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Tag: Africa

Miners experiment with hydrogen to power giant trucks

Posted on by dishanth
Miners experiment with hydrogen to power giant trucks

Mining trucks are monstrous machines that guzzle fuel at a scarcely believable rate.

Weighing 220 tonnes, they can get through 134 litres of diesel every hour.

Little wonder then that mining companies are focusing their attention on these vehicles as the first step to reducing their carbon footprint.

Anglo American, in collaboration with several partners, is retrofitting a mining haul truck with hydrogen power technology.

A first of its kind, the monster mining vehicle is being piloted in Limpopo, South Africa, at the firm’s Mogalakwena platinum mine.

Due to be launched in early 2022, the truck will be hybrid, with a hydrogen fuel cell providing roughly half of the power and a battery pack the other half.

 

Instead of having a tank of diesel that powers the motor, hydrogen enters the fuel cell and mixes with oxygen to create water in a chemical reaction catalysed by platinum, which generates the electricity needed to power the motors that drive the wheels.

It only emits water vapour and the company says it has the potential to reduce on-site diesel emissions by up to 80%.

By rolling out this technology across its global truck fleet, Anglo American says it will be “taking the equivalent of half a million diesel cars off the road”.

 

Mining trucks can get through 134 litres of diesel an hour

 

The trucks also harvest regenerative energy created when driving downhill and braking, which is stored in the battery and extends the range of the vehicle.

Anglo is developing the truck along with partners Engie, NPROXX, First Mode, Williams Advanced Engineering, Ballard, ABB, Nel and Plug Power.

However, reducing the carbon footprint of the mining industry is a formidable task.

The construction sector, which includes mining, accounted for 36% of global final energy use and 39% of energy-related CO2 emissions in 2017, according to Davide Sabbadin, senior policy officer for climate and circular economy at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).

He says the sector will need to reduce its energy consumption by a third if it hopes to be compatible with the Paris Agreement.

Hydrogen-powered trucks are a good start but need closer inspection, says Diego Marin, associate policy officer for environmental justice at the EEB.

“While electric-powered vehicles, generally speaking, are less damaging to the environment than internal combustion engines on a life cycle analysis, this does not mean that they are green,” he says.

Mr Marin points out it all hinges on how the hydrogen is produced. Some hydrogen is created using fossil fuels, which of course means there are substantial emissions as a result.

 

Hydrogen is not the cure-all for mining’s environmental problems, says Davide Sabbadin

 

Anglo American says it is pulling out all the stops in an attempt to attain carbon neutrality by 2040.

Its hydrogen-powered hauler uses green hydrogen, which is made by splitting water atoms into oxygen and hydrogen, through electrolysis.

Even that is treated with caution by the EEB.

“We should refrain from presenting hydrogen as a technological solution to all problems… all forms of hydrogen come at an environmental cost – water use, impacts on nature,” says Mr Sabbadin.

The EEB also points out that hydrogen power has a shorter storage life than other renewables and is substantially more expensive to produce.

 

Whether it be investment for the mining industry’s green goals or hydrogen power as a broader power solution, the issue of cost is definitely a pertinent one in South Africa.

Jarrad Wright, an energy consultant and principal engineer for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) explains.

“Hydrogen for power production is still quite expensive and unlikely to compete for some time.”

This is largely due to a lack of supporting infrastructure for the new forms of energy to be created, distributed or stored.

But, Mr Wright adds that it is possible to migrate to hydrogen in specific applications.

 

There is a plan to make Mogalakwena mine the centre of a hydrogen production network

 

At the moment South Africa’s hydrogen power infrastructure is still sparse.

But the government and private partners are exploring ways to transform the country’s platinum belt into a “hydrogen valley”, with a focus on producing green hydrogen.

Anglo American is one of the private partners in this hydrogen infrastructure plan, which aims to create a regional renewable energy ecosystem.

The starting point for this ecosystem is due to be built at the Mogalakwena mine itself, through the construction of a hydrogen production and storage complex. It incorporates the largest electrolyser in Africa, a solar power field, and will generate approximately 140MW of green power.

Initially, it will be to support the 24-hour operation of the new truck, but once operational, the aim is for numerous complexes such as this one, to serve as local and regional hubs for the emerging hydrogen economy.

“The ecosystem would not only help us reduce our… emissions, but would also provide the foundation for green hydrogen production, facilitating the roll-out of hydrogen-powered haul trucks across South Africa,” Anglo says.

