While it might be difficult to achieve, it must be pursued
It’s no surprise that SA’s energy crisis has become top-of-mind for both consumers and businesses as the rate and magnitude of load-shedding have increased over the past few years.
The aim of the just transition in SA’s energy sector is to ensure the protection of workers within the coal industry as the country moves to greener energy sources.In Bruce’s column he berates energy minister Gwede Mantashe and the National Business Initiative for their determination to pursue a change to LNG-powered energy, and notes that there is no merit in doing so. But is it as straightforward as that? While LNG is also a fossil fuel like coal, it has a fareffect on the environment.
Bruce fairly contends that we already have a solution for this in lithium-ion batteries, but I don’t think it’s as clear cut as that. His opposition to LNG as a transition stage to renewables seems to rest solely on the dependence on imports surrounding it, but lithium presents a similar challenge. In 2019 thewere Australia , Chile , and China . SA has no significant lithium reserves, and there is only one mine on the entire African continent that produces lithium.
More than 80,000 people are employed in the coal-mining sector, and no matter which path is chosen — whether it’s the government’s shift to LNG first or a direct transition to renewables as Bruce demands — jobs will be lost. LNG is an extremely complex industry and the average coal miner doesn’t have a clue about how to run an LNG plant, while highly qualified and skilled engineers and technicians are required for maintenance and repair. Thus, LNG is not a panacea for the just transition.
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