Green Light Uganda is an organization working to provide renewable energy services to the people of all walks of life but most especially those at the lowest ladder of the energy pyramid. We are located 9 miles along Kampala-Entebbe road, off the road going to St Mary’s secondary school Kitende. The organization specializes in the following areas of renewable energy:
Contact Information
Our Focus
We are producing charcoal briquettes from waste materials in Uganda. Our target population is both urban and peri-urban dwellers. Urban dwellers include hotels, small restaurant operators, home bakers, and the peri-urban dwellers including households and schools(boarding. The initiative seeks to encourage members of the community to use low cost forms of energy instead of using wood fuel and charcoal so that we can reduce the cutting of trees to save the environment. On the other hand, we provide solar lamps for use especially during power cuts so that members of the community can stop the use of polluters such as candles and kerosene.
Our Experience And Interest In The Four PCIA Central Focus Areas
The community is reluctant to use new technologies such as briquettes because they are used to traditional charcoal and firewood. However through sensitization and demos they are adapting to new technologies. However more we make solar lamps affordable, people want to remain using the air polluters on the pretext that they are cheap. By providing solar lamps to some, others are getting on board. We also provide free samples of briquettes to the people and encourage the use of energy saving stoves.
Our experience is that the community is taking longer to adapt to new improved cooking technologies. The owners of restaurants want to use charcoal which burns quicker than briquettes. However, with the cost of charcoal getting higher, they are adapting to using briquettes. Grid load-shedding is also making home (smallscale) bakers to use energy saving clay ovens thereby, adapting to improved cooking technologies.
We at VGL(U) seek to help in the cleanness and protection of the environment in urban areas by removal of waste items like paper, sawdust and charcoal dust and turn them into clean cooking fuels that produce limited or minimal smoke which will go along way in minimising indoor air pollution. We can help our clients in construction of improved cook stoves such as Lorena and other types.
We are interested in seeing healthy communities, especially women and children, who are not using smoky wood and charcoal by producing affordable cooking fuel from waste which is also polluting the air (sawdust and charcoal dust)in urban areas. Our experience is that some of our clients who are using our solar lamps are happy because they are pollution free especially clinics(midwifery), shops and individual homesteads.
Relevant Publications or Studies
None noted
Our Contribution to the Partnership
We will participate through: -mass moblisation of members of the community to use improve cooking technologies -availing these technologies where possible -we are experienced in renewable energy sources especially solar and biomass
