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A reliable, affordable and sustainable energy economy - the Zimbabwe we want!

18 May 2016 at 20:48hrs | Views
A reliable, affordable and sustainable Energy Economy- The Zimbabwe we want! Globally economic trends, world politics and economic fraud have put Africa at a big risk including Zimbabwe. 18 years ago, Zimbabwe suffered a serious blow on its social -economic trends due to the global billowing prices of oil fuels - diesel and petrol. Transportation of goods became expensive, travelling of the populace in Zimbabwe became hard, industry grinded to a standstill. Tourism economy dilaptated, which means the country suffered economically that triggered serious political polarisation and bickering . It created large fissures in the republic. The lives of the people worsened plummeted into reeling poverty. The transportation of oil fuels is expensive and dangerous and its not reliable to smaller economies that have poor budgets and unreliable transport infrastructure. Mostly renewable resources like solar, wind and biogas do not require much logistical and political economy stress as fossils.

Zimbabwe has lost a lot of currency, business and lives due to scarcity of fuel when it received international economic sanctions from the global giants which stopped the export and business of fuel between Zimbabwe and oil producing nations. The global giants would bid bigger prices than the economic shrinked and sanctions shrivelled Zimbabwe and a nation that have a poor energy infrastructure and supply in its economy is not a nation at peace, unemployment became rampant from 1998- up to now, food riots, social ,moral decadence, political expedience and economic misconduct became the order of the republic, corruption increased . The nation plummeted into a banana / cassava republic. Its political rhetoric became sanctions and sanctions because the supply of energy was at stake, hospitals went for years without drugs and food also was scarce as basic commodities price skyrocketed. It made life unreliable.

Zimbabwe is country endowed with natural resources and most of them are renewable energy resource which turnaround the economy of the country if serious strategies and programs are implemented and put to use like in China and other developed nations. We have all it takes in terms of energy resources like water, solar, biogas and wind. The farming economy which have become the most life saving economy in the country can benefit if we can start generating water into irrigation schemes using solar and wind which are renewable and clean resource and it can help us completely break free from dirty energy infrastructure s that have been much politicised and corrupted as well destroyed our climate trends and weather patterns.

Zimbabwe is also a coal producing nation and most of its Industries and domestic chores had been fuelled by coal for both production and cooking. They is much corruption at play at the Hwange thermal power station, which means the electricity supposed to be from the thermal station decreased and that have led to the rationing and switching off of electricity to the local industry and homes. A lot of international loans were channelled to Zimbabwe for the development of the power stations but the moneys were misused by mineral barons and the administration. Coal is heavy and it requires reliable transportation infrastructure as well that means good railway network to manufacturing industries and factory giants . The railway transportation broke down two decades ago and transportation of coal became tiresome and logistically poor. That affected the industrial efficiency and the economy tumbled. Such energy resources is unreliable, unaffordable and unsustainable. Imagine if we used reliable and affordable energy infrastructures, our economies would be great and growing greater heights sustaining our populace. Coal had been used in big industrial sites like Zisco and Steal Company, Unileaver and other industrial global giants that purify iron ore into steal using coke from coal, that have resulted into serious emissions into the air and has resulted in serious climatic, health effects including droughts as well as both airborne and cancer ailments that have killed a lot of people . The public health bill increased annually and since the turn of the millennium the annual budget increased highly in Zimbabwe. The climate patterns have led to many deaths, hunger through cyclones, droughts and floods. Agriculture did also fall and people are living in troubling poverty.

Zimbabwe needs to break free from such dirty energy resources like fossils and seriously start to implement plans on developing clean, reliable energy infrastructure mostly solar, wind, water and biogas. It is time that Zimbabweans learn to develop APPS from Scientists and scholars and also create scholarships for Energy, Fuel and Climate Change Scholars for a better industrialization, power supply and strong economy. The Zimbabwe we want is the Zimbabwe that realise the need to learn and program a reliable, affordable and sustainable energy economy.

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Source - Mbizo Chirasha
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