SNC1D Science Journal

My Problem
Deforestation is a big problem in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From 1990 to 2015 the deforestation rate has remained at a constant 0.20% which equates to 3110 square kilometers every year. This high amount of deforestation has led to a decline of the mountain gorilla population among other species, which is led to decreased biodiversity and increased soil erosion. Since 2015, the rate of tree felling has doubled. the reason deforestation is so high is because the citizens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo depend on charcoal and fuelwood for energy and for their livelihoods.

My Solution
Because the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo depend on deforestation for energy and jobs, my solution is to establish an alternative, renewable energy source. The alternative energy source I propose is wind energy. the Global Wind Energy Council says that Africa has an untapped market for wind energy and Reve says that a combination of wind and solar energy would be better and cheaper than the DRC’s plan for a new hydroelectric plant. My solution is to build wind turbines across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which would help solve the deforestation problem by providing the people with a renewable energy and solve the need for jobs because the wind turbines need people to run them. Another part of my solution is to reforest the deforested areas, which the WWF (world wildlife fund) has already pledged to do with their Ecomakala project.

My Teams
My first team consists of the global wind energy council. The global wind energy council is a collective made up of many companies and organisations that all have a goal of introducing wind power to the world. I chose them because of the fact that they fully support wind power and think that the African wind power market is untapped.

My second team is the WWF. I chose them because of the fact that they are a wildlife fund and because of their existing pledge to help reforest the deforested areas.

Resources
The main resources my solution would need mostly come from the wind turbines. Wind turbines are made of steel, fiberglass, resin, plastic, copper, iron, and aluminum. Many of the components are either sourced in the United States or are imported. Another resource is the plants needed to reforest the affected areas, which shouldn’t be too hard to get. The last resource is permission from the government to build the turbines which could be hard due to the current president, Félix Tshisekedi, who has expressed interest in the DRC’s Inga 3 hydroelectricity project.

Timeline
By the 6-month period, I want to have been able to build turbines in some of the areas that need energy the most, like the cities of Gemena, Bumba, and Isiro and replant some of the most heavily deforested areas. By the 1-year period, I would’ve liked to been able to provide electricity to the north eastern and western parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as those places are currently disconnected from the power pattern. I also would’ve liked to replant almost all of the deforested areas. After the 1-year period, I hope to be able to establish wind power as the main power supplier for the DRC and have replanted all of the deforestation. My main goal for this solution is to phase out the need for deforestation and, by extension, a need for charcoal for energy in the DRC.

Sources
https://gwec.net/about/what-is-gwec/
https://www.worldwildlife.org/about/
https://www.evwind.es/2020/07/26/why-wind-energy-and-solar-power-are-better-for-congo-and-south-africa-than-inga-3-hydroelectric-plant/76035
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-materials-are-used-make-wind-turbines?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products
http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/library/national_energy_grid/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/demrepubliccongonationalelectricitygrid.shtml