 

 

Source BBC

Renewable energy is fueling a forgotten conflict in Africa’s last colony

Posted on by dishanth
Renewable energy is fueling a forgotten conflict in Africa’s last colony

Morocco has positioned itself as a global leader in the fight against climate change, with one of the highest-rated national action plans. But though the north African country intends to generate half its electricity from renewables by 2030, its plans show that much of this energy will come from wind and solar farms in occupied land in neighbouring Western Sahara. Indeed, in my research I have looked at how Morocco has exploited renewable energy developments to entrench the occupation.

Western Sahara, a sparsely-populated desert territory bordering the Atlantic Ocean, is Africa’s last colony. In 1975, its coloniser Spain sold it to Morocco and Mauritania in exchange for continued access to Western Sahara’s rich fisheries and a share of the profits from a lucrative phosphates mine.

According to Morocco, Western Sahara formed part of the Moroccan sultanate before Spanish colonisation in the 1880s. However, that year the International Court of Justice disagreed, and urged a self-determination referendum on independence for the indigenous Saharawis. Nevertheless, Morocco invaded and used napalm against fleeing Saharawi refugees.

 

Western Sahara is about the size of the UK with 1% the population. All the territory east of the red line is controlled by the Polisario, everything west of the line is controlled by Morocco. The government-in-exile is in Tindouf, southwest Algeria. kmusser / wiki, CC BY-SA

 

Tens of thousands of Saharawis fled to neighbouring Algeria, where the Saharawi liberation front, the Polisario, established a state-in-exile, the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Other Saharawis remained under Moroccan occupation.

Today a sandy wall, or berm, runs the length of the country and everything to the east of the berm remains under the control of the Polisario. Numerous landmines deter a large-scale return of refugees, though some Saharawi nomads do live there.

Morocco and Polisario were at war until 1991, when the UN brokered a ceasefire on the promise of a referendum on independence for Saharawis. This referendum has been continuously blocked by Morocco, which considers Western Sahara part of its “southern provinces”.

Since the 1940s the UN and its special committee on decolonisation has maintained a list of non-self governing territories. As territories gained independence, they have gradually been ticked off the list, and those that remain are almost all small Pacific or Caribbean island nations.

In each case, an “administering power” (usually the UK) is officially noted. Western Sahara is the only African territory remaining on the list. It’s also the only territory where the administering power column is left blank – a footnote explains the UN considers it a “question of decolonisation which remained to be completed by the people of Western Sahara”. Morocco however doesn’t see itself as the occupying power or even as the administering power but says that Western Sahara is simply part of its country.

In November 2020, armed war resumed between the two parties. In a recent journal article, my colleagues Mahmoud Lemaadel, Hamza Lakhal and I argue that the exploitation of natural resources, including renewable energy, played no small role in provoking this renewed war.

 

Renewable energy from occupied land

Western Sahara is very sunny and surprisingly windy – a natural renewable energy powerhouse. Morocco has exploited these resources by building three large wind farms (five more are planned) and two solar farms (another is planned).

 

Map of wind power resource across Africa. Red and purple = more wind. The purple area in the north-west covers Western Sahara and Mauritania. Global Wind Atlas / DTU, CC BY-SA

 

But these developments have made Morocco partly dependent on Western Sahara for its energy supply. Morocco already gets 18% of its installed wind capacity and 15% of its solar from the occupied territory, and by 2030 that could increase to almost half of its wind and up to a third of its solar. That’s according to a new report Greenwashing the Occupation by Western Sahara Resource Watch, a Brussels-based organisation I am affiliated with.

In its nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the Paris climate agreement, Morocco reports on developments in occupied Western Sahara – which it calls its provinces sud (southern provinces) – as if they were in Morocco. This energy dependence entrenches the occupation and undermines the UN peace process.

According to Saharawi researchers, several Saharawi families have been forcibly evicted from their homes to make way for some of these solar farms. My colleagues have also documented forced eviction associated with the development of the wider energy system in Western Sahara.

 

Wind farm under construction near Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara. jbdodane / flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

 

Saharawi refugees have used solar panels for domestic energy since the late 1980s. The SADR-in-exile would now like to roll out small-scale wind and solar installations in the part of Western Sahara that it controls, in order to power the communal wells, pharmacies and other services there that are used by nomads.

