Bringing life to old mines through clean energy

Mine closures can be associated with a number of environmental and socio-economic impacts: pollution, adverse effect on human health and loss of jobs. Often mining rehabilitation is viewed as a burden by mining companies. The growing evidence of the development of renewable energy on old mining sites highlights an opportunity to re-use such spaces for positive impact. Deploying renewable energy on old sites can generate revenues, produce clean energy and create greener jobs for local communities. There are a number of international examples of successful projects developed at old mines, and South African has an abundance of old mines that could thus potentially be put to good use once again.

Warning to Eskom’s residential consumers: your electricity bill may need closer scrutiny

The blog aims to highlight inconsistencies in Eskom’s newly introduced bill estimation policy observed from the writer’s household bill. It highlights the non-transparent manner in which this policy was introduced and raises questions about Eskom’s underlying motives for doing so. Eskom’s residential customers are urged to carefully assess their energy usage and if necessary direct any questions to the utility.

Energy efficiency offers more than just energy savings and lower carbon emissions

Energy efficiency has traditionally been associated with energy interventions and policy. The multiple benefits approach seeks to broaden our understanding of energy efficiency by highlighting the wider social and economic gains that can be achieved by government and business through energy interventions. Given the current energy crisis in South Africa, and the country’s sluggish growth performance, it is important that we look beyond conventional supply measures, and also consider the immediate and wider benefits from energy efficiency that might be derived from demand-side management tools.

Fracking the Karoo: many uncertainties remain

The discourse surrounding the possible exploitation of shale gas from the Karoo Basin has focused on emphasising its likely benefits (trumpeted by government and energy sector insiders) and costs (the focus of environmental groups and concerned citizens). A rigorous assessment of these expected costs and benefits, however, is currently lacking. On the benefits side, two factors in particular, namely the size of the shale gas resource and the impact of the possible greater integration of the South African market for natural gas with international and regional markets, do not seem to have received sufficient attention.

A cost-benefit analysis is only as good as the assumptions that underlie it. If a rigorous assessment of the relative merits of exploiting Karoo Basin shale gas is to be undertaken, it is important that these two factors (amongst other critical assumptions – on both the cost and benefit side of the analysis) are considered in detail.