As parts of efforts to reduce carbon emissions in fighting climate change, CalBank PLC, Agence Française de Development (AFD), the European Union (EU), and the Energy Commission have launched energy-efficient electric motorcycles assembled by Solar Taxi under a SUNREF program.
Solar Taxi Limited will assemble 1,200 energy-efficient electric motorcycles for use in Ghana under the financing program.
The move is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and cost-efficient motorcycles.
Speaking during the launch, the Co-Founder of Solar Taxi George Appiah said the bikes are necessary to protect the environment.
“So, our quest was to find a sustainable solution to the high cost of fuel and transportation. So, we brought our first prototype and that has been the drive since then to scaling up this clean alternative which is also affordable so that it brings down the cost of moving people and goods.”
“So that has been our drive to bring about an affordable and clean alternative for transportation. The bikes are low maintenance, so overall you have fewer maintenance issues compared to the fuel cycles”.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Cal Bank PLC Philip Owiredu indicated that the promotion of a sustainable world pushed them to partner with the initiators.
“We all know the impacts of climate change on the globe, and the world is moving towards ensuring that we have a sustainable world. So various initiatives have been taken globally. So, Cal Bank as a local institution that also believes in sustainability decided that when we look at this project and the impact on climate change as a whole decided that it resonated with our values as a bank, so we decided to partner with them”.
The European Union also pledged its support to continually support renewable energy projects such as this that will lead to job creation and protect the environment as well.
The Energy Commission, on the other hand, indicated that solar bikes contribute largely to the reduction in the usage of fossil fuel, thus it will ensure that all necessary regulations will be fastened to make way for such projects.