I was recently part of a team that assisted the SADR in developing an indicative nationally determined contribution (iNDC) – essentially an unofficial version of the climate action plans each country was required to submit ahead of the recent UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

 

The Saharawi Republic launched their iNDC at the COP26 People’s Summit, 8 November 2021. Joanna Allan

 

SADR hopes this may help to attract climate finance. The iNDC can also be interpreted as a challenge to climate injustice. While having negligible responsibility for the climate emergency, the Saharawis nevertheless face some of its worst impacts: ongoing sand storms, flash flooding, and summer temperatures of over 50°C.

The formal NDC process excludes occupied and displaced populations such as Saharawis from global conversations on how to tackle the climate emergency. The iNDC is an assertive step to demand that Saharawis are heard.

 

 

Source The Conversation

Cop26: African nations seek talks on $700bn climate finance deal

Posted on by dishanth
Cop26: African nations seek talks on $700bn climate finance deal

African nations want Cop26 to open discussions this week on a mega-financing deal that would channel $700bn (£520bn) every year from 2025 to help developing nations adapt to the climate crisis.

Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale, the chair of the African Group of Negotiators on climate change, said the increased finance was needed for the accelerated phase of decarbonisation required to hold global heating to 1.5C.

These funds would also be essential, he said, to cope with the impacts, including fiercer heat, widening droughts and more intense storms and floods, which are using up an increasingly large share of GDP. According to a recent study, some African nations are already spending more on climate adaptation than on healthcare and education.

“The work on this needs to start now,” said the climate diplomat from Gabon. “Talks about finance take time so we need to have a roadmap now with clear milestones on how to achieve targets after 2025 to ensure the money flows every year.”

It is also a question of justice. The climate problem was largely created by Europe, North America and east Asia, but the worst impacts are in the southern hemisphere. In 2009, rich nations promised $100bn a year, which was considered a downpayment and an important gesture of trust.

 

Until now, they have welched on the deal by providing only 80% of what they had promised. For the African group, Glasgow is a time to make amends and lift the level of support in line with the greater urgency demanded by science.

The money is needed immediately, say negotiators. According to a recent study by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Cameron devotes close to 9% of its GDP on climate adaptation, Ethiopia 8%, Zimbabwe 9%, while Sierra Leone, Senegal and Ghana are all more than 7%. Even with these high shares of domestic funding, the study found a gap of about 80% between need and expenditure.

Gahouma-Bekale, who also serves as special adviser to the Gabonese president, Ali Bongo, said the opening phase of Cop26 had pushed the world in a more positive direction, but words needed to be backed by actions in the second week.

“We have received some assurance during the world leaders’ summit that they really want to close the gap and we have seen strong announcements on deforestation and methane,” he said. “What we want to see now is implementation. Only implementation can give us the assurance we need that we can keep warming to 1.5C.”

 

Africa accounts for less than 4% of historical global emissions, compared with 25% for China, 22% for the EU and 13% for China. But it has suffered many of the most devastating effects of climate disruption, recently including droughts in the Sahel and floods in the Nile delta. In future, it is expected to be among the most vulnerable regions of the world to heatwaves and crop failures.

 

 

Some African countries have shown leadership. Gabon is among a handful of nations that already have a carbon-negative economy because its vast tropical forests in the Congo Basin absorb more greenhouse gases than its factories, cars and cities emit. It has recently passed an ambitious climate law that aims to ensure the country remains dependant on forests and agriculture rather than the fossil fuel industry. To achieve this goal, it needs outside support so that the government can continue to raise living standards.

Many African nations depend on coal for electricity and did not join a declaration this week by more than 40 countries to quit this most polluting of fossil fuels. Gahouma-Bekale said this pledge was an important step forward, but developing nations would need more time.

“This is very good news for the world,” he said. “If we want to succeed with the Paris goals, then we must phase out all fossil fuels, and coal is among them. But our situation in Africa is different. We are still on our way to be developed. We can’t drastically stop coal and oil. For now we need to use it to eradicate poverty and access to energy. We will need support for the transition. And we need to be flexible. For five to 10 years, we must do the two together [coal and renewables] so the transition can be smooth.”

That transition will depend on a flow of funding. African nations insist wealthy countries are held as rigorously to account on their finance promises as they are on emissions reductions. That means regular reporting on the levels of support provided, needed and received.

“What we want to achieve at this Cop is a transparency framework with strong rules on accounting,” said Gahouma-Bekale.

