By Cat Pritchard
In the past year we have seen a number of renewable energy projects kick started. But here’s something slightly different and a first for Africa – a carbon credits project (income generator) that creates renewable energy (money saver) by converting gas from household waste (guilt reducer). And guess where it’s being piloted? Durban.
It’s amazing what we can come up with in a crisis. Here’s a supposedly sleepy city called Durban launching a landmark project that will see ordinary household waste converted into electricity by way of gas. And if helping middle-income earners wasn’t enough, the project will also inject tens of millions of rands into the city through the certified emission reduction credits, or carbon credits, that it will be racking up with each sale.
The project, which received R17.3-million through Department of Trade and Industry's critical infrastructure programme, is estimated to bring in around R4.5-million revenue per month from the sale of carbon credits and electricity. Not bad going.
Of course the real advantages to the project aren’t always economic. According to the Central Energy Fund Group (CEF), the world’s energy consumption has increased by 45% since 1980. So, can you imagine, with our growing global population and industry needs, how much our demand for power will increase in just the next ten years? Ouch.
The bad news for South Africa, of course is that 90 percent of the country’s energy is sourced from a non-renewable source – coal. And who knows how much we have left. I hope we don’t find out in the cold of winter.
So a project like this, which will convert millions of cubic metres of greenhouse gases into clean electricity, is something that shouldn’t be praised, but simply replicated. I mean, we all have trash we want to dispose of right?
The bigger picture is this – the project will address waste management and energy demand; create employment opportunities; improve air quality and contribute towards the country's skills development plan.
In case you want to do a site visit, the project is currently operating at the Marianhill and La Mercy landfills and will be extended to the larger Bisasar Road landfill.
Now all we need is a way to turn the Cape Doctor into a Cape Saver. Hmm.