Green Economy Journal Issue 58

ENERGY
IT’S TIME TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR
and ask ourselves if we really care about our planet
Let’s take a moment and reflect on the energy crisis in this country. We are hovering around stage 6
loadshedding at the time of writing this, and there are fears that it will get worse during winter.
BY REVOV*
Simply put, we don’t have enough energy to power our faltering
economy. That’s the one side of the coin. On the other side,
we find ourselves in a world that is under increasing pressure
to reduce carbon emissions. Make no mistake, our country will
pay the price in terms of international trade unless we step up
and honour our renewable energy obligations.
However, there is a third side to this coin – the rim. And the rim
of this coin is not defined by either the pressure of supply or the
pressure to avoid losing out on international trade. It is defined by
the ethical responsibility of doing the right thing. We must start
caring about the planet.
Around the world, and especially in this country, people are quick
to dismiss the “green agenda”. Let’s take a moment to reflect on how
this plays out in South Africa.
On a national level, we are being told that we don’t have the luxury
to worry about renewables because there is an urgent energy crisis to
fix. The solution, we are told, lies in ships burning gas off our coastline,
and a re-investment in our notoriously unreliable and dirty coal power
stations.
On a personal level, we hear that we don’t have the luxury to worry
about the lowest carbon footprint energy backup solutions because
we must keep the lights on as cost-effectively as possible. This
inevitably leads to people using generators or battery systems made
from inferior chemistry, or from the right chemistry but without much
thought going into the carbon footprint of the battery.
Worrying about whether we will have a planet in a generation’s
time is certainly not a luxury. It is the absolute crux of the point.
This is the radical mindshift that’s required. It is time more South
Africans stood up for the environment. If anyone needs to be
reminded just how dire the situation is, do yourself a favour and visit
the Human Impact Lab’s Climate clock. We have eight years left until
the dominoes fall one by one.
It is the absolute crux of the point.
We must start caring
about the planet.
Remember the chimney collapse at Kusile? To rush the unit back
into operation by the end of this year, a host of environmental standards
(such as removing dangerous chemicals from the byproduct) have
been waived – all in the name of reducing loadshedding. Fair
enough, but does the prospect of acid rain on innocent people in
Mozambique not keep you awake at night? It should.
A common refrain in South Africa is that renewables cannot
produce the amount of power we need. Renewables really can
generate power – and large amounts to boot. Not only will it go a
long way towards solving the energy crisis, but it will be clean and
more reliable.
In one year, Vietnam’s ambitious and forward-looking rooftop
solar programme added 9.3GW of electricity to the country’s
energy supply. Today, because they did not invest fast enough in
transmission infrastructure at the same time, they must put a lid
on the sheer amount of power being generated. Don’t let anyone
tell you renewables can’t produce enough electricity: regulations
and an outdated mindset is what stops renewables from generating
enough electricity.
We simply must do the right thing. Renewable energy, backed up
with 2nd LiFe battery technology – with as close to a zero-carbon
footprint as possible, and which fills a crucial spot in the circular
economy as it solves what to do with replaced electric vehicles’
batteries instead of dumping them in landfills – ensures we have
an almost endless supply of energy storage capacity waiting to be
put to use.
It just takes bravery.
* Written by Lance Dickerson, MD at REVOV.
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