 

 

Source The Guardian

From pre-loved fashion to shopping local: 5 ways lockdown has encouraged sustainable living

Posted on by dishanth
From pre-loved fashion to shopping local: 5 ways lockdown has encouraged sustainable living

Over the past year, the coronavirus pandemic has transformed the way we live, impacting everything from how we work to how we socialize.

One of the few positive results of the pandemic has been that many people have become more aware of their carbon footprints. In April 2020, an Ipsos survey found that 71 percent of people in 14 countries felt that climate change was as serious a crisis as the pandemic. In July 2020, a survey by green energy provider Bulb found that more than a third of the UK public were living more sustainably during the shutdown. Meanwhile, an American survey conducted by the Boston Consultancy Group at the same time found that 70 percent of people were more aware of their environmental impacts than before.

“I think a lot of people at home have a new appreciation for nature and its local environment,” a WWF spokesperson told The Independent . WWF Executive Director Tanya Steele adds that this year marks the beginning of a “critical decade” when it comes to taking action against the climate crisis. “It has never been more important for people to use their voice, their own power, to defend nature and show leaders why they should care,” she says.

It goes without saying that spending more time outdoors can have a huge impact on one’s relationship with the environment. “One of the things we’ve all noticed is the importance of our green spaces,” Environment Minister Rebecca Pow told The Independent . “I am encouraged to see that more and more people are using them to connect with nature, which is beneficial for physical and mental health.”

The environmental benefits of the blockade have also been evident. In April, reports emerged of wild animals emerging from their hiding places and roaming the suddenly empty streets. Dolphins were suddenly spotted off Boshprosu, Istanbul, one of the world’s busiest sea lanes, while wild boars roamed the streets of Haifa, Israel. Closer to home, reports noted a significant increase in bat, bee and squirrel sightings in 2020 in the UK compared to the previous year.

Other benefits were seen in the form of reports that air pollution had decreased by record amounts in countries around the world.

But how did we become more sustainable as individuals during the confinement? And can we continue like this once the restrictions are lifted? These are the climate lessons we learned during the confinement.

 

Changing our diets

It’s no secret that moving toward a more plant-based diet can have a hugely positive impact on the environment. Not only did roughly 14 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions from human activities come from livestock, but a study published in Science in 2018 that listed the environmental impact of 40 top foods found that the top nine were all products. of animal origin.

A few weeks after the first shutdown, reports emerged that millions of Britons were cutting back on meat and dairy , while supermarkets reported an increase in demand for vegan products. Meanwhile, The Vegan Society found that one in five Britons have reduced their meat consumption during the pandemic, while 15 percent have reduced their dairy consumption. Then, in January 2021, the organization’s month-long annual vegan commitment, Veganuary, reported its highest number of sign-ups: 500,000.

There are several reasons why people might have been drawn to veganism in the confinement. “For some, it is because their usual food options were not available at the supermarket, for others it has been a cost-saving exercise,” a spokesperson for The Vegan Society told The Independent.

“However, I think more than anything else, the pandemic has put health at the forefront of people’s minds and we have suddenly become much more aware of what we are eating, where it comes from and how it makes us feel.” .

“Consumers are becoming more conscientious and ethical shoppers with many interested in seeking cruelty-free and plant-based alternatives.”

 

We stop traveling

The pandemic has put an end to international travel for most of the past year.

Massive flight grounding during 2020 reduced aviation’s CO2 emissions by about 60 percent, according to the Global Carbon Project .

Instead of traveling abroad in search of warmer climates, Brits embraced home vacations during the summer months, and a luxury accommodation specialist, Hoseasons, reported a new booking every 11 seconds in June after the first Minister lifted restrictions on overnight stays. Meanwhile, Hoseasons sister company cottages.com reported a 455 percent increase in year-on-year bookings.

But beyond the holidays, due to restrictions that required Brits to stay within their local areas, we also stopped using trains and cars to get around so much, instead favoring walking and cycling: bicycle sales increased by 63 percent during the confinement.

As a result, in London, traffic pollution was reduced by as much as 50 percent during the first blockade, according to a study . Meanwhile, data from the London Air Quality Network, run by King’s College London , found that air pollution dropped substantially in UK cities in March 2020.

Professor Alastair Lewis, from the National Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the University of York, explained at the time: “This is primarily a consequence of lower traffic volumes, and some of the clearest reductions have been in nitrogen dioxide, which mainly comes from the vehicle’s exhaust. ”

 

Eat more at home

With the hospitality industry shut down for much of 2020, Brits ate at home more than ever. While this has resulted in a major economic hit to the industry, cooking and eating more at home has some environmental benefits. In other words, it gives you more control over food waste prevention, which the nonprofit Friends of the Earth cites as one of the biggest problems regarding the environmental impact of our food.

