The German city of Hamburg is exploring the option to utilise local biomass to partially replace fossil fuels in energy generation, after the German government, representativesfrom the government, NGOs and science institutions gave the impetus for the initiative.
The dialogue between local stakeholders and the city state of Hamburg started in September last year when a delegation from Namibia visited the north German port. The delegation was led by Ned Sibeya of the Namibian National Planning Commission and Josef Hailwa of the Directorate of Forestry and included representatives from the government, industry and farmers’ associations, as well as representatives of environmental NGOs, and scientists.
“The city of Hamburg has officially confirmed to explore the option of using Namibian biomass from encroacher bush. This is a great step forward in our ambition to upscale bush control and biomass utilisation in Namibia,” said Progress Kashandula, Chief Executive of the Namibian Biomass Industry Group.
Various studies will now explore how a reliable and long-term supply chain for the purchase of biomass could be built up and how it could benefit everyone involved. A large part of the added value is to take place in Namibia and the participation of large parts of the population is to be ensured. In addition to social aspects, the ecological balance of production, transport and utilisation is also considered.
“Energy from Namibian biomass could help us phase-out coal faster for district heating. The condition for this is that a social and ecological balance is ensured across the entire supply chain. As much added value as possible should remain in Namibia and as many people as possible should benefit from it there,” Michael Pollmann, State Councillor of the Hamburg Authority for Environment and Energy emphasised.
SOURCE: The Namibia Economist
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