Case Study: Energy In Mali

Case Study: Energy In Mali

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• Caption: Satellite image of Mali

Mali Situation

• Mali is a large landlocked country in West Africa. It is a very poor country, ranked 174th in the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). It is in the arid Sahel region and much of the country suffered from drought and desertification. In the north 65% of the land is either desert or semi-desert, yet its growing population of some 15.3 million (2013 figure) people depend largely on the environment to grow crops and herd animals.
• On average, less than 12% of the populations has access to electricity so lamps, torches and car batteries supply lighting and the latter is used to power TV and radio. When you compare rural areas with urban areas, the differences are even more acute; only around 2-3% of rural populations have access to electricity, health clinics cannot carry out certain medical procedures or operate medical appliances, and they cannot operate effectively after dark. Schools cannot also run out of the hours of daylight and cannot offer students the benefit of more modern educational tools. The lack of electricity hinders the development of many income-generating activities that would improve the income s and prospects of the rural poor. Inadequate access to affordable energy effectively block the path to development in rural communities.
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• Caption: A market scene in Djenné

Power Usage

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• Caption: Bamako, Capital City of Mali
• With no fossil fuels of its own, Mali depends entirely on expensive imports from other countries. Major financial costs are imposed on this already very poor country due to this dependency on foreign whims and unpredictability of fluctuating oil prices and supply shocks as well as the economic pressure of supplying an ever-increasing amount for its fast-growing populations and economy. Development needs energy and Mali is struggling to afford the energy it needs to develop.
• Traditionally, nearly 80% of domestic (household) energy needs, especially in remote rural farming areas, have been supplied by firewood and charcoal. However, this uses 50 million tonnes of wood from national forest reserves each year and deforestation is widespread and severe. woodcutting is a rural industry and is the only realistic source of employment for some, aside from trying to farm the suitable land. It was predicted, by 2006, that the demand for this wood would outstrip supply within a decade at the outside.

Future of Renewable Energy

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• Caption: Solar Plant in Mali
• In 1990, the Government's "National Domestic Energy Strategy" was implemented, with crucial international financial backing due to its emphasis on the use of renewable sources. Recently, The Mali Government has "upped the stakes" with regard to renewable energy, by setting a new target that 61% of rural areas will be "electrified " by 2033 and that 25% of the country's national energy supply will come from renewable sources over the same time-scale. To this end, several projects are operating across the country.

AREED & MFC

• The African Rural Energy Enterprise Development (AREED) programme is a UN environment initiative, founded to support energy entrepreneurs across Africa. It supports energy enterprises that use clean, renewable and efficient energy technologies to provide sustainable energy, especially in underserved rural populations.
• In Mali, it supports the work of the Mali Folke Centre (MFC). The MFC was established in 1999 by Dr Ibrahim Togola, then a trainee at the Nordic Folkecentre in Mali. His first project was in Tabakoro - his home town in Mali. One resource that Mali has rich in is sunlight. With a guaranteed unbroken 5-6 hours of sunshine every day, and many more than this at certain times of the year, few countries are as well places to develop solar energy. Under Ibrahim's guidance, solar panels were placed on the roofs of the school and health centre, enabling children to attend and study for longer than ever before, and better healthcare provision for the villagers. By training local people to maintain them, the panels can be sustainably used for many years to come.
• Other AREE/MFC projects instigated and in operations include the development of biofuels to provide energy. Existing use of biomass was uncontrolled and unsustainable. However, new projects gave been developed to use low-quality biomass products such as dung to produce electricity, as opposed to the reliance on wood which was leading to large-scale deforestation of the national forests. One project involved the use of agricultural by-products to make fuel briquettes which burn for longer and are 25% cheaper than the traditional wood products formerly used.
• Another project used cow manure to produce biogas to homes. The biogas plant installed could use cow manure to produce up to 40% of the energy needs on the farm it served. Local people were involved as much as possible, to construct and maintain the facilities. However, the cost of the plants, although relatively modest is still too high for many impoverished Malian rural-folk and the MFC struggles to secure funding for new projects that would cover the total cost.
• The MFC has also helped to develop plantations of a plant called Jatropha, thew seeds of which contain a biofuel substitute for diesel oil. In addition to this obvious fuel benefit, the plant is also very tough and able to withstand drought conditions of the arid climate, and it helps to stabilize areas that are suffering from desertification. As well as producing oil, the seeds can be pressed into an "oil cake" that can be spread onto the land as is an excellent nutritious fertilizer and reduces the need to add chemical fertilizers to the land. In addition, it helps to protect the precious topsoil from removal by wind and rain which lead to desertification. It is also becoming an internationally valuable export.
• By 2007 the work of the MFC had impressed policy-makers so much that Mali becomes the first country in Africa to remove all taxes and on renewable energy sources. Since its creation, the MFC has helped to increase the electricity provision in the country as a whole from 17% (2000) to 27% (2012), and in rural areas, the MFC has helped over 800,000 rural dwellers in Mali to gain access to electricity.
• A recent partnership between MFC, and the Malian Governments and a Danish company has launched a 3-year project to investigate Mali's true potential to develop its wind power renewables. Using satellite and on-the-ground imagery and mapping technologies, the whole country has been "wind mapped" and it has revealed that there is a surprisingly strong wind energy potential in some areas. In 2015, the MFC won the prestigious "World Wind Energy Award" to recognize the work that the organization has dome to develop renewable energy technologies in Mali, And its advisory tole across other countries and organizations too.

Energy Potential

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• Caption: Map of Solar Energy Potential In Mali
• Caption: Map of potential Wind Power In Mali

Summary

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• Caption: The Flag of Mali
• Mali has made huge strides towards energy provision for its population and sustainable use of renewable sources, but there is still a long way to go. Severe poverty in rural areas and over-reliance on wood biomass is a continuing issue. Funding or at least funding that covers the whole project is hard to secure. There have been some HEP developments but these continue to provide little energy to the national grid of Mali, and they are fraught with problems associated with the dry and unpredictable climate. Global warming is likely to present greater challenges to this, and also the vulnerability of the arid rural areas of the north to desertification in the future.