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Minister pushes shale gas agenda, solar company urges caution

FRACKING UP A STORM Dipuo Peters believes that it would be wrong for government not to explore all potential gas opportunities, including shale gas explorations

ARTHUR CHIEN Investing in renewable-energy resources is more practical in that it requires less effort and it is not harmful to the environment, unlike fracking

31st January 2014

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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The US Energy Information Admini- stration (EIA) findings of 2011, which estimated that South Africa possesses technically recoverable resources of about 485-trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Karoo basin region, is not something that government can easily ignore, according to Transport Minister and former Energy Minister Dipuo Peters.

Speaking at the Wits Business School’s Infrastructure to Support New Oil and Gas Resources in Sub-Saharan Africa seminar in November, Peters said that, as part of her stint as Energy Minister, in the first half of 2013, the Department of Energy (DoE) extensively engaged on the issue of new gas resources that were discovered in South Africa.

Further, she reiterated that government had, in September 2012, lifted the moratorium on shale gas exploration, or hydraulic fracturing (fracking), and stated that it would “most certainly” actively seek means to advance exploration activities in the Karoo basin this year.

“It would be wrong for government not to explore all potential gas opportunities that exist in South Africa, whether it be offshore gasfields or land-based shale gas extractions,” asserted Peters, who added that shale gas would likely produce 20 times the amount of gas currently produced by national oil company PetroSA.

Further, she emphasised that gas extraction would dovetail with government’s policy of mineral resources beneficiation to ensure that South Africa received as much direct benefit from its natural resources as possible.

“Despite South Africa possessing more than 40 000 MW of power, our national grid remains under pressure,” she stated.

Peters said that the mandate of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) to develop a 20-year pipeline of infrastructure and construction projects allows for long-term planning and investment by public- and private-sector companies.

The infrastructure plan of the PICC, released in April 2012, highlights 18 Strategic Integrated Projects covering social and economic infrastructure in the country.

“If one looks at the PICC, it is clear that government intends to unlock the country’s mineral resources, which exist in areas such as the Waterberg region, in Limpopo, which contains one of South Africa’s largest remaining coal deposits, as well as the iron-ore and manganese developments in the Northern Cape,” said Peters.

“Therefore, we need more power to sustain these infrastructural development plans and offshore and shale gas resources will have to play a critical role in ensuring South Africa has sufficient electricity capacity,” she emphasised.

Solar Power Company Voices Concerns

Meanwhile, Chinese solar modules and solar cells manufacturer Talesun Energy stated in a press release last month that fracking in the Karoo basin for natural gas might not be the solution to South Africa’s electricity shortfall and that the so-called ‘energy boom’, which fracking could poten- tially bring to South Africa’s economy, if given the go-ahead, was likely to be short-lived.

“Should fracking become the norm in South Africa, the long-term repercussions on the economy, as well as the effect on the environment and public health, may be staggering, not to mention the potential clean-up costs that will fall on taxpayers for decades to come,” warned Talesun Energy CEO Arthur Chien.

Chien said that, to dilute South Africa’s reliance on coal for 95% of its electricity generation, State-owned power utility Eskom’s focus should rather be on sustainable energy solutions.

“If the same amount of buy-in from government and the private sector is invested in photovoltaic (PV) solar energy, as is being considered for fracking the Karoo basin for energy, and if the same amount of capital and planning is invested in PV solar energy projects, the energy outlook for South Africa can be a more secure one.”

In the statement, Chien further declared that renewable-energy sources, such as PV solar energy, can significantly change the country’s energy mix and pointed out the ‘South Africa Renewable Energy Project Tracker: Establishing a Sustainable Renewable Energy Market in South Africa’ report by consultancy Frost & Sullivan, published in October 2013, which compares PV solar energy with other energy sources.

The report states that PV solar energy will be the most cost-effective method for generating electricity in South Africa by 2020.

“Compared with the extraction of natural gas, using fracking, to obtain energy, energy obtained from PV solar modules is not only a more affordable method of energy generation but is also more practical in that it requires less effort to produce, it is not harmful to the environment and it is more reliable and affordable, as well is being readily available.

“Unlike all the earth’s resources, which are limited and will eventually be depleted, solar PV energy is a more sustainable solution, as the country is able to receive abundant amounts of sunshine,” according to the report.

Chien said that South Africa needs to take into account why there was increasing global civil unrest in Latin America, Europe, Australia and the US concerning fracking, pointing out that there were many reasons for the resistance against fracking.

“The environmental impacts are shocking. Once water is used for fracking, it is lost to the water cycle forever,” he stated.

Moreover, Chien says that, according to a study released in April 2011 by researchers at Duke University, titled ‘Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing’, dangerous levels of radioactivity and salinity at a shale gas waste disposal site could contaminate drinking water.

“Fracking brings with it the probability of spills, explosions and well failures that may potentially contaminate groundwater supplies and can have negative effects on the health of residents and livestock in surrounding areas.

“Fracking may also have an impact on public infrastructure, such as dams, for example, as it could cause demand for new water infrastructure, as the process requires immense amounts of water,” the study notes.

Chien also referred to research conducted by US-based citizen-funded environmental advocacy organisation Environment America in June 2011, which states that the truck traffic required to transport water to a fracking well inflicts as much destruction to local roads as nearly 3.5-million car trips.

“To build a healthier energy future that is centred on clean, safe, renewable sources of power that are used efficiently, governments need to invest in renewables such as PV solar energy, as it is a method which we use to obtain energy without harming the planet.

“Energy efficiency and renewable energy should be among the country’s top priorities, as they are the cleanest and a less expensive solution to South Africa’s electricity supply shortage,” he concludes.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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