South Africa to Break Paris Agreement Promises Because It Cannot Shut Down Low-Cost Coal

South Africa to Break Paris Agreement Promises Because It Cannot Shut Down Low-Cost Coal

By Paul Homewood

h/t Mike Rennoldson

 

Three senior South African government officials told Reuters on Thursday, South Africa will miss its climate change targets under the Paris Agreement, because shutting down the country’s eight coal-fired power plants would cause a massive energy crisis.

South Africa’s big miss is no small matter for the climate change movement, because, as Reuters pointed out, it is “the world’s 11th biggest greenhouse gas emitter and has one of the world’s highest per capita emissions.”

The original plan called for South Africa to shut down six of its coal-fired power plants by 2030 and two more by 2034.

The officials who spoke to Reuters said, those goals are now considered “unrealistic,” although the government might set a “new decommissioning target for 2035.”

South Africa is already in the midst of a major energy crisis, even with all those coal plants puffing away.

The World Bank announced in mid-October, talks were underway for a $billion-dollar loan to help South Africa recover from rolling blackouts that have put a major crimp on economic growth.

The World Bank already loaned South Africa’s state utility company, Eskom, $497 million in 2022 to decommission one of its coal power plants.

The plant, an aging facility located near the city of Komati east of Johannesburg, was shuttered last October, but the “transition to cleaner energy” was a disaster.

The South African government did not consult with the 1,600 local workers employed by the Komati plant or help them find new jobs.

Energy officials fretted the loss of the plant would jeopardize the power grid, sowing panic, confusion, and vain hopes the Komati plant might reopen.

Eskom estimates that roughly 80 percent of South Africa’s power comes from its coal-fired plants, which are becoming unreliable due to mismanagement and corruption.

Instead of “transitioning” to green energy, South Africa is leaning on its coal plants harder than ever, as it experiences the worst blackouts in its history.

The South African government has said, it would need about $80 billion to finance a proper transition to green energy, a sum that seems very unlikely to be forthcoming as loans or gifts

The United Nations published a report on Wednesday, stating "governments around the world" planned to exceed the Paris Agreement’s limits on fossil fuels by over 110 percent by 2030.

Meeting the Paris Agreement limits would require the almost total worldwide shutdown of all coal power plants by 2040, i.e., stop burning 8.3 BILLION METRIC TON of coal per year.

That UN report is a totally-woke-bureaucratic fantasy.

The heaviest coal users, China and India, 2.8 BILLION people, burn 4.3 BILLION METRIC TON each year.

They are increasing their coal-fired power plant capacity, MW, by building hundreds of new coal plants.

https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2023/11/10/south-africa-break-pari...

Comment:

Anybody who actually believes South Africa’s Paris pledges needs their brain examined!

All South Africa ever wanted was big money from the West, about $80 billion or so.

And given the corruption in the country, I doubt whether much of that would have been spent on green energy.

Renewable energy currently supplies just 3% of South Africa’s energy for all uses, not just for making electricity.

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Comment by Dan McKay on November 13, 2023 at 5:06am

Its time to stop the lunacy of abandoning fossil fuels

U.S. Sen Angus King

THE UNTOLD STORY OF RECORD HILL WIND

The Untold Story of Record Hill Wind, continued

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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