Engineers urged to lead the fight against Climate Change through innovation and environment-friendly practices

Michael Magoronga, [email protected]

ENGINEERS have been implored to take a leading role in the fight against climate change through innovation and the invention of environment-friendly operation methods as the country seeks to reduce its carbon footprint.

This emerged during the ongoing National Social Security Authority (NSSA) Engineers workshop underway in Kwekwe which seeks to mitigate occupational hazards at workstations.

The two-day workshop which attracted about 300 delegates drawn from across the country and all sectors of the economy, is being held under the theme “Promoting an Occupational Safety and Health Culture through Vision Zero,”

Companies play a critical role in the fight against climate through reduced emissions and avoiding haphazard dumping of waste and chemicals that may contaminate the environment and water bodies.

Presenting a paper entitled ‘Optimization of boiler system; A climate change initiative,’ Heating SBU Thermax Vice President, Engineer Hemant Hoshi said there was a need for local engineers to be innovative to reduce carbon footprint and leverage on biogas for a greener environment.

He said most boilers being used in factories, emit a lot of toxic gasses which are harmful to the environment and exacerbate climate change effects.

“There are so many systems that we are using on boilers which produce greenhouse gasses. We need therefore to optimize so that they do not produce more emissions. We should manage and test boiler efficiency since it is the most critical thing when trying to optimise. It is used as a measure of economic efficiency,” he said.

Eng. Joshi said engineers should ensure that boilers reduce access to air and fuel rates, reducing excessive temperatures in the process.

“Boilers systems optimising can significantly reduce greenhouse gasses and resultantly reduce the effects of climate change. We therefore should take action and move away from fossil fuels and transfer to bio-fuels which can go a long way in reducing climate change,” he urged.