Rack Centre Hosts Waste-to-Energy Summit: Exploring Sustainable Solutions for Lagos

(L-R) Adetayo Odusole, Head, Sustainability Coordination, Rack Centre; Dolapo Olaoluwa, Convener, NYSC CDS Project – WTE Summit; Yetunde Baderinwa, State Coordinator NYSC Lagos State; Ezekiel Egboye, Chief Operating Officer, Rack Centre; Lars Johannisson, CEO, Rack Centre; Olaide Ayodele-Taiwo, Assistant Chief Scientific Officer at the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, LAWMA at the Waste to Energy Summit organized by Rack Centre in partnership with NYSC CDS Environmental Sanitation and Sustainability held in Lagos today. 17th July 2024

Stakeholders drawn from various walks of life, the Information Technology sector, environmental specialists, academia and government have canvassed the need for the judicious use of waste in different landfill sites to generate energy that is more sustainable for the planet.

This call was made during the Waste-to-Energy Summit sponsored by Rack Centre, one of Nigeria’s leading carrier and cloud-neutral data centres, in partnership with the NYSC Community Development Service on Wednesday, July 17, 2024.

Delivering his remarks, the Managing Director, of Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), Muyiwa Gbadegesin, who represented the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, stated that the management of solid waste has become crucial, especially with the growing impact of pollution caused by carbon emissions on our environment.

Gbadegesin cited the example of Lagos, and its rapidly growing population of 20 million and daily waste generation of 30,000 tons, which necessitates the need for proper management of dump sites to mitigate environmental hazards and health risks.

The Chief Executive Officer, of Rack Centre, Lars Johannison, explained that Rack Centre’s commitment to its sustainability agenda in its operations is the reason why the company factors energy efficiency not only through the source of energy used but also in the design and materials for the expansion of its data centre campus.

Citing the example of its data centre operations, Johannison stated that the company places utmost priority on energy efficiency, especially as seen in the way it measures energy consumption and other key metrics in data centre operations;

You cannot speak about data centre management without considering energy consumption management. You have to measure how you consume energy, and the key metric is power usage effectiveness (PUE), which simply tells you the amount of power that you use to be able to provide the services that you offer. And the lower your PUE is, the more efficient your power infrastructure is; he stated.

Urging the embrace of renewable energy for a better planet, he advised Nigerians, including businesses, to find alternative ways of using energy that would make the environment sustainable,

“There are other ways we can ensure that we are energy-efficient in our homes and contribute to the sustainability agenda for our economy. Renewable energy is something that we need to start looking into aggressively.

We must move away from the old ways of powering not just our homes but also our businesses, and ensure that we move clearly, in line with the agenda, bringing in a good mix of renewables. There are many new businesses that are coming up with various technologies that can enhance and guide us through that journey.”

Also speaking, Chief Operating Officer, Rack Centre, Ezekiel Egboye, emphasised the need for data centres to be conscious of energy usage, and the source of energy while working towards a green economy. According to him,

“When the Olusosun landfill is successfully transformed, it will create job opportunities for youths to ensure a sustainable future.”

Egboye disclosed that the company has deployed the IFC EDGE platform so far to ensure that its soon-to-be-completed 12MW data centre facility is built in line with sustainability metrics that have been used globally to assess the design of the data centre. He stated further that the company has been at the vanguard of exploring practical and eco-friendly sources of renewable energy to reduce its impact on the environment and promote skills development.

In his view, the convener of the Waste to Energy Summit, NYSC Community Development Service, Dolapo Olaoluwa, who spoke on the theme “Driving Environment Sustainability” explained that the need to organise the summit arose after observation and experience working near the Olusosun landfill.

Olaoluwa noted that part of the objectives of the project was to bring together industry experts, policymakers, and community members to explore innovative waste-to-energy technologies while raising awareness about the environmental and health impacts of landfills, with the Olusosun landfill as a case study.

While acknowledging the need to follow global best practices in turning waste into energy, he stated that countries such as Germany and Singapore have successfully integrated waste-to-energy technologies into their national grids, providing a reliable source of renewable energy.

According to him, implementing similar technologies in Lagos State could help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, improve our waste management system, and enhance our overall environmental health. He stressed that the summit aims to foster new partnerships that will lead to the implementation of sustainable waste management solutions.