Friends of the Earth estimates that more than 10 million tonnes of food is disposed of in the UK each year. And many of the things people can do to combat this come from eating more at home – recycling their own food waste, composting, and using leftovers. You can read more about food waste prevention here .

Plus, eating at home gives you more control over where you get your ingredients from. This means that you can choose to buy seasonal products that have been sourced locally rather than those that have been brought in from abroad, further reducing your carbon footprint.

Data from the shopping intelligence platform Cardlytics also found that meal kits and grocery boxes saw great growth in sales during the pandemic – spending on DIY meal kit companies, including Hello Fresh, Gousto and Mindful Chef, grew 114% in April 2020 compared to the previous year, also reducing food waste as the kits provide consumers with the exact amount of ingredients needed for a particular recipe.

We have yet to see if the pandemic will have a lasting impact on whether we eat more at home, but Mintel research found that more than half (55 percent) of people are already planning to cook at home more after COVID-19 in compared to before.

 

Buy less and favor your favorite fashion

One of the many ways we have become more sustainable is through our fashion choices. In 2020, clothing sales fell 25 percent, marking the biggest drop in 23 years, according to ONS figures . This is not surprising considering we had so few opportunities to socialize last year and nonessential retail was closed for much of 2020.

However, some of us looked online for our fashion solution, and when we did, we regularly opted for pre-loved clothing. In 2020, second-hand shopping app Depop saw a 200 percent year-on-year traffic increase, and its turnover doubled globally since April 1. Meanwhile, eBay reported that it had sold 1,211 percent more used items in June 2020 compared to 2018, noting a further increase of 195,691 percent in second-hand designer fashion sales at the same time.

Another eco-friendly fashion habit that emerged over the last year is DIY fashion. Remember the TikTok crochet trend that emerged last year as a result of people trying to recreate the JW Anderson multi-colored cardigan worn by Harry Styles? How could you forget? It proved so popular that Anderson himself eventually released the pattern so that people could recreate the exact cardigan at home. “Crafts flourish when people get stuck at home,” Abby Glassenberg, president and co-founder of the Craft Industry Alliance , previously told The Independent.

 

Participation in local community groups

Another way the pandemic has made us more sustainable is simply because more people are joining local community groups that are dedicated to fighting the climate crisis. Speaking to The Independent , Friends of the Earth says they have noticed a significant increase in the number of people joining local groups.

Alasdair Roxburgh, Director of Communities and Networks for Friends of the Earth, told The Independent: “The biggest and most important change we have seen in environmental action over the past year is how people have come together in their communities to support one another.

“In just over a year since we launched them, there are now 250 Climate Action Groups in communities across the country. The incredible work done by mutual aid groups, councils, local businesses and more showed the power and speed of change that can occur when communities work together at the local level. This has definitely translated into action against the climate crisis. ”

You can see the full list of the nonprofit’s Climate Action Groups on their website , which has a tool that allows you to type in your zip code and find the one closest to you. Different groups have different priorities.

For example, in Newcastle, a group has petitioned the government for safe cycling, and in Newbury, they are campaigning for paper bags at their local Tesco. Meanwhile, in Ilkley, a group is campaigning for local people to switch to banks that don’t invest in fossil fuels.

 

 

Source The Independent

How Solar And Renewable Energy In Africa Makes A Better Future

Posted on by dishanth
How Solar And Renewable Energy In Africa Makes A Better Future

When we hear Africa, the first thing that comes in our mind that it is the world’s second largest continent and second most-populated continent with 1.2 billion people. But it is strange that around 600 million people in Africa are living without having regular access to electricity and most of the population lives in rural areas which are hard to reach.

For these people, it would take many more years to gain access to electricity, and this entire process will require the right amount of investment. Though, business entrepreneurs and households in rural Kenya has discovered a promising solution to this problem in installation of mini-grids to meet their day-to-day demands,

Local businesses can be connected to the microgrids provided by the community, and the payments can be taken through online mobile money system which is already being used in many countries worldwide.

In the past few decades, with the significant advancement in technology and reduced production costs, solar technology has become quite inexpensive and affordable.  The growing availability of solar appliances like solar fans, LED lights, solar refrigerators, TV and the other types of equipment has increased the solar energy expansion in rural areas.

