The government has launched a campaign to promote green energy, which in the past has only received token interest and resources.

The proof of the government's seriousness will of course be on how sufficiently the green energy policies and strategies are resourced in the future .

At least the low energy bulbs campaign hinted by the Prime Minister seems to indicate that there is intention and seriousness to walk the talk.

On the subject of alternative green energy and conservation, enough seminars have been held and numerous reports have been published , and what is now needed are definite workable strategies and resources.

There is danger in hyping discussions and enthusiasm on alternative energy only when oil prices are high and unaffordable, and when prices go down we lose focus and interest on the subject.

Oil prices will always go up and down as they have always done in the past. We need consistent policies and action guided not by oil prices, but guided by the fact that in the longer term alternative green energy is prudent for good economic and climatic benefits.

Green energy has many facets that are of interest to Kenya. The major one and the most immediate is economic in that green energy will normally involve cheaper locally available or produced alternatives.

The second is climatic, as the same alternatives are mostly a means to carbon reduction in that they replace the oil-based energy.

Thirdly it is social in that growing of green energy in the form of biofuels provides social economic benefits for many unemployed Kenyans.

For this reason a Green Energy policy and strategy should be multi-faceted and look at all aspects of national and global benefits.

Let us look at biofuels. There was a lot of pre-occupation with biofuels when oil prices were high.

Debates and action on this subject appear to have diminished as soon as oil prices went down as urgency seems to have disappeared. We need efforts that are not start /stop depending on oil prices.

Brazil in the 70s decided to have a firm and long term policy and strategy on biofuels irrespective of global oil prices, and today Brazil cannot regret as their success on biofuels is permanent.

Biofuels were demonized last year when food prices went up, but the biofuels that Kenya was promoting were not supposed to be in competition with food production.

A bio-diesel strategy was meant to focus on non-food crops like jatropha, croton and castor, which are not in competition with food production.

Sufficient research was of course needed on production methods and usage. The main benefit from these biodiesel efforts was going to be social-economic in providing work for many rural unemployed.

On the other hand, the larger-scale commercial bio-alcohol production focused on the grand Garsen project which seems to have faced environmental politics between pastoralists and agriculturalists.

The sugar industry as we have seen with Mumias can provide both green electricity and also bio-ethanol for petrol replacement .

It is commendable to see that the government has already committed and resourced geothermal and wind power as the key areas that will make a major impact on energy cost while at the same time reducing carbon, as the two forms of alternative energy replace the incremental usage of fuel oil in thermal generation.

It has never been quite appreciated that the cheapest way of increasing available energy is through conservation and efficiency.

According to the Prime Minister, introduction of energy saving bulbs is equivalent to investing in a 49 MW power plant. Green energy efforts should therefore start in the areas of conservation and efficiency as the capital costs involved are not quite high compared with grassroots new power plants .

What is needed is sufficient public awareness and education, coupled with sufficient fiscal and financial incentives, and where necessary regulations to enforce.

Focus on efficiency and conservation should be on both electricity and petroleum usage, targeting domestic, transport and industrial sectors.

By improving flow of traffic in Nairobi, the new Town Clerk can contribute phenomenal energy savings.

On the domestic side, after the energy saving bulbs , the next effort should be a government directed campaign to install solar water heaters, including enforcement of solar heaters in all new buildings .

Green energy therefore should be walked as much as it is talked emphasizing cross-cutting benefits, and that is why the effort should be inter-ministerial as impacts touch on environment, energy, industries and transport ministries and I guess that is why it is being co-ordinated through the Prime Minister's office.

In America the driving force behind Obama's green energy is chiefly trying to reduce dependence on foreign sourced oil by substituting with locally produced greener alternatives and in so doing reduce carbon emissions which impact on global warming .

Improvement on vehicle consumption efficiency in USA has become a good starting point.

Wachira is a Consultant with Petroleum Focus