In recent years, there have been growing interest and awareness on environmental sustainability among individuals and companies as many of them now act in ways that ensure future generations have the natural resources for existence.
These actions and awareness towards preserving the environmental resources and sustaining them for the future generations become significant as increased industrialisation and lack of responsiveness among some other companies still threaten the environment.
Threats to the environment come in different forms and activities including, air and water pollution, gas emissions, soil degradation, oil spillage, erosion, deforestation, species’ extinction and natural resources drain.
Committed therefore to environmental sustainability to ensure quality life and existence of future generations, Egbin Power, a member of the Sahara Power Group recently introduced electric busses and bicycles for use within its facility spanning about 600 hectares, where it has school, estate, gym and the power plant. The project involves promoting “going electric” and “clean energy” in Egbin to avoid emissions and depletion of natural resources.
The idea behind the introduction of the electric buses and bicycles to serve its workforce within the facility is, in addition to enhancing movement, it is to promote clean energy, reduce carbon emission and enhance quality of life by making the environment safer for the entire workforce
An electric bus is a bus that is powered by electricity. The buses can store the electricity in their battery for continuous usage. Ordinarily, electric buses are highly efficient and have lower operating costs than diesel buses.
Typically, to have healthy society requires clean air, natural resources and non-toxic environment.
The Egbin initiative is valued when it is considered that a typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year and this is equivalent to an average of 0.0126 metric tons of carbon dioxide per day.
The initiative also means every walk-to-work and bike-to-work activity as well as riding on the electric buses within the facility prevents emission of 3.78 metric tons per day of carbon dioxide from about 150 cars within Egbin and 1379.7 metric tons every year.
The launch of the buggies and bicycles is perhaps one of the first of its kind by the foremost and largest privately run private power business in Africa.
Speaking on the sustainability campaign, the chairman of the board of trustees, Temitope Shonubi said the company is bringing energy to life. “It is not only talking about it but walking the walk”.
“Egbin has been picked as the first place to commence not just the drive of sustainability, energy conservation, good living, but the drive of ensuring that everybody stays alive and their quality of life is priceless. We in Sahara Group live in the present but we will ensure that the environment is ready for the future”.
The inclusion of students from various schools in the project event is an indication that the clean energy campaign is one that involves all constituents of the Egbin Ecosystem – it’s also generational.
The project also reinforces Sahara Power and Egbin’s commitment as global SDG promoter, with impressive Environment Employee Social and Governance (EESG) records.