 

Why is Africa moving towards Solar and renewable energy?

A published study Brighter Africa by McKinsey has stated that sub-Saharan Africa will utilize about 1600 terawatt of electricity by the year 2040, and it is four times of utilized electricity of the year 2010 and Similar to combined electricity of Latin America and India in 2010 (but still there are 30 % of the population who still do not have access to electricity.)

 

 

The investment required to meet this production level by 2040 is around $490 billion and $345 billion will be required for its transmission and distribution.  There will rise in the share of natural gas from 6 to 45 % by the year 2040, and the expense of coal will drop from 51 % to 23%. The share of renewables will increase up to 26%  which is presently around 21%.

 

Future Scope of Solar and Renewable Energy for Africa

Solar and wind energy has now become the most efficient way to generate energy as the life span of the coal-powered station has almost completed.  By 2050, around 95 % of electricity in Africa will be generated by using renewable energy resources like solar, wind and geothermal energy.

Renewable energy is the most effective solution to the long-running shortage of electricity supply in South Africa as in Africa around two-thirds of the population which is approximately 600 million people have electricity access. With only seven countries of this continent with exceeding 50% of electricity rates, electricity access is the main reason behind the development. It is essential to power telecommunication, water supply, healthcare, and educational services.

With the potential of generating 10 terawatts of solar energy, 1 gigawatt of geothermal energy and 1300 gigawatts of wind power, renewable energy will be the future of Africa. It will eliminate the requirements of fossil fuels which has a negative impact on the environment as well as society.  African governments, as well as the private sector, are now finding cheaper and smarter ways to produce the energy and tackle the electricity deficit in the continent.

Most of the experts agree that Africa requires to increase its electricity production by using renewable sources like wind, predominantly solar and hydroelectric. Africa is the continent of a growing private market for renewable energy ventures which results in the increased number of investors who are investing in the development of technologies that can lead to sustainable and clean energy generation.

Energy market of various countries in Africa is experiencing a structural transformation which is in the direction of a more economically integration of renewable energies. The rapid rollout of wind and solar energy in some of the African Countries depicts that “renewable plays an essential role in the overall energy mix Africa.”

According to the Solar Magazine interview with Benjamin Attia ( Wood Mackenzie Power & RenewablesAnalyst), stated that Wood Mackenzie had a collaborative partnership with Energy 4 impact(Non-profit organization). They seek to decrease poverty by accelerating energy access. They are providing bsiness, financing, and technical advice to off-grid energy businesses working in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Facts related to Solar and Renewable Energy Implementation in Africa?

 

Rising off-grid solar investment

  • In early December, Government of UK stated that they will invest another ₤100 million through the REPP (Renewable Energy Performance Platform) in various projects. So, it boosts the growth of the renewable energy sector of Sub Saharan Africa. This fund was made in 2015 for helping the project developers to overcome the financial problems.
  • Wind, hydroelectric, spanning solar, biomass and geothermal power generation,  the REPP program is funding 18 renewable energy projects in different countries of Sub-Saharan Africa which includes Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, and Burundi – as per the news update.
  • The new funding of  €100 million will manage the finance of many projects and programs based on renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa for the upcoming five years as per the UK government. Moreover, REPP is an integral part of the UK commitment to internationally invest about €5.8 billion regarding climate finance by 2020.

Geographic and downstream off-grid solar expansion

Sub Saharan off-grid solar companies continuously raising financial sources for expanding geographically and to enhance the range of their off-grid electronic products. Also:

  • During Dec 2011, Off-Grid Electric or Zola Electric had stated that it has acquired about USD 32.5 million credit facility, so that they can finance and manage their activities in Tanzania within the five years.

D.light was established in 2007, it works towards providing solar power to 62 countries and around 88 million people according to the management.  The products and services offered by company extend to include the portable solar lanterns which double as the LED lighting, flat-screen TV, mobile phone rechargers and the small home appliances.

The D.light has raised around US$100 million in the past two years in equity and debt financing.  Even, some of the initial investors of D.light took profit of the latest investment funding and make their exit.

 

Final Verdict

As the power sector sub-Saharan Africa facing various challenges but still there is a real push for change. Like Sustainable Energy program of UN assisting private sector activity in various parts of the value chain. Even, the region holds the ability to lead the sector development to the new level. And the Success will drive the economic growth of the continent and improve the lives of millions of people. Also, supports in increasing electricity supply over various industry and providing millions of jobs around the continent.

