80% of Mozambique's population uses biomass

According to the Energy and Sustainable Development of Mozambique Forum, about 80 percent of Mozambique's population uses biomass energy, contributing to the rising levels of deforestation in the country. "Almost 80 percent of Mozambicans use firewood and charcoal, an alarming figure for our forests.” Manuel Cardoso, project coordinator of the Energy and Sustainable Development of Mozambique Forum, told Lusa at the conference on renewable energy organized by the Lusophone Renewable Energy Association (ALER) in Maputo.Highlighting the "enormous potential of the country" with regard to renewable energy, Cardoso said that the Mozambican government needs to create mechanisms for the use of other types of energy, avoiding dependence on hydroelectric power and biomass."The country needs to take advantage of other forms of energy like wind and solar power," he said, adding that investing in these alternative energy sources would help the government relieve the pressure on forests.In addition to the adoption of alternative energy sources, Cardoso pointed to the lack of environmental education as one of the main challenges for Mozambique."Most of the people who use biomass energy have no idea of the environmental consequences, and we need to tell them," he said.Noting that only 25 percent of the Mozambican population has access to electricity, Isabel Cancela de Abreu, executive director of ALER, said that Mozambique needs to give populations in remote areas access to alternative modern energy forms. "The country has huge capacity in terms of renewable energy, with potential of more than 23,000 gigawatts, and it is imperative that it takes advantage of it," she said, pointing to the training of skilled manpower and financing of renewable energy projects as the main challenge for the country.