Ghana will stop using crude oil to produce power in 2020 – Prez. Mahama

• Posted on December 2, 2015
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

President John Dramani Mahama has said that Ghana would put a stop to using crude oil to produce power in 2020 due to the newly discovered Gas offshore in the country.

He said this when he delivered a speech at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change being held in Paris, France.

He bemoaned the effect of Climate Change on Ghana and called for global action to curb the situation.

“… In my country the effects of Climate Change are beginning to manifest, several years of effected rainfall are affecting agriculture production, reduced rainfall volumes have also affected effective electricity generation from the main hydro-electric dam on the Volta river,” he indicated.

“These have made us seek Thermal generation based on Fossil fuels and liquid natural gas.”

According to him, Ghana has lost 7 million hectors of rainforest over the last half century and currently have a little over a million hectors of natural rainforest left.

A newly discovered reserve of Gas off-shore in Ghana would enable us to phase out the use of crude oil and petroleum for the production of power from 2020.

The Paris conference is aiming to achieve a new international agreement on climate change, applicable to all countries, with the objective of keeping global warming below 2°C and boosting the transition towards low-carbon and climate-resilient societies and economies.

The agreement is expected to cover among other things mitigation efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as adaptation measures to address existing and upcoming climate changes. Another key issue will be the means of implementation (finance, capacity-building and technology).

The Council has set goals for keeping global warming below 2°Cand for global greenhouse gas emissions to peak by 2020 at the latest.

Paris hosts the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 11), from th 30th of November to 11th December.

-peacefm