(Ed) 2006. Energy policies for sustainable development in South Africa

16 ENERGY POLICIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
efficiency improvements are expected with oil-powered fuel cell technologies and with gaspowered
technologies with improved turbine systems and fuel cells.
2.3.2.2 Energy efficiency technologies
There is room for significant improvement in energy efficiency in South Africa, especially in
the power and industrial sectors, but also in the household sector. However, major policy
changes will be needed to achieve these gains. The changes would have to be a
combination of regulatory and market-based policies and institutional changes. At present
the NER, along with Eskom, has embarked on load management and demand-side
management programmes in the residential, industrial and commercial sectors, aiming to
achieve gains between 1000 MW and 3000 MW by 2010.
2.3.2.3 Renewable energy technologies
Compared to the total energy used, the usage of renewables is very small, but the
government intends to increase it to about 14% by 2014 (Mlambo-Ngcuka 2003). A White
Paper on renewable energy was published in 2003.
2.3.3 Complying with environmental regulations
Because of South Africa’s extensive use of coal and petroleum fuels, adverse impacts on
both the local and global environment are significant.
The extraction of large quantities of coal leads to noticeable environmental impacts and
‘upstream’ emissions. For example, most of the methane released from the South African
energy sector is as a result of coal mining. Land scarring is caused by pit digging and
discard dumping. Discard dumps are prone to spontaneous combustion, water pollution
from run-off, and increased surrounding particulate concentrations. The conversion of coal
to petroleum products is about 40% efficient, resulting in significant emissions. Coal power
generation is relatively efficient, operating at about 35%. Power stations produce large
amounts of CO 2 , SO 2 , NO x and ash, although stacks that penetrate the inversion layers,
and effective ESP particulate controls, minimise impacts of all but the CO 2 emissions.
South Africa is presently drafting stricter air quality standards. The country is a signatory to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and at the
same time it is Africa’s highest emitter of greenhouse gases. It is very likely that targets will
be imposed on South Africa as soon as these apply to developing countries. Complying
with such obligations, both local and global, will be expensive. To ensure sustainable
development, this should not be done at the expense of the country’s socio-economic
development.
2.3.4 Energy integration and security in Africa
South Africa is a member of the SAPP – made up of the different power utilities in
Southern Africa, with a secretariat in Harare, Zimbabwe. SAPP started operations in 2002,
with the aim of optimising the use of electricity in the region. South Africa has the biggest
electricity utility in SAPP, and its future will be affected by SAPP’s activities. Eskom is
currently working in 39 African countries, confirming South Africa’s importance for energy
integration in the continent.
As an example of regional energy cooperation, South Africa has embarked on diversifying
its energy supply base and reducing its reliance on the coal that accounts for 75% of its
energy supply. Substitution of coal for natural gas from Mozambique is one such measure:
full operation of this system started in early 2004. It is intended to use the gas to produce
power in combined cycles. Work with Namibia to develop its natural gas potential is also