Vusumuzi Dube
Business Reporter
LIQUEFIED petroleum gas (LPG) usage is projected to hit 70 million kilogrammes this year up from 66 million kgs last year, Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) official has said.
The increase in LPG usage can be attributed to the resurgent power shortages, which industrialists have warned will negatively weigh on the productive sector’s potential.
Added to that, the success of the LPG initiative is an indication that the government and stakeholders are making progress in mitigating the effects of environmental degradation while offering affordable alternative energy to Zimbabweans.
In 2022, LPG consumption stood at 59,89 million kg, representing a 5,47 percent rise from 56,78 million kg in 2021.
The 2022 LPG consumption was the highest over the past eight years, and experts, however, say the country should promote local production of green fuel to cut its import bill.
Speaking during a media stakeholder engagement in Bulawayo on Wednesday, Zera Head of Petroleum Department Engineer Andrew Guri said Zimbabwe has broken all records in Southern Africa in terms of gas usage.
“Last year, the country used 66 million kilograms of gas and this year we project usage to be about 70 million kilograms” said Eng Guri.
“There’s no other country where people have become so comfortable with LPG than Zimbabwe. In Zambia, they are always coming to us, asking, ‘What have you done in Zimbabwe to make people so comfortable with LPG?’”
“Whatever the case, the outcome is good that people have migrated or shifted to LP gas. LPG is actually known as the modern fuel and the transition to cleaner energies as we move to renewable energies.”
He noted that the country’s LPG consumption has risen from under 1 kilogram per person per year in 2012 to around 4.5 kilograms per person today, marking significant progress in cleaner energy adoption.
Online Reporter