SUSTAINABILITY - The African Mirror

Sep

13

2024

By BRUCE DOUGLAS YOUNG and CRAIG MCGREGOR

South Africa’s green hydrogen hub: EU grants not nearly enough to get industry going

SUSTAINABILITY

SOUTH Africa is poised to become a major player in the global energy transition, thanks to its vast renewable energy resources (sun and wind) and its plans for green hydrogen production. Green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis, where renewable electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. Unlike grey hydrogen, which is derived from fossil fuels, green hydrogen emits no greenhouse gases – only water vapour. It is seen as a good alternative to fossil fuels in sectors that are hard to electrify, such as heavy industry, aviation and long-haul transportation. We are chemical engineers, with over five decades of combined…

Sep

09

2024

By DENNIS GABRIEL PEPPLE and DAMINABO POKUBO

Nigerian households use a range of energy, from wood to solar – green energy planning must account for this

SUSTAINABILITY

LOW and middle-income countries generally lack access to renewable energy and rely excessively on traditional fuels like firewood and charcoal. In these countries, 2.6 billion people depend mainly on polluting fossil fuels (for electricity) and traditional biomass fuels (such as wood or charcoal for cooking) to meet their daily energy needs. In sub-Saharan Africa, about 67% of households depend primarily on traditional biomass fuels. This heavy dependence exposes people (especially young children) in the region to particulate matter 2.5 (tiny specks of dust, dirt, soot or smoke that people breathe in). About 70% of the population is exposed to this…

Aug

28

2024

By GBENGA APATA

Giant batteries to store wind and solar power can speed up South Africa’s energy transition – how that can happen

SUSTAINABILITY

SOUTH Africa is at a pivotal moment in its energy transition: trying to decarbonise its economy (move away from coal) and make sure that everyone has access to reliable and affordable energy. Storage of renewable energy is very important for this transition. Solar and wind power are not available all the time. To keep the national grid stable, renewable energy must be stored somewhere and supplied reliably. The country has already made strides in integrating renewable energy into its power grid through the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. Since 2010, this has attracted 110 private independent power projects…

Aug

27

2024

By SARAH VENTER

Baobabs: Africa’s unique trees defy climate challenges, continue to flourish

SUSTAINABILITY

BAOBABS reach extraordinarily old ages. Some have been found to be thousands of years old. During these life spans, elder baobabs have survived erratic climate conditions. As an ecologist who has spent the last 17 years studying baobab, I decided to look specifically at the health of adult baobabs in Southern Africa and then in Africa as a whole, to establish if more recent human-induced climate change has started having an effect on these magnificent trees. Over the course of 2023 I travelled across Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe visiting baobabs located in the area as well as 13…

Aug

24

2024

By JOSEPH OGUTU

Bird species are disappearing at an alarming rate in Kenya – new study

SUSTAINABILITY

SUB-SAHARAN Africa has a vast amount of uncultivated, arable land – about 2 million km², accounting for about 50% of the global total. This land is a critical habitat for many animal species, including birds. I was part of a team that carried out a study which assessed how changes to land use – including the expansion of settlements, livestock production, pest removal and cultivation – were affecting bird populations in the Lake Victoria Basin, in south-western Kenya. We found that these changes degraded and destroyed natural landscapes at all three of our study sites. This caused a significant loss…

Aug

23

2024

By MATHIAS DISNEY

Mozambique forest stores huge amounts of carbon: laser technique puts new value on Miombo woodlands

SUSTAINABILITY

DRY, tropical forests are often overshadowed in popular and scientific perception by wet and tall rainforests. They are less obviously charismatic or exotic and so may seem less important. But dry tropical forests are vital ecosystems that support the livelihoods of millions of people. One type of dry, tropical forest in Africa is miombo woodland. These forests stretch across more than two million hectares in Africa, including Angola, Tanzania, parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Their name comes from the Bemba word (miombo) for the dominant types of trees in the woodland, Brachystegia. Miombo…

Aug

22

2024

By ABEEB BABATUNDE OMOTOSO and ABIODUN OLUSOLA OMOTAYO

Climate change is a challenge for small-scale farmers – how a mix of old and new techniques produced a superior maize harvest in a dry part of South Africa

SUSTAINABILITY

New research into rural small-scale farms in South Africa’s North West province has found that climate-smart farming techniques lead to a better maize yield, a more regular supply of food for the farmers, and a wider variety of crops. Small-scale farmers often produce primarily for their own consumption, but many also sell produce in local markets. Because small-scale farmers rely on their crops both to survive and as their only form of income, they are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Some of the climate-smart techniques being successfully used are: planting drought-tolerant maize seeds (a new variety of…

Jul

31

2024

By ELLEN FUNGISAI CHIPANGO and LONG SENG TO

Green energy for all: Zimbabwe will need a new social contract to roll out projects like solar power

SUSTAINABILITY

THE Zimbabwean government is racing against time to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7: affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. However, the race towards green energy is top-down and mostly privatised. New technology is being introduced or sold to individuals or small families, but renewable energy is not being made part of a decent life for the entire community. Sustainable transitions researchers Ellen Fungisai Chipango and Long Seng To have researched ways to use the communal ethic of African ubuntu, expressed as “a person is a person through other persons”, in the rollout of…

Jul

18

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s new environment minister must focus on people, not profits from fossil fuels – climate ecologist

SUSTAINABILITY

THERE are huge profits to be made in exploiting South Africa’s natural resources, but these come at a cost to society and the environment. Pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and depletion of natural wealth have a disproportionate impact on the country’s Black and low-income communities and workforce. South Africa needs an environment minister who will stand up for people who are threatened by pollution and the depletion of non-renewable resources. That includes future generations. But Dion George, the new minister, doesn’t inspire hope for change. George, with a background in finance, is one of six leaders of the Democratic Alliance, the…

Jul

18

2024

By MARIA POURNARA and FILIPPOS PROEDROU

Extreme heatwaves highlight climate injustice while Western countries fail to act – here’s how governments can help

SUSTAINABILITY

AVERAGE global air temperatures breached 1.5°C for the first time at the start of 2024 — at least five years earlier than predicted. So, while developing countries burn, global climate injustice persists. No high-emitting country has complied with the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement. Governments in the UK and Scotland are exacerbating the crisis by reneging on their climate pledges to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, paving the way for net zero at the latest by 2050. The catastrophic effects of climate breakdown hit people in developing countries the hardest, even though historically, the highest emitters…