Ford’s Silverton Factory In South Africa Is Getting A Massive 13.5 MW Of Solar PV

Posted on by dishanth
Ford’s Silverton Factory In South Africa Is Getting A Massive 13.5 MW Of Solar PV

The Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa’s factory in Silverton, Pretoria, South Africa is getting a massive 13. 5 megawatt (MW) solar system. This will make it one of the largest solar PV systems installed at a factory worldwide. The system will have solar carports enough to cover 4,200 parking bays. The PV plant will cost R135 million (US$8.7 million). This means the grid-tied project will come in at about $0.64/W, which is pretty impressive for a carport system.

The Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa wants to have the factory fully self-sufficient and powered by 100% green energy by 2024 by adding biomass, biogas, and bio syngas to the generation mix. South Africa has been experiencing periodic blackouts as the utility company struggles to meet demand, and has been forced to implement a power rationing program known as load shedding. This power rationing has resulted an in increase in the number of firms adopting solar plus storage systems, especially in the commercial and industrial (C&I) space as large corporations look for cheaper electricity as well as power security through long-term corporate PPAs with independent power providers.

The Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa has been a key player in the South African motor industry since 1923, when it kicked off its operations by assembling the Model T cars in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth. The Silverton factory produces the Ford Ranger pickup truck and it also produces the Ford Everest SUV for the southern African and international market. The Ford Ranger is one of the top selling vehicles in South Africa, just behind the Toyota Hilux and the Volkswagen Polo Vivo. The motor vehicle manufacturing industry contributes 13.9% of South Africa’s export earnings. South Africa earns around R164.9 billion ($11.15 billion) from vehicle exports. The vehicle manufacturing industry also contributes 7% to South Africa’s  GDP and employs over 112,000 people.

It’s really good to see large factories in this space adopting solar in a big way to cut costs and also reduce carbon emissions. South Africa’s grid is predominantly powered by coal, so any additional solar in the commercial & industrial segment will help displace some of the electricity generated by coal during the daytime. We really hope the next step for these large factories is to shift to producing electric vehicles with all that clean solar! The Silverton plant currently produces ICE vehicles. Ford’s Struandale engine plant in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, produces the engines used in the Silverton-assembled Ford Ranger pickup trucks. Ford SA also exports fully assembled engines to Ford plants in Russia, Turkey, and Italy for use in the Transit van. Ford SA also exports the Ford Ranger pickup to over 100 countries across the globe. Several countries across the globe have declared caps on new internal combustion vehicle sales from as early as 2025. It would be good for South African-based motor vehicle manufacturing factories to start planning to add electric vehicles to their assembly lines to grow or at least maintain their market share in these export markets.

Here is a video of Ockert Berry, VP Operations at the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa on the launch of the renewable energy project:

 

 

 

by 

Source CleanTechnica

TEDTalks – The energy Africa needs to develop and fight climate change

Posted on by dishanth
TEDTalks – The energy Africa needs to develop and fight climate change

 

In this perspective-shifting talk, energy researcher Rose M. Mutiso makes the case for prioritizing Africa’s needs with what’s left of the world’s carbon budget, to foster growth and equitably achieve a smaller global carbon footprint.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

 

 

 

Source: TED

This is a smart solution to water scarcity in Africa.

Posted on by dishanth
This is a smart solution to water scarcity in Africa.
  • Solar pumps collect data to monitor underground reserves of fresh water.
  • The pumps’ sensors record real-time data such as energy usage and pump speed, which is used to calculate groundwater extraction rates and levels.
  • The technology could help tackle water scarcity and monitor water usage across the continent.

High-tech solar pumps mapping underground freshwater reservoirs across Africa are collecting data that can help prevent them running dry, according to the project’s developers.

Manufactured by British social enterprise Futurepump, the solar pumps are being used by thousands of small-scale farmers in 15 African nations, including Kenya and Uganda, as a cleaner, cheaper option to diesel and gasoline-powered ones.

The pumps’ sensors record real-time data such as energy usage and pump speed in each location, which is shared with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to calculate groundwater extraction rates and levels.

“We fitted remote monitoring sensors on to our pumps for our own in-house reasons – for looking at their technical performance – and we’ve collected tens of millions of data points,” said Toby Hammond, Futurepump’s managing director.

“So this project is a really exciting opportunity to do something far richer with the data. We want to make it available for the good of the sector – for those advocating solar irrigation and those working to ensure sustainable water use.”

