Solar PV Atlas: Solar Power in Harmony with Nature - WWF

Solar PV Atlas
Solar PV Atlas: SOUTH AFRICA
Less than one-tenth of
one per cent (0.09 per
cent) of South Africa’s
land would need to host
solar PV generation in
order to meet 100 per
cent of the country’s
projected electricity
needs in 2050.
The Republic of South Africa is a country
of approximately 50.6 million people
(2011). 1 In 2010, approximately 62 per
cent of the population lived in urban
areas, 2 and the country’s GDP per capita
was US$10,280. 3 About 75 per cent of
South Africans have access to electricity.
The South African energy supply is dominated
by coal, with 65.7 per cent of the
primary energy supply, followed by crude
oil with 21.6 per cent, renewable and
wastes with 7.6 per cent and gas with
2.8 per cent. South Africa is a large coal
producer, with proven coal reserves of 48
gigatonnes, representing 5.7 per cent of
total global reserves. 4
South Africa is the third-most biologically
diverse country in the world. With
a land surface area equivalent to just 1
per cent of the Earth’s total land surface,
South Africa has almost 10 per cent of
the world’s known bird, fish, and plant
species and more than 6 per cent of the
Earth’s mammal and reptile species.
South Africa’s incredible biodiversity is
due to its wide range of climatic conditions
and unique topography. Most of the
country is situated on a high-lying plateau,
between two very different oceans:
the Atlantic and the Indian.
Habitat destruction, pollution, invasive
species, and climate change are currently
threatening South Africa’s flora and
fauna. More than 2,000 of the nation’s
plants are threatened. The government
is trying to counteract this decline in
biodiversity with several programmes but
progress has been slow. A rapid development
of renewable energy in the country
would contribute to the world’s fight
against climate change and could mitigate
some of the local threats to habitat
by reducing local pollution and destructive
land use practices.
SOUTH AFRICA
© Michel Terrettaz / WWF-Canon
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