Prof. Awoonor calls for application of science in development
Professor Kofi Awoonor, Chairman of Council of State, on Wednesday called on Ghanaian scientists and technocrats to apply science and technology to solve developmental challenges facing the country.
Speaking at the launch of Aqua Solar Plant, a private-led initiative to desalinate sea water for drinking purposes in Accra, he expressed dissatisfaction that knowledge and experiences acquired from European colonial masters were not adequately put to good use.
Prof. Awoonor said: “The essence of technology is application. Science is of no use if we do not put it into use”.
He observed that God had given Africa so many natural resources and yet the continent continued to cry of poverty and begged for financial assistance.
Prof. Awoonor said socio-economic development begun from the mind, which he said was the storehouse of knowledge, and stressed that knowledge had to be applied to make the country self-reliant and economically independent.
He called on the technocrats to “Wake up to serve the community that paid their school fees during their academic pursuit”.
Prof Awoonor called on the technical team at the Ministry of Energy to harness the economic potential of solar energy for development.
Prof. Kwabena Osei-Boahene, Ideologue of Aqua Saline Solar Water Maker Project, explained that the plant would use solar energy to evaporate water from sea water or ground water from wells and springs into safe drinking water.
“The revolutionary solar water maker enables anyone to make drinking water out of sea or salty groundwater, completely without any other power source other than the energy of the sun.
Sea water poured into the top of module, evaporated inside and existed as drinking water at the bottom of the tank”.
Prof. Osei-Boahene said sea salt was produced as a by-product.
He said drinking water produced by the solar method he had invented, had undergone inspection and subsequently approved as safe by the Technical University of Munich, Weihenstephan, Germany.
Prof. Osei-Boahene said plans were far afoot for acquisition of certification from the Ghana Standard Authority and other relevant stakeholders.
He said an aqua saline plant could be built with the capacity to provide a minimum of a 6,000-populated community with 10,000 litres of daily supply of drinking water at the cost of GH¢50,000.
Prof. Osei-Boahene said his company; Aqua Saline Company offered a 10-year warranty on the solar plant.
He said the company sought to maintain the price of sachet water produced using the solar technology at five pesewas for 10 years from the time it would be rolled out on the Ghanaian market.
Source: GNA