Many of the world’s major aquifers are stressed because too much water is being taken out for household, agricultural and industrial use and not enough surface water is seeping in to replenish the underground rock formations.

 

A Kenyan farmer sets up her solar irrigation pump in Busia county, Kenya on February, 2019.
Image: Futurepump

 

While more than 90% of Africa’s agriculture is rain-fed, farmers are facing increasing rainfall variability due to climate change, say environmental experts.

To ensure food security for the continent’s 1.3 billion – and growing – population, countries need to manage their water resources more efficiently, from harvesting rainwater to maintaining aquifers, or underground water basins.

Studies by the Sri Lanka-based IWMI suggest that in many regions of Africa there is still much untapped and sustainable groundwater potential – particularly if recharge from the surface is managed.

But there is a shortage of local data to develop policies.

IWMI plans to use the data from Futurepump’s 4,000 pumps to calculate how much water is being extracted at any given time, which can help governments ensure it is used sustainably, with limits on extraction or a shift to less water-intensive crops.

“People often see solar pumps as ‘free energy’ … They feel since it’s not going to cost extra to extract more water, it can be taken,” said IWMI’s David Wiberg, who uses tech to make water use more efficient.

“But once you put in place an information system like this, farmers will be able to see that pumping extra amounts of water is not helping them or their neighbours grow extra crops.”

 

 

Written by

Nita Bhalla, Journalist, Thomson Reuters Foundation

This article is published in collaboration with This is place.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Africa’s shrinking lake shows the impact of climate change on women and indigenous people.

Posted on by dishanth
Africa’s shrinking lake shows the impact of climate change on women and indigenous people.
  • In 50 years Lake Chad has shrunk to 10th its size; climate change a factor
  • Lake vital for indigenous communities in one of the world’s poorest countries
  • Locals use ancestral knowledge to overcome problems of scarce resources

 

When Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim was a child, Lake Chad in her home country spanned 10,000 km2. These days it’s around 1,200 km2.

Climate change, rising populations and agriculture mean one of Africa’s largest water sources is now a tenth of the size it was in the 1960s.

From the Mbororo pastoralist community, Ibrahim is an expert in how indigenous peoples and particularly women adapt to climate change. She wants to highlight the impact a warming planet is having on communities across Africa.

 

“Climate change is real and it’s not about our future, it’s about our present,” she told the World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit this year. “It’s the issue of survival. It’s not the issue of economy or power, it’s the issue of life of hundreds of millions of people that depend on it.

“We need solutions, we don’t have time. It’s now time for action and immediate action for those peoples who are getting impacted who didn’t create this climate change.”

 

Shrinking for 50 years

Lake Chad is in the Sahel, the vast semi-arid region south of the Sahara desert. The area is particularly sensitive to drought, and historically the lake has fluctuated dramatically in size during prolonged dry periods. But data from NASA Earth Observatory and others demonstrate the extent it has declined in the last half century.

 

The disappearing water in Lake Chad.
Image: Shoring Up Stability

 

More than 30 million people rely on freshwater from the lake. It also supports fishing, irrigation and economic activity both in Chad and Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. But as the lake shrinks communities are struggling and there is competition for the dwindling resource.

In some communities men have to seek work in bigger cities during dry seasons when the lake can no longer sustain them. Internal migration is increasing, as well as people looking further afield to places such as Europe for work.

The women and children left behind have to fill the gaps and are forced to innovate to maintain food security.

 

Climate change has been linked to political instability and unrest.
Image: Shoring Up Stability

 

Across the Sahel, many farmers are reviving an old technique known as zai. They dig pits to catch rainwater, then add compost and plant seeds. The technique concentrates nutrients and can boost crop yields by up to 500%.

 

The price of global warming on Africa

Among the poorest nations in the world, Chad is already struggling with poverty and frequent conflict. Sixty-two percent of the population are destitute, according to the Multidimensional Poverty Index, and most of the country relies on subsistence farming. Climate change adds to existing political and economic instability, driving further food insecurity.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that Africa will feel the effects of temperature rise more keenly than most. Longer and more severe heat waves will have a profound impact on crop yields and the frequency of droughts.

“Around the world we have all these young people going out on the street asking for justice asking to save their futures,” said Ibrahim, “But I’m going to tell you, the young people in my community are asking for their present.”

 

 

Written by

Charlotte Edmond , Senior Writer, Formative Content

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.