuel. Notably, anaerobic digestion and fermentation can be employed, resulting in biogas and bioethanol respectively. Physicochemical treatment methods like densification of biomass into pellets for cooking and heating are also viable techniques for organic waste management. New emerging technologies like the black soldier fly (BSF) method – which uses BSF larvae to break down organic material and return nutrients to the soil – open windows for less capital-intensive biological treatments. These involve endemic wildlife in place of expensive laboratory-made chemical products. Given that biofuels produce 93% more energy than they consume during their production, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 41% compared to fossil fuels, the production and use of organic waste-derived biofuels is environmentally favourable and energy efficient.
The capture of methane gas from abundantly available landfills could serve as a potential fuel source for household cooking; methane can be collected via a series of wells and a blower/flare, processed and treated, and then utilised by consumers. While this venture can prove to be expensive, especially during its initial implementation, there are many organisations seeking to invest in sustainable initiatives and circular waste management in East Africa – opening a potential door to alleviating the financial burden on individuals and businesses.
Agricultural Products from Organic Waste
Decentralised compost systems (DCS) can be used to break down organic waste at the household and community levels, easing pressure on government budgets and infrastructure to provide and maintain waste collection schemes and composting facilities. DCS would also give households of all income levels more agency over their waste management. The resulting compost can then be used as a natural fertiliser for small and large-scale agricultural operations.
Figure 2. Categories of waste treatment technologies (Lohri, C. R. et al, 2017)
Smart Grids for Energy Efficiency
Smart grids are energy networks which, using digital technologies, sensors and software, match the supply and demand of electricity in real time. They comprise of smart meters which channel communication back and forth between the utility company and consumers. Consumption is documented at regular intervals, and displayed back to users, allowing them to make informed decisions about their usage and finances. Smart grids are valuable due to their cost minimisation and stabilisation of power grids. Compared to traditional grids, they reduce energy wastage and allow users to manage their consumption more accurately, lowering bills and hence making electricity more widely available to lower-income households in East Africa.
The move towards renewable energy must be supported by smart grids to manage and monitor the large-scale implementation of fluctuating renewable energy sources like solar energy. Solar power is an increasingly viable means of electricity generation in the region due to the dramatically falling cost of renewable energy sources. Solar panel prices fell by 80% between 2009 and 2015 and continue to drop to date. Solar energy is also an obvious choice for renewable energy in East Africa, as the region receives some of the greatest volumes of solar radiation year-round – an average of over 2000 kilowatt hours per square metre. Smart grids would allow for solar supply to be regulated, the grids can monitor excess solar energy and alert operators so that the energy generated can be stored when abundantly available on sunny days and then sent to households on overcast days depending on their consumption needs. However, it is worth noting that smart grids rely on the presence of formidable energy storage systems – batteries and capacitors to store excess generated energy during troughs in energy consumption, especially when it comes to renewable energy sources.
Since large portions of East Africa’s population live without regular access to electricity in both urban and rural areas, the installation of smart grid-enabled mini grids provides affordable and widespread electricity access to smaller and more remote communities across the region. Smart grid systems can allow for better monitoring of mini grid systems, allowing the rollout of widespread electricity access without intensive investments required by governments or individuals.
Conclusion
East Africa’s current waste management and energy efficiency related struggles can be remedied via a number of avenues. Recycling can minimise the negative impacts of e-waste and plastics while smart grids can greatly improve the efficiency of existing energy distribution systems. The generation of energy from organic waste, the most common form of waste produced in the region, could avail opportunities for enterprise and employment in the increasingly prominent renewable energy and biofuel sectors, as well as providing farmers with more self-sufficiency through accessible modes of producing fertilisers.
The integration of smart grids would also allow for more universal use of renewable resources and reduce the burden of electricity expenses on consumers.
Overall, investment into the implementation of new technologies, whether that be waste management innovations or smart grids, will be a key factor in the economic growth and stability of the East African region. In the age of a global move towards environmental sustainability, these developments will benefit all citizens and businesspersons in the long run.