World Energy Day was proposed by Harold Oh and proclaimed first on July 22, 2012 at the World Energy Forum 2012. Since, the World Energy Day is celebrated internationally and supported by a large number of United Nations member states.
World Energy Day is observed yearly on October 22 to raise awareness towards policies that increase energy efficiency across various sectors and conservation of natural resources. The aim of the World Energy Day is to demonstrate the importance of choices made by society regarding energy policies, energy production, energy use and the environment.
Pioneered by Eenovators Limited, World Energy Day was celebrated for the 2nd time in Kenya on 16th -22nd October 2017. World Energy Day 2017 celebrations began with sending of invitation mails to clients, follow up phone calls, sending of registration forms, sending of list of activity ideas, sending of reporting template, brochures and flyers of information for the celebrations.
World Energy Day Activities
- The following World Energy Day activities were planned;
- WED Conference
- WED Webinar
- WED Student innovation challenge
- WED School talks
- WED Twitter Chats
- KTN Interview
World Energy Day Conference
WED conference was meant to be held on 19th October from 8am -5pm the UNEP Conference facilities but was postponed to a later date due to the political atmosphere in the country during that week.
The theme of the conference was “The Future of Energy in Africa: The Sustainability Agenda”
Key note Speakers were:
- Nyaradzai Chiwaye – The Role of Energy in the Corporate Sustainability Agenda: Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Resilience
- Dr. Job Mogire – Unpacking the Six Vital Human Needs and their Impact on Your Success
World Energy Day Webinar
WED webinar was held on the 19th October from 11am-12 noon. The speaker was Andrew Githaiga- Head of Regional Lending EA and he spoke on the topic of Available financing Options for Renewable Energy Projects in East Africa.
World Energy Day Student Innovation challenge
WED Student Innovation challenge kicked off on 3rd -16th October with the deadline for innovation submission being extended from the 10th to 16th October Communication about the challenge was sent out to 15 universities in total .
Engineering/ non Engineering students were to come up with a Clean Energy Innovation Challenge by uploading a video pitch and sharing it on twitter with the #WorldEnergyDayKe 2017
A total number of 5 video challenges from different universities were uploaded on Eenovators twitter handle. Students from Moi, Egerton, Jaramogi and JKUAT.
The Prize for the best students are:
- Winner- 50,000
- 1st runners up – 25,000
- 2nd runners up – 15,000
The judges for the student innovation challenge are;
- Nekesa Were- Director of platform services @iHub
- Andy Amadi – Certified Energy manager and Chemical and Process Engineer
- Harry Karanja – Founder Genius Executive
The judges are still looking for the best innovation challenge thus the winning student is yet to be announced.
WED Twitter chat
We had 3 live twitter chats for WED 2017.
- The first was held on the 16th October 2017 from 11 am to 1pm and the topic was What does energy mean to you
- The second was held on 18th October 2017 from at 11 am and the topic was Things to implement that will save on energy at home, in offices and factories
- To wind up WED twitter chat the third was held on 24th October from 2pm – 3 pm and the topic was Know your solar: Everything you need to know about Solar Hot Water and Solar PV
The speaker was Chris Mbori CEO Eenovators
The most engaging twitter chat was on Solar as most people asked questions and were well answered by the speaker.
WED School talks
Three schools were identified for the WED talks;
- Riruta satellite Education Center – 18th October at 4pm
- Agape Hope Schools – 16th October at 3.30 pm
- St. Dorcas Education Center – 21st October at 11 pm
However the talks from the 3 schools were postponed to a later date due to ongoing exams in the schools.
The World Energy Day celebrations in Kenya were highly curtailed by the political environment and the activities planned did not fully take off. However, plans for the 2018 World Energy Day have been set in a view to ensure that they are bigger and better.