Stakeholders Advocate Conversion of Waste to Generate Energy

Some stakeholders in the environmental sustainability space have canvassed the need for judicious use of waste in different landfill sites in the country to generate energy that is more sustainable for the planet.

Drawn from various walks of life including Information Technology sector, environmental specialists, academia and government, the stakeholders stressed the need to factor in energy efficiency during generation to ensure environmental sustainability.

They advanced this advocacy during the Waste-to-Energy Summit organised by Rack Centre, Nigeria’s carrier and cloud-neutral data centre, in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)’s Community Development Service.

In his remarks, the Managing Director, Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, who represented the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Dr Tokunbo Wahab, stated that the management of solid waste had become crucial, especially with the growing impact of pollution caused by carbon emissions on our environment.

Gbadegesin cited the example of Lagos, and its rapidly growing population of 20 million and daily waste generation of 30,000 tons, which necessitates the need for proper management of dump sites to mitigate environmental hazards and health risks.

The Chief Executive Officer, Rack Centre, Lars Johannison, explained that Rack Centre’s commitment to its sustainability agenda in its operations is the reason why the company factors energy efficiency not only through the source of energy used but also in the design and materials for the expansion of its data centre campus.

 “You cannot speak about data centre management without considering energy consumption management. You have to measure how you consume energy, and the key metric is power usage effectiveness (PUE), which simply tells you the amount of power that you use to be able to provide the services that you offer. And the lower your PUE is, the more efficient your power infrastructure is,” he stated.

Contributing, Chief Operating Officer, Rack Centre, Ezekiel Egboye, emphasised the need for data centres to be conscious of energy usage, and the source of energy while working towards a green economy.

According to him, “When the Olusosun landfill is successfully transformed, it will create job opportunities for youths to ensure a sustainable future”.

In his view, the convener of the Waste to Energy Summit, NYSC Community Development Service, Dolapo Olaoluwa, who spoke on the theme “Driving Environment Sustainability” explained that the need to organise the summit arose after observation and experience working near the Olusosun landfill in Lagos.