ROAM AT THE FOREFRONT OF AN ELECTRIFYING REVOLUTION IN THE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR

By Peter Kinuthia Murimi

A considerable number of people were glued to the screens when the television show Game of Thrones was streaming. One of the most favorite characters in the show was Jammie Lannister, who played the role of the hand of king. His real name is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and he seems to have changed his focus to the planet, going from epic filming to driving planet-friendly initiatives.

Nikolaj recently paid a visit to Kenya, and his destination was a start-up company named Roam. Roam is a start-up company that is at the center of manufacturing and distributing electric vehicles and motorcycles in the country and in the region. Not only does Roam engage in the manufacturing of electric vehicles, but they are also involved in the conversion of the current fossil-fuel vehicles to electric at a cost. Because of this, they have attracted attention from the government, development agencies, and television stars such as Nikolaj.

You may ask what a Game of Throne star wants with a company in the business of producing electric vehicles. It turns out that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is in the process of producing a documen- tary series entitled, ““An Optimist’s Guide to The Planet” which will have up to six episodes. The documentary will be produced by Cream Production, and ILL productions and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau will be the host. From the title, one can tell that Nikolaj is into innovations and efforts that are geared towards making the planet safe and also reducing the effects of climate change.

“The climate crisis impacts all of us, however, what I hope this show demonstrates is that we are not doomed,” said Nikolaj. From this comment, it was clear that Nikolaj intends to highlight that there is hope for planet earth amidst the current crises that different parts of the world are experiencing due to climate change. I echo his words that climate change is affecting everyone and each country on the planet is contending with the harsh realities of climate change ranging from droughts, floods, extreme temperatures, cyclones, pests and diseases, and other extremities that are being triggered by the continued changes in weather patterns.

ROAM’S RESPONSE TO THE GREEN REVOLUTION

Roam is at the center of greening the transportation industry by offering an alternative to the current conventional vehicles that use fossil fuels. It is for this reason that Roam is attracting attention because of its impressive innovation. If you already have a diesel or petrol vehicle and want to convert it to electric, Roam has got you covered. It has the machinery, the technology, and the expertise for converting any fossil fuel dependent vehicle into an all-electric vehicle.

One of its notable areas is the mass production of electric mo- torcycles, which only cost about $1200. The motorcycle has the capacity of travelling up to 90 kilometers on a single full charge. The motorcycle has a compartment, where one can have two batteries, and therefore assuring the rider of 180 kilometers before you get to charge again.

Roam has attracted the attention of the public service vehicles and companies, and especially those with a plan of reducing the amount from their vehicles. A company such as Super Metro and Metro Trans have already gotten electric buses as a start for their move to electric buses. This initiative has been welcomed considering that most of these public transportation buses have been accused of emitting dangerous fumes while in the city center, contributing to air pollution.

Roam has also managed to get a tender with the government of Kenya in the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, which is the government public transportation system that will purely use electric buses. The government of Kenya, just like any other government on the African continent and in the world is on the process of greening the transportation sector by reducing the amount of emissions from the industry. The statistics show that the transportation industry is responsible for emitting the largest share of the greenhouse gases into the environment, which is contributing to global warming, and in turn resulting in climate change.

According to the statistics from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), the transportation sector generates up to 28% of the total greenhouse emissions in the world. These emissions primarily come from the combustion of fossil fuels from vehicles, planes, and trains. As such, the efforts and initiative by a company such as Roam should be welcomed and embraced as it stands to offer solution to the huge emission of the greenhouse gases from the transportation sector.

As anticipation of the release of the documentary series by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau rises, the hope is that it will serve to sensitize policy makers and the public on the need to embrace clean transportation alternatives such as electric vehicles by and from Roam. For those that they feel the need to reduce their carbon footprint through their movement, they can consider contacting Roam to have their fossil fuel vehicle converted into a more efficient and environmentally friendly auto-mobile with zero emissions into the environment. Next time you visit a showroom to buy a car, remember there is an alternative to electric vehicles that is more efficient and would aid the campaign of reducing the emissions from the transportation sector. As much as it is the responsibility of corporations to ensure they cut down on their emissions, we also have individual responsible to consider viable alternatives that contribute to cutting down greenhouse gases and be part of fighting the effects of climate change.