Partner STIPRO (Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Research Organisation, Tanzania) organised our second Information Session in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in the frame of STIPRO's roundtable on "Industrialization and Energy in Tanzania: Challenges and Opportunities" on 5 October 2018. The roundtable aimed at discussing challenges and opportunities of access to reliable energy for industrialization, addressing the information gap and charting the way forward. It was thus a perfect occasion to inform about and disseminate our latest project results.
After the presentation of partner Musambya Mutambala (STIPRO) "VicInAqua Technology on Wastewater Treatment and Own Renewable Energy Supply: The Environmental Impact", our team discussed the VicInAqua solutions with local stakeholders from science, environmental technologies, industry and policy to raise awareness on the environmental impact of improved sanitation, aquaculture and fisheries.
In particular, participants were eager to know how far the VicInAqua technology can deal with heavy metals, as most areas surrounding Lake Victoria host gold and other metal mines. Other primary aspects relevant to the participants were the affordability of the technologies and the amount of power the pilot can self-generate. As power outages are still frequent in Tanzania, participants also asked if there could be enough power generated by the biogas system to also supply the nearby economic activities.
The participants welcomed the fact that the VicInAqua technologies offer a significant contribution to environmental protection with (waste)water treatment and power self-generation with renewable energy sources. In particular the self-generation of power triggered fruitful discussions as this could be a solution to also serve areas with no access to the national grind, bearing in mind that a big portion of the country is still not electrified yet. The participants further discussed issues Tanzanian regarding policies paving the way to more use of the green energies.
All in all, a very productive event!
Picture on the left: (top left) STIPRO's Executive Director Bitrina Diyamett giving welcoming remarks; (bottom right) STIPRO's researcher Leonce Musambya Mutambala presenting VicInAqua.
About STIPRO
STIPRO is an NGO that is conducting independent policy research on science, technology and innovation (STI) in Tanzania with a view to contributing to the resolution of the contemporary, complex and inter-related issues in STI for the purpose of informing STI policies. STIPRO’s mission entails the following:
- To carryout policy research that inform ST&I policies and decisions
- To undertake capacity building for conducting ST&I policy research
- To raise public awareness on the role of ST&I for socio-economic development, and of ST&I policy research for evidence-based decisions.
