How Kenya can avoid the many negative effects of coal mining

Lamu County Assembly Minority Leader Mr. Paul Kimani (centre), majority leader Mr. Abdul Kassim (left) and chairman Budget and Appropriation Committee Lal address a press conference at Travellers Hotel to oppose the coal mining project in the county on June 17, 2015. They claimed that the county government was not fully involved in the process of acquiring the mining rights. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Any coal project in a developing country, requires clarity on energy poverty, and the economic and sustainability agenda.
  • Coal causes devastating effects such as air and water pollution, diseases, and land degradation that persists long after mining activities have ceased.
  • Kenya can avoid many negative impacts of coal by adopting best practices from countries that have gone before.
  • While clean coal technology does not eliminate Carbon Dioxide, it limits pollution by reducing emissions and particulates.

By mid-2016, Kenya had added 615 megawatts of power to the national grid; still significantly below the 5,000 megawatts by 2016 ambition. The target is centered on exploitation of Kenya’s vast resources of geothermal, hydro, wind, natural gas and coal.

Of these ambitions, the 981.5MW Lamu Coal project by the Amu Power consortium is facing opposition from the community. Complaints revolve around land acquisition procedures, and delay in release of the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA).

A well-considered discussion on the Lamu Coal project, or any coal project in a developing country, requires clarity on energy poverty, and the economic and sustainability agendas.

Coal is fast becoming a dead technology in developing countries. This is primarily due to falling demand for coal as the prices of natural gas — the cleaner fossil fuel, which emits less carbon than coal — drop.

Additionally, environmental policies, regulations and anti-coal campaigns are challenging fossil fuels, and driving the trend towards clean energy.

This is bound to continue, especially following the Conference of Parties (COP21) climate meeting in Paris. In the US, President Obama’s Clean Power plan is shifting the economy from coal, and a potential Hillary Clinton presidency includes an ambitious commitment to power every home in America with renewable energy by 2020.

Predictably, these developments will catalyse corresponding innovation, investments and incentives in renewable energy technology, manufacturing capacity, improved grid management, power storage, and other challenges that make clean energy expensive.

While this will certainly happen faster than previously predicted, it is not happening fast enough for developing countries. And until that critical tipping point is reached, renewable energy remains prohibitively expensive for countries struggling with energy poverty.

DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Unlike developed countries which relied heavily on coal to power their economies, and ensure 100 per cent access for their populations, developing countries still have major challenges in energy capacity, access, reliability and affordability.

Over 95 per cent of the world’s population without access to electricity is in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya, only a meagre 23 per cent of the population has access to electricity. Energy to power the economy, and stimulate industry is a key piece of the puzzle in delivering sustainable development.

And yet, despite the challenges of energy poverty, coal is a notorious polluter, the dirtiest source of energy, and a key contributor to climate change.

Coal causes devastating effects such as air and water pollution, diseases, and land degradation that persists long after mining activities have ceased. For coastal Lamu, the coal project further poses threats to the marine ecosystem. The pragmatic middle ground then, is one that acknowledges both the urgency for energy, and the devastating impacts of coal.

In this middle ground, investors and governments have a moral imperative to deliver energy needs while aggressively limiting the impacts of coal.

Kenya can avoid many negative impacts of coal by adopting best practices from countries that have gone before. At the project level, rigorous ESIA, transparency, and accountability are key.

As the first African nation to pass a climate change law, Kenya must continue setting a great example for Africa through policies, actions and incentive structures that support transition as cleaner energy become more competitive.

And of course, strengthening governance to ensure that resources are well spent, and that investors and contractors abide by environmental and social safeguards.

This entails adoption of full-suite clean coal technologies at the project onset, and follow through with mitigation measures.

While clean coal technology does not eliminate Carbon Dioxide, it limits pollution by reducing emissions and particulates. The National Environmental Management Agency should ensure that ESIA is exhaustive and that projects adhere to measures such as community resettlement, pollution controls, hazardous materials and waste management, water resources management, and land rehabilitation at project closure.

In the absence of this, citizens are right to worry about potential impacts of coal activities. For investors, transparency, and adherence to ESIA stipulations must not be replaced by cursory CSR activities that do not address the social, environmental and economic impacts of coal.

Instead, communication and well-designed sustainability strategies in such critical projects are key. Otherwise, investors lose the social license to operate, which is not only costly for them, but also delays the urgent task of powering the economy.

Effective participation by developing countries in climate change mitigation hinges on, among other things, how quickly they can join the rest of the world in adopting clean energy to cut carbon emissions.

This requires a paradigm shift that demonstrates willingness to treat fossil fuels as bridge fuels, rather than long term energy poverty solutions.

As the first African nation to pass a Climate Change Law, Kenya must continue setting a great example for Africa through policies, actions and incentive structures that support transition as cleaner energy become more competitive.

And of course, strengthening governance to ensure that resources are well spent, and that investors and contractors abide by environmental and social safeguards.

Ms Kaaria is the CEO of Creide. [email protected]