A Study of Energy Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions of High Income Urban Residents in the City of Accra, Ghana
20 Pages Posted: 10 Aug 2019
Date Written: February 28, 2019
Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine the energy related Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG) of high-income suburban residents of the city of Accra in Ghana based on the perspectives of residents of Devtraco Estates. Activity data was gathered and default emission factors from the IPCC 2006 GHG Inventory Guidelines were employed to calculate emissions. A survey was conducted for 60 randomly selected households of Riverdale Cluster at Devtraco Estates, with a response rate of 42% (n=25) to assess activity data. The results were that: the average mobile combustion emission was calculated as 0.001516 Gg CO2e, average stationary energy combustion emission was calculated as 0.0003666 Gg CO2e. Based on fuel combustion alone, the average household combustion GHG emission was determined as 0.00287446 Gg CO2e. The study conclusions were that residents who are aware of climate change had higher emissions than those who were unaware of climate change. And, households with higher income presented higher GHG emissions, and also households that used generators frequently had strikingly higher emissions than those who did not. The study participants recommended that national and local government authorities in Accra and other cities in Ghana would have to consider investing heavily in climate change and GHG awareness programs and improve upon the current urban public transportation systems and consider alternative energy sources to ensure a cleaner air and sustainable options for our cities.
Keywords: Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, High-income, Urban Residents, Accra, Ghana
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