On the Horizon

Reducing carbon emissions – a perspective from South Africa

Thomas Store, Future Foundations Low/Zero Carbon Manager, writes:

Many people were despairing about the failure of a meaningful international agreement at the UN’s Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen in December. However, it's reassuring to see that other countries outside Europe are getting on with the business of reducing emissions. I was privileged enough to get away over the Christmas period to the other side of the world and it’s from South Africa that I offer a perspective on our efforts here in the UK and Europe to reduce carbon emissions.

Two years ago when I visited South Africa I was frequently subjected to what local South Africans refer to as ‘load shedding’. ‘Load shedding’ is an energy management strategy to deal with a shortage of mains electricity regionally. So if you happened to be in an area that was short of electricity, the supplier simply switched off a selected part of the region to ensure the rest of the region enjoyed an uninterrupted supply.

This was the result of poor energy planning, the unforeseen impact of the rising middle class and traditionally low electricity prices in South Africa. In addition, for a country blessed with plentiful bright sunshine, there was very little evidence of solar PV or hot water renewable energy systems.

Now, just two years on, ‘load shedding’ is a thing of the past and the government, along with the energy supplier, is offering generous grants for solar PV and hot water installations. In addition, South Africa has become the first African country to introduce feed-in tariffs for energy generated through wind and incidentally to offer some of the most attractive feed-in tariffs for renewables generally in the world!

In a nearby township I saw that new government-funded houses had been built with solar hot water panels (there is no piped gas in South Africa so all hot water is traditionally heated with electricity). There is also more evidence of private houses sporting brand new solar hot water installations -  no doubt aided by the lack of planning requirements. Mains electricity prices are reported to be rising by 31% in 2010 and all these measures will hopefully serve to reduce consumption and increase production so that the existing energy infrastructure can cope.

If the energy problems seem to be resolved in short term, a long standing issue has come to the fore again: water shortages. While some parts of the country are experiencing unprecedented amounts of summer rainfall, other parts are locked into some of the worst drought conditions they have ever seen. Even in parts of the country that have had abundant rainfall, water treatment costs are said to be rising due to an ageing infrastructure and polluted water sources. A critical water shortage is predicted for 2013.

Where I was staying, the municipality was installing a very expensive desalination plant to cope with the critical water shortage and another plant in the next town along the coast is planned for installation in early 2010. These water shortages have taken place on the back of unchecked housing development in the area. Most are large homes and a good majority of them are second homes - indeed it’s no coincidence that the desalination plant was in operation for the peak summer holiday season over Christmas and New Year.

Though advertisements for water reduction abound and a hose pipe ban has been announced, many households are responding by drilling boreholes or installing huge water storage tanks for rainwater. The house I stayed in had the capacity to store 5000 litres of rainwater, which they used for washing vegetables, clothes and watering the garden. A friend of mine who has no mains water supply is self sufficient in water, with the capacity to hold 20,000 litres of water and a nearby dam where he can supplement his rainwater supply.

Besides these measures, technological solutions to reduce water consumption such as low flow and volume taps and cisterns seem absent in South African households and businesses. Mains water charges are reported to be rising by 30-50% in 2010 to pay for additional infrastructure (such as desalination plants) in an effort to reduce water consumption.

South Africa also established a Green Building Council (GBCSA) in 2007. GBCSA then launched the Green Star South Africa Environmental Rating System for Buildings (Green Star SA) in November 2008 for new commercial buildings, which is based on the Australian Green Building Council Green Star rating tool.

So, nations from far away are also coming to grips with the sustainability agenda and face real challenges like we do in the UK. One of the interesting things that will take hold this year is Part G of Building Regulations which has introduced water efficiency measures for all new houses. In addition, the 2010 Part L Building Regulation changes come into effect, which require all new buildings to show a 25% improvement in carbon dioxide emissions on the 2006 regulations. There is also a consultation on extending permitted development rights for small scale renewable and low carbon energy technologies and for electric vehicle charging infrastructure in existing buildings.

And finally, there is the very exciting development of the UK feed-in tariff for micro- renewables which is expected to come into force in April 2010. This should make investing in micro-renewables much more attractive. Anyone wanting more information on this should visit  http://www.fitariffs.co.uk/ - an excellent source of information.