still relevant IMO20 Apr 2021 19:21
Africa stands by fossil fuels push to underpin growth
MORE LIFE FOR COAL
Licensing rounds for access to swathes of virgin exploration acreage across Africa were touted at a leading annual industry event in Cape Town last week.
As in years past, the message from regional governments was clear -- developing their own natural is key to economic growth and leaving reliable fossil fuels in the ground is simply not an option.
"We have set a number of objectives and one is a security of supply. That is what we need for the economy to pump...that objective is not negotiable,
"We want to supply energy at a cost-effective level because if it is too expensive I can tell you that it becomes a 'nice to have' but people do not access it.”Improving access to and lowering the cost of energy is seen as a key in alleviating poverty in the world's most energy-deficient continent.
With nearly half of Africans still without a power supply and few domestic gas grids, clean, low carbon energy is seen as a luxury rather than a necessity.
According to the International Energy Agency, some 70% of Africans lack access to clean cooking. The resulting household pollution from burning traditional biomass is a major cause of premature deaths.
In Mozambique, coal output is seen tripling over the next two decades, however, offsetting some of the South African declines.
"We recognize that coal must disappear, which it will over time, but it won't be soon,
”South Africa operates on 16 coal-fired power plants and its sitting on "vast deposits" of coal, Mantashe said new power sector investments will be directed at more efficient coal technology rather than replacing coal plants.
"The reality is, on the African continent, there is still a very big reliance on fossil fuels which we can't necessarily get away from," said Shirley Webber, the head of natural resources at African banking group Absa.
If global coal policies remain unchanged, then demand will keep expanding for two decades, the IEA said. However, growth will plateau in that period if countries implement the promises they have already made, the Paris-based agency said.
The world’s attempts to quit coal are failing. Whatever rich nations do to move away from the dirtiest fossil fuel, those efforts are being outpaced by developing Asian countries seeking a cheap and reliable source of power.
Global coal demand rose for a second consecutive year in 2018, the International Energy Agency said in its World Energy Outlook,
Coal made up 38% of the world's energy mix in 2018
Sign In
Follow the stocks
