The Rwanda Biodiesel bus that made its maiden trip yesterday is not only a great step towards becoming an environmentally friendly country, but also a self reliant economy.

Day after day, threats to the environment keep increasing. Unless we come up with initiatives that will protect the environment, we will not bring the destruction to an end.

Other than preserving the environment, locally manufacturing Biodiesel, courtesy of the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IRST,) will go a long way to reduce  dependency on fossil energy.

Additionally, the production of our own fuel, will also help address the challenges of being land locked.

The Government of Rwanda has put the environment among its key priorities. Policies to protect the environment have been put in place, the journey made by the biodiesel bus, is just one example of how the policies are bearing fruits.

Rwanda is now internationally-renowned for introducing a ban on plastic bags, nationwide environmental clean-up campaigns (Umuganda) as well as the development of a conservation corridor for chimpanzees among others.

It is such policies that saw Rwanda named the 2010 Global host for the World Environment Day slated for June 5.  

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