There is still one billion people with unreliable energy supply in the world, but Bayo Akomolafe is well equipped to address this gap. With 10 years of experience working in the power generation industry and his lived experience growing up in energy poverty in Nigeria, Akomolafe’s pursuit of creating affordable, reliable, and sustainable modern energy systems for developing nations is well fuelled.
Bayo Akomolafe
Student, Faculty of Environment
In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, he begun part-time graduate studies in the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development (SEED) to advance this passion. With the help of his supervisor, Dr. Amelia Clarke, and the research team in SEED, his return to academic life and transition from a core engineering base into socio-technical studies was seamless. His research narrowed in on deep decarbonization pathways, or strategies, that can propel sustainable development and energy transitions in four leading Sub-Saharan African cities with a combined population of about 30 million.
His case study focused on Accra, Addis Ababa, Lagos or Nairobi, and the progress they are making. For example, in the city of Lagos, Nigeria, they installed solar energy systems in schools, hospitals, and municipal buildings, and all the cities are developing waste-to-energy systems. These strategies will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but will also have an added benefit of improving energy accessibility for their inhabitants.
Despite these successes, his study underscored how social transformations for deep decarbonization require a lot of capital which make it difficult for these cities who are already constrained fiscally. In addition, human and technical capacity gaps remain a challenge for cities adopting widespread sustainable modern energy, stunting their overall development.
“It’s important to address these issues now to support sustainable growth and improve things for future generations,” said Akomolafe. “A benefit of this research is that I have been able to better understand the importance and impact of what I do as an engineering professional in the power sector. I am proud that my career and studies have allowed me to help nations with chronic energy poverty improve their capacity for electricity accessibility.”
As for what’s next, Akomolafe will be receiving his Master of Environmental Studies (MES) in Sustainability Management (SUSM) this spring 2023. This accomplishment will be added to a growing list from these last two years, which include becoming a Canadian citizen alongside his family and a licenced professional Engineer in Canada. In the fall he hopes to begin his PhD in SEED to continue his work helping developing nations transition to sustainable energy.
