Electric Vehicle Policy will protect environment, says transport minister

The deputy minister of transport, Frederick Obeng Adom, has urged Ghanaians to welcome the Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy.

Ghana has begun a campaign on energy transition to achieve universal energy access and chart a path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 13. The ministry of transport recently launched the EV Policy to help reduce emission of greenhouse gases.

Speaking at a consultative meeting on the EV Policy in Ho on Wednesday 14 June, Adom said the use of fossil fuels continues to damage the environment and human health hence the need to prioritise energy transition, especially the use of electric cars.

According to the driver and vehicle licencing authority, there were about 3.2 million registered vehicles in the country in 2022.

The minister said out of the registered vehicles, “…72 percent are powered by petrol engines, 27 percent by diesel engines and less than one percent by liquefied petroleum gas and other energy sources.”

Adom also stated that, “The high dependency on fossil fuels, combined with other factors such as traffic congestion, has resulted in the transport sector becoming a net emitter of greenhouse gases.

“Emissions from vehicles are not only bad for our planet but they are also bad for our health. Air pollution has been partly blamed for cases of asthma, bronchitis and premature death,” hence the need for Ghana to begin to use electric cars.

The deputy director of renewable energy at the Ministry of Energy, Doris Duodu, said there is enough electricity to power the electric vehicles.

She said Ghana’s current installed electricity capacity is over 5,400 megawatts. The country consumes about 2,700 megawatts only, thus, there is excess power for the realisation of EV Policy.

Duodu also reiterated that the use of EV will contribute significantly to solving the negative impact of climate change. She called on Ghanaians to embrace the policy and blaze the trail for other African countries to follow.

Stakeholders from the public and private sectors in the Volta Region participated in the workshop. The participants discussed the objectives, strategies, values, principles and barriers of the policy with emphasis on how it can be implemented successfully.

Reporting by Albert Kuzor in the Volta Region

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