November 16, 2022
Africa: Renewable Energy Will Need More Investment, or Africa Will Stay Dependent On Fossil Fuels
Renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics and onshore wind power can help sub-Saharan Africa meet its energy requirements from sources that have lower emissions… Read more »
November 15, 2022
Africa: Africa Has Vast Gas Reserves - Here's How to Stop Them Adding to Climate Change
The question of whether Africa should be allowed to exploit its gas reserves, estimated at more than 17.56 trillion cubic meters (620 trillion cubic feet) in 2021, has been much… Read more »
November 11, 2022
Africa: How the Energy Crisis Is Pressuring Countries' Climate Plans
Russia's war on Ukraine has cast a shadow over this week's meetings of world leaders at the G-20 summit in Bali and the United Nations climate change conference in Egypt. Read more »
Africa: How the Energy Crisis Is Pressuring Countries At the UN Climate Summit - While Some Race to Renewables, Others See Natural Gas Wealth, but It May Be Short-Lived #AfricaClimateCrisis
Russia's war on Ukraine has cast a shadow over this year's United Nations climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where officials from around the world are discussing the costs… Read more »
November 13, 2022
South Africa: South Africa Is Hooked On Fossil Fuels - How It Got Here and How It Can Get Out
South Africa has experienced power shortages with rolling blackouts on an unprecedented scale in 2022. This state of affairs is largely due to technical failures at its ageing… Read more »
November 06, 2022
Africa: COP27 - Which Countries Will Push to End Fossil Fuel Production? And Which Won't?
Fossil fuels have provided a crucial source of energy over the past 200 years. But they also account for 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, enable massive… Read more »
November 03, 2022
Togo: Renewable Energy Could Get Togo to Its Goals - Experts Identify What's in the Way
Togo is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a per capita gross domestic product of US$644. Most of the population depend on subsistence agriculture. Over 56% live in… Read more »
September 29, 2022
Africa: Green Hydrogen Sounds Like a Win for Developing Countries. But Cost and Transport Are Problems
Hydrogen is used mainly to make chemicals such as fertiliser, and in oil refineries. Most hydrogen in the world today is made from natural gas or coal - methods associated with… Read more »
August 21, 2022
Africa: South Africa's Nuclear Sector Has Failed Its Test - the Koeberg Nuclear Plant Life Extension
South Africa's only nuclear power plant, Koeberg, has frequently been in the news in 2022, all for the wrong reasons. Read more »
August 16, 2022
South Africa: Proposed Fracking Regulations Should Do More to Protect Groundwater
South Africa is extremely water scarce, and water supply will become more challenging in the future. The population and economy are growing, increasing demand. Rainfall is variable… Read more »
August 12, 2022
Africa: Expanded Access to Solar Power in Africa Can Stimulate Economic Development - but There Are Risks
UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 aspires to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. But in Africa, around 600 million people continue… Read more »
August 10, 2022
South Africa: Higher Electricity Connection Fees? A Good, and Necessary, Next Step
There's been outrage from some quarters in South Africa about reports that the power utility Eskom and some municipalities intend to increase the connection fee for electricity… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's Proposed Electricity Industry Reform - Lost in Translation?
South Africa's ruling party recently proposed establishing a second state-owned power company. The purpose is to offset the "grave strategic risk" of relying on Eskom, the… Read more »
August 09, 2022
Angola: How Not to Respond to Drought - Lessons From Angola
Three years after a severe drought in southwestern Angola, people in the area continue to suffer. Hunger remains pervasive and they are still losing livestock. Read more »
August 04, 2022
South Africa: Why 'Political Will' Isn't the Magic Bullet That Can Fix Country's Energy Crisis
South Africans gave a warm welcome to President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent announcement about a "set of actions" to respond to the energy crisis in the country. Read more »
August 03, 2022
South Africa: Country Needs Stronger Security to Stop the Sabotage of Its Power Supply
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently outlined plans to solve the country's devastating electricity supply crisis. But he didn't mention the country's ability to protect… Read more »
July 29, 2022
South Africa: Ramaphosa Acts to Ease South Africa's Energy Crisis - Impact Will Be Felt in Renewables
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced an action plan to address the country's growing energy crisis. It included relaxing the legislative and environmental… Read more »
July 27, 2022
Ghana: How Costly Political Realities Undercut Electricity Reforms
Ghana reformed its electricity sector by the book but has lurched from blackouts between 2012 and 2015 to a glut of energy which costs government about 5% of GDP. Fitch ranks the… Read more »
July 12, 2022
South Africa: Country Could Produce a Lot More Renewable Energy - Here's What It Needs
South Africa's power utility, Eskom, has not been able to provide a steady electricity supply for several years now. At the start of the 2022 winter the utility warned the public… Read more »
June 28, 2022
Africa: Cooking With 'Dirty' Fuels Affects Women's Mental Health #AfricaClimateCrisis
About 2.6 billion people - nearly half of the global population, most of them in Africa, Asia and central and south America - rely on biomass fuels, like wood and charcoal, or… Read more »
June 24, 2022
Nigeria: Nigeria's Latest Lithium Find - Some Key Questions Answered
High-grade lithium has been discovered in Nigeria. In 2019 the total production volume of lithium, not high grade, in Nigeria reached 50 metric tons This is small compared to… Read more »
May 31, 2022
Ghana: Power Demand in Ghana Has Dipped After Every Crisis - the Drivers and Consequences
Recurring electricity supply crises in Ghana over an extended period have driven consumers to turn alternative sources of energy. In turn, this resulted in a sharp decline in… Read more »
May 30, 2022
South Africa: What It Will Take for Ailing Power Utility to Keep Going
The chief operating officer of South Africa's electricity utility, Eskom, warned in May that the government should urgently start building new generating capacity. He was referring… Read more »
June 02, 2019
South Africa: How Technology Could Help Rural South Africa Turn Sunshine Into Income
The way energy is produced and distributed is changing rapidly as the industry moves away from carbon-based energy production. Technological development in the production of… Read more »