South Africa is currently the 14th largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, a reflection both on the country’s heavy reliance on coal and energy inefficiencies. The white paper on renewable energy (2003) has set a target of 10 000GWh of energy to be produced from renewable energy sources (mainly from biomass, wind, solar and small-scale hydro) by 2013 (5% of total electricity).The target was confirmed to be economically viable with subsidies and carbon financing.
ASSESSMENT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY POTENTIAL
Mining is the greatest consumer of electricity in the Province using 63% of electricity and renewable energy interventions should occur in this sector. Nearly 20% of the population in the NW does not have access to electricity.
