Experts pan Mantashe’s ‘dirty’, expensive clean coal plan

Energy experts believe Minister Gwede Mantashe’s proposal of clean coal energy generation will do little but cost the sinking energy sector loads of money, while failing to ensure a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases.

Researcher from environment justice lobby group Groundwork, David Hallowes, said Mantashe’s proposal of clean coal energy through carbon stripping initiatives would cost the energy sector millions of wasted rands.

“The proposal of clean coal is merely there to justify coal-generated energy. There is no such thing as clean coal mining, and coal is a dirty business. Even the proposed technology of carbon stripping will not address the emissions produced by coal mining.

“The technology used for clean coal is actually way more expensive than renewable energy power stations, and its efficiency in emitting the gas has not yet been fully proven,” Hallowes said.

Hallowes said most of the energy producers do not comply with emission standards and did not care about the impact coal mining had on the health of people and the environment.

He said the only thing that seemingly contributed to South Africa’s compliance with worldwide emissions standards was a decline in energy demand due to economic pressures.

Witwatersrand researcher on the impact of mining, Victor Munnik, joined the call of rejecting Mantashe’s call for clean carbon, also insisting that there was no such thing as clean carbon energy.

He said Mantashe’s proposed carbon capture had been tried elsewhere in the world and had failed to address the gas emission crisis while flushing millions down the drain.

“Clean coal is a myth which the mining sector has been hiding behind to try and justify their activities. South Africa is one of the major emitters in the world and it seems that we will continue being one.

“If we were serious about complying to carbon emissions standards we would have never built Medupi and Kusile coal-fired stations,” said Munnik.

He said despite the inability of international bodies to enforce compliance with agreements like the Paris Accord, or enforce penalties, climate change itself should be seen as a penalty we are already paying.

He advised the department to consider looking into renewable energy for the sustainability of the environment and to guide the transition of the future energy producers.

Head of the corporate accountability and transparency programme at the Centre for Environmental Rights, Leanne Govindsamy, said with a decline in the coal export market, energy producers should consider transitioning to renewable energy.

She said the decline in coal exports was an opportunity for government and energy producers to consider transitioning to clean energy and stop relying on the abundance of coal mining.

Despite the dangers posed by coal mining, Mantashe stuck to his guns on the industry’s role in our energy supply chain.

“As much as we intend to utilise the sun and wind resources we have, we will continue to use our fossil fuel resources and to increase investment in the use of clean coal technologies,” said Mantashe. “We are not consumed by denialism when it comes to challenges of climate change.”

Speaking at the International Energy Agency Coal 2019 report media briefing, Mantashe said in efforts to try and mitigate carbon emission posing threats to human health, the department would make sure the industry was complying with air quality standards legislation and the implementation of cleaner coal technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

“In 2009, the South African National Development Energy Institute (Sanedi) created the South African Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage, which is funded by the South African government, the World Bank, the European Union, Eskom and private sector companies such as Anglo American.

“The centre is mandated to explore carbon capture and storage in South Africa and has made good strides in research into carbon capture and storage [CCS] and its potential use through the collaboration.

“We will step up our efforts in this area, including through Sanedi’s recent membership of the Global CCS Institute and our continuing participation in the carbon capture, utilisation and storage work of the International Energy Agency,” said Mantashe.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) global coal demand was expected to decline in 2019 but would remain broadly stable over the next five years, due to growth in major Asian markets.

“In 2019, global coal power generation will experience the biggest drop ever and coal power generation in India will probably decline for the first time in 45 years,” said IEA director of energy markets, Keisuke Sadamori.

“The global picture, however, has not changed much. Coal is disappearing in many advanced economies, but it remains resilient and is even continuing to grow in developing Asia.

“The low coal power generation in India this year was due to unusually low growth in electricity demand and exceptionally high hydropower output. It is not at all clear that it will be repeated.”

Public opposition to coal was building, with many countries’ policies on energy relying heavily on renewables and natural gas, which are becoming more and more competitive, IEA said.

“But this is not the end of coal, since demand continues to expand in Asia.”

– news@citizen.co.za

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