Future urban centres and role of innovative city planning for energy systems

After a long process of consultation, the Integrated Urban Development Framework (IDUF) has been released for further discussion and debate. The IDUF is a slim document but contains numerous ideas... 

Living wages, living allowances and the platinum strike

Debates on living wages or minimum wages are not unique to South Africa. You will find similar debates in France, the UK and the US following a recession and growing household debt in these... 

Electricity generation and future prices

Living with an electricity monopoly mandated to provide basic services is always a double-edged sword. If it is well run and efficient, it can be a boon for consumers and the public in general. If... 

Four reasons why nuclear is dead beat

I attended a recent Academy of Science of South Africa (Assaf) conference on nuclear power in Pretoria.  It brought to fore the mountain of justification – moral, financial and technical – the... 

What should we make of the economics of US shale gas industry?

There is heightened activity on the shale-gas front. Government is pushing ahead with hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and the Department of Environmental Affairs recently completed a life-cycle... 

The impact of energy prices on food inflation

On the surface, the relation between high electricity and oil prices and food inflation can be perceived as linear rather than dynamic. There is a relation but it is more complicated. Here are few... 

The good and the bad in the latest IRP

The latest version of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) has some interesting changes, which could have far-reaching consequences for South Africa’s electricity mix. This IRP is a vast improvement... 

Electricity price hikes and their impact on mining

The recent rise in electricity prices is eating away at everybody’s pockets. While energy-intensive users are the largest consumers of electricity, in terms of total share, they receive prices at... 

Enviro externalities and how to deal with them

All environmental externalities emanate from the economy and they also reflect the evolution and moment at which societal values are. In reality, as people’s income and levels of education grow, so... 

Time is ripe for large-scale solar photovoltaic

While the cost of electricity steadily rises and the demand for energy increases, South Africa, a country boasting abundant sunlight, continues to dig deep for high-quality coal to power the... 

MDG 7 review an opportunity for realignment

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are up for review and, by 2015, a new MDG framework has to be put in place, and sustainability issues are gaining prominence. MDG 7 focuses on the... 

The future of central grids

Is it possible that we can have a new world in which the central grid is outdated and a more diffused and dispersed system takes its place? Is this wishful thinking? 

National planning and the role of markets

The National Development Plan (NDP) is receiving vitriol from both the left and liberals these days. The left sees the NDP as being too market friendly, while the right sees it as being too Statist. 

Oil abounds globally, but SA faces uncertainty

Each day, more oil is discovered and the earth seems to spew more of the stuff, mocking the peak oil pundits and adding to the anxieties of climate change watchers. However, increasing supply... 

Carbon tax – the implications for South Africa

In South Africa, there is considerable ambiguity and debate about the implications of tax distortions in the economy and the tax interaction effects arising from the carbon tax. There have been... 

Carbon tax – we must be prepared for what others may throw at us

Minds become focused when things get real rather than abstract. This is what is beginning to happen since the National Treasury released its new discussion document on the carbon tax and the... 

Marrying the carbon budget idea with a carbon tax

The Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS) envisage a purposive transition during which there are insignificant barriers, there is no competition for resources, obtaining resources is not a problem... 

South Africa's IRP2010 blueprint is outdated

Since the first Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) was drafted in 2010, the world has changed: Fukushima happened, more gas has been confirmed off the east coast of Africa, Germany has decided to stop... 

Green growth or deep green economy?

Green growth or deep green economy? The green economy debate has been in South Africa for at least 5 years. The green economy also has other names: “low carbon transition”, “sustainable... 

Of oil refineries, nuclear plants and the planning fallacy

The great project Mthombo (new large refinery capacity) and the proposed 9.6 GW nuclear fleet is still on the cards.  Both do not only describe the need for vast capital investments but also the... 

The challenge of fossil fuel binding constraints

Despite the failure of the recent round of the Doha climate change talks, the national project on a low-carbon transition requires continued impetus. 

LTMS and the challenge of long-term technology planning

Many moons ago, South Africa did pioneering work on how best we can meet our international climate mitigation obligations.  

Will the planet be saved?

Fourteen days of deliberations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change seventeeth Conference of the Parties (COP 17) culminated in a diplomatic coup where, for the first time,...