Renewable energy in South Africa: Potentials, barriers and options for support
Section snippets
The challenge
Climate change is one of this century’s most serious problems. The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC) points to human activity as one of the major causes of global warming. Business as usual may lead to a disastrous transformation of the planet, and recent scientific findings emphasize the growing urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Meinshausen et al., 2009).
The parties to the climate negotiation process under the UN Framework Convention
South Africa in the face of climate change
Africa is regarded by the United Nations as one of the continents most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as a consequence of its high dependency on agriculture, the water stress from which it already suffers and its weak adaptive capacity (IPCC, 2007, 435). The likely impacts are numerous, ranging from changes in water availability and extreme weather events to sea level rise and adverse health impacts.
However, the impacts of climate change differ in the various African regions. In
South Africa’s contribution to climate change
South Africa is already being affected by global climate change, and the impacts will intensify in the coming decades. However, it is also a contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2005, it was responsible for about 1.1 per cent of global emissions and about 40 per cent of emissions in sub-Saharan Africa (WRI, 2009). At an average of 9 tonnes CO2e per person in 2005, the per capita emission rate almost equalled the average per capita emissions of 10.7 tonnes in the European Union.
Structure of the South African electricity sector
The sector is dominated by Eskom, a state-owned enterprise. Eskom not only produces almost all of South African electricity (95 per cent), but also owns and operates the national transmission system. Only about 2 per cent of South African electricity is produced by private companies.
The primary energy source used in electricity production is coal (86 per cent), followed by nuclear energy (5 per cent) and various other sources, including renewable energies such as hydro power (see Fig. 2). The
Promoting private-sector involvement in renewable energy
While rising electricity prices will improve the competitive position of renewable energy technologies in the future, these technologies will still need considerable support if they are to be deployed on a commercial, large-scale basis. This support is needed as soon as possible, since investment cycles are comparatively long in the energy sector. Investments in fossil-fuel-powered stations undertaken today lock these technologies in for decades to come. The South African government has
Conclusions
South Africa is well endowed with renewable energy resources, especially solar energy. Tapping into this resource would help to meet both the emissions and the energy supply challenge. In addition, the deployment of renewable energy will reduce air pollution and so contribute to health improvements. Renewable energy technologies may also increase electricity access in remote areas since they are suitable for small-scale, off-grid solutions. By facilitating income generation and health care,
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