Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
05/11/12
South Africa’s cabinet approved a carbon capture and storage roadmap for the country late last week, local media outlets reported. South African press reports quoted Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Minister Collins Chabane, who confirmed the news during a press conference. The reports said the country’s cabinet also voluntarily agreed to reduce CO2 emissions 34 percent below business-as-usual levels by 2020 and 45 percent below that level by 2025, but only if international technology and financial support were continuously provided to the country. Few subsequent details of the CCS roadmap or the emissions reductions goals were released and calls to the government energy ministry and the South African Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage (SACCCS) were not returned as of press time.
The news indicates that Africa’s largest coal producer and greenhouse gas emitter is keen on moving forward with CCS technology despite its slower than expected development. With funding from domestic and international sources, SACCCS has in recent years moved forward on overseeing a CO2 storage atlas and feasibility assessment for CCS development in the country. SACCCS head Tony Surridge previously said that South Africa is moving forward on beginning a CO2 injection project by 2017 and that the government is now in its initial planning stages. South Africa is also moving forward on bringing a demonstration project online by 2020 and a commercial-scale plant in operation by 2025.
Nearly All S. Africa’s Electricity Comes from Coal
The investment in CCS could be a key one for South Africa, which relies heavily on coal for power generation. While the country’s Department of Energy says that coal fulfills more than three-quarters of its energy generation needs, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the figure is far higher, at roughly 95 percent in 2008. South Africa is also the only country with a commercial coal-to-liquids industry, a sector most nations have shied away from due to its large carbon footprint. The country’s dependence on coal is expected continue over the next two decades due to its rapid industrialization and “relative lack of suitable alternatives,” according to the South African Department of Energy. If the country is to ever face a carbon-constrained future, CCS’ availability would be a must for the coal-reliant nation.
South Africa was left out of CCS investment late last year when the European Union said it would only help fund in clean energy projects in the world’s poorest countries under the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism. South Africa was seen as a favorite to receive international investments for CCS projects after the technology was approved as an eligible technology under the CDM in December 2011. However, because the EU funds the lion’s share of clean energy projects under the CDM, it appears that South Africa will largely miss out.
