New Makueni public buildings to shun firewood, charcoal

Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr.

Makueni County will bar biomass energy in new and renovated public institutions, under a policy directive from Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr.

He made the announcement during the Green Energy Promotion and Clean Cooking Advocacy Forum at Konza Technopolis, where county officials, development partners, financiers, technology providers and Ward Energy Champions met to discuss renewable energy adoption.

"We commit that no new public institution constructed or renovated under this administration will be designed around biomass energy. Clean energy will be the default standard, not the exception," said Kilonzo.

Biomass is firewood and charcoal, the fuels most Kenyan households and institutions still rely on for cooking.

Kilonzo said schools, health facilities and technical training institutions remain among the county's largest consumers of firewood, a trend he linked to deforestation, rising operational costs and smoke related health risks.

"A school should consume knowledge, not forests. A hospital should save lives, not spend scarce resources on smoke," he noted.

The county has already installed a 205 kilowatt solar power system at Makueni County Referral Hospital, cutting electricity costs by about 30 per cent and saving the facility nearly Sh7 million a year, according to Kilonzo.

He said the county has invested more than Sh154 million in 92 renewable energy projects spanning water, health, trade, agriculture, gender and climate sectors, with a combined capacity of 1.34 megawatts.

The county has also distributed 253 LPG cylinders in Kikumbulyu South to promote clean cooking at the household level.

Kilonzo said the county would work with development partners and private investors to develop financing mechanisms that lower the upfront cost of clean energy technology.

"Our energy choices are not merely technical, they are moral. They determine whether a child breathes clean air or toxic smoke in a school kitchen," explained Kilonzo.

Nationally, about 9.1 million households, or 68.5 per cent of Kenyans, still rely on firewood or charcoal as their main cooking fuel.

The government has set a target of 100 per cent access to modern cooking solutions by 2028 under the Kenya National Cooking Transition Strategy, partly to address household air pollution, which is linked to over 21,000 deaths a year in Kenya.

Also speaking at the forum, Professor Izael Pereira Da Silva, deputy vice chancellor for research and innovation at Strathmore University, praised Makueni's approach calling for faster decarbonisation nationwide.

"All of us must be involved because we don't have a Plan B planet," said Da Silva.

He urged stakeholders to embrace decarbonisation, decentralisation and democratisation of energy systems, arguing that power should be produced close to where it is consumed.

"SDG 7 cannot succeed without electricity," he observed, referring to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal on Affordable and Clean Energy.