The electricity crisis and climate change – poor timing

I recently welcomed the completion of government’s Long Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS) on Climate Change. The LTMS document outlines the various policy options that may be necessary in order for this country to play its role in contributing to the stabilisation of the world’s climate.

I wonder whether Eskom is going to pay any attention to this document at all. Building new coal-fired power stations without the best technology, nor with the ability for future “carbon capture and storage“, does not align it with the likely responses needed for the mitigation of climate change.

I guess a couple of readers of this blog will just say, “So what! Eskom must keep the lights on.” True, but let us at least acknowledge that this electricity crisis and the rushed development plans that will flow out of it are going to make our response to climate change more difficult.

Budget: Lots of money for Electricity Generation

It’s not often that Finance Minister Trevor Manuel gives more than the DA asks; but, as far as the energy crisis is concerned, he did just that – in certain respects, at least – on Wednesday.

In the DA’s 2008 Alternative Budget, entitled “Powering Growth, Opportunity and Democracy“, we allocated R50 billion to help finance Eskom’s power generation expansion and R1.2 to diversifying power generation and reducing demand on the grid.

In his speech in the National Assembly, Manuel announced that R60 billion will go to Eskom’s investment programme and an additional R2 billion would be allocated to promote more efficient power usage.

Where he fell short, however, (and perhaps how he could budget R10.8 billion more than the DA to those two things) was in not doing enough to stimulate growth and job-creation in the face of the draining effects of the electricity crisis. The DA’s budget included a R14.5 billion stimulatory package to assist the economy and encourage foreign direct investment.