Sustainable Energy to the Summit

Attempts are being made to ensure that all renewable energy "Green energy" power plants in South Africa are linked to the national electricity grid, ahead of the WSSD.

The "Greening the WSSD" initiative is collaborating with renewable energy projects and programmes to identify all significant sustainable electricity generators around South Africa. The intention is to work with state power company, Eskom, to ensure that, where possible, these generators are operational at the time of the WSSDand linked to the power grid that will supply theConference. Sustainable energy is power that can be generated continuously without the burning of fossils fuels, it is the utilisation of renewable energy sources.Green electricity costs more for consumers than "ordinary" electricity, and the associated projects and programmes have secured funding to cover this premium. Summit venues that purchase green electricity will be reimbursed in full for the additional cost and the whole exercise will have no effect on the price they pay for power.

If the Greening the WSSD is successful it will have established a precedent for supplying sustainable energy to consumers who wish to purchase it. The financial subsidy will not last forever, but as consumers become used to supporting green energy generation, it will become cheaper.

While South Africa produces some of the cheapest energy in the world, it is generated by power stations fired by coal - when coal, a fossil fuel, is burned it emits large amounts of carbon, in various compound together with sulfur compounds into the atmosphere which contribute to acid rain and green house gasses. SA is one of the biggest producers of carbon emissions in the developing world.
Less than one percent of the country's electricity is currently generated from renewable energy resources - these include a couple of small hydroelectric power stations, several small solar systems and some bio-fuel plants. Wind-power plants, near the towns of Darling and Klipheuwel, are expected to join the national grid shortly.

The demand for electricity in Southern Africa will continue to increase in the future. A significant proportion of this demand should be supplied from sustainable energy sources -- that can replace coal and nuclear plants, as they become out-dated.

Some European countries have set the target of having 25 percent of their national electricity production shifted to sustainable sources within five years.

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