SEPTEMBER 2021 ISSUE

esh

.afr

ica

Africa’s Quest for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG7)

Understanding Deforestation in Zimbabwe’s Context

Sustainable Energy – The answer to Africa’s Energy crises and Sustenance Sustainable Energy Symposium in Africa

The Engendered Safety Implications of LPG Consumption

and more...

INSIDE

Africa’s Quest for Sustainable Development Goal

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It is estimated that every year over 1.1 million people worldwide die of occupational injuries and work-related diseases. In developing countries, the risks that foster ill-health are estimated to be 10 to 20 times higher than in developed countries. In developing countries, only about 10% of workers have access to occupational health services. In Africa, occupational accidents and diseases can cause economic devastation to families, businesses and communities. Safeguarding workers’ safety and health is paramount and an integral part of our social and economic development. With the emergence of global trade and increasing informalisation of the workplace environmental, safety and health matters are secondary to survival needs that focus on accelerating the growth, productivity and profitability.

It is on this basis that ESH Africa is determined to promote the lifting of standards, compliance and perception across Africa. This will be achieved through information, training and awareness.

ContentsEditor’s Note 5Africa’s Quest for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG7) 6Understanding Deforestation in Zimbabwe’s Context 10Sustainable Energy – The answer to Africa’s Energy crises and Sustenance 13Sustainable Energy Symposium in Africa 14The Engendered Safety Implications of LPG Consumption 17Climate Change Impact on Energy 19Events and Global Observances 27

ESH AFRICA Magazine is an Environmental, Safety and Health publication. The digital magazine is free and is available at www.esh.africa, it is published every month of the year. We welcome feedback to articles or information published in our magazine, as well as suggestions. You can contact us by email: esh@esh.africa.

EditorESH Africa Team

DesignerHouse of Quinn Private Limited

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SEPTEMBER 2021 ISSUE

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Editor’s Note

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Access to sustainable clean energy is the key to unlocking a prosperous future for millions of people across Africa. There is growing urgency to accelerate progress, not just for the future of our environment, but for the welfare of future generations.

Today, Africa constitute about 20% of the world’s population and yet more than 500 million people in Africa - almost half the population - lack access to electricity. The World Bank estimates that by 2050 the population of Africa will double, and more than half will be under 25 years old.

Reliable energy provides the power to fulfil our potential and empower society, from providing better healthcare, education, prosperous job growth to sustainable cooling and food security. Energy is the fundamental building block for societal and economic growth.

Sustainable development in Africa will not be achieved by replicating the outdated hydrocarbon-intensive route western economies took, but by leapfrogging ahead to sustainable, affordable, and clean technologies of the future. Africa is blessed with more abundant solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy than anywhere else on the planet.

African countries are at different stages in the energy transition and each route on that journey will be different. Looking at the country-level, front-runners like Morocco are already relying to a third on renewable energies, while other African countries still rely on various fossil and carbon fuel which are not sustainable, clean and economical power supply. There is a huge gap in as far as sustainable energy is

concerned, action is needed.

Happy reading to you all.

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Africa’s Quest for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG7)

by Michael Sakala

Introduction

Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) calls for sustainable energy access for all. These goals are critical for sustainable development in Africa. Insufficient energy supply or provision remains a major impediment throughout the continent. Building an energy system for Africa that meets the continent’s growing energy demands is a multifaceted challenge. It includes addressing energy poverty increasingly concentrated in rural areas, shifting energy demand away from biomass, and accelerating regulatory reform. An overarching challenge is the lack of sufficient investment in energy.

Lately, COVID-19 pandemic has added to the challenge by dismantling steady progress made in recent years to increase access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy – an objective enshrined in the SDG 7.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the health crisis has forced governments to shift their immediate priorities to purely emergency measures, resulting in a lack of financing available for expanding and improving electricity infrastructure. Furthermore, private companies deploying decentralized energy solutions like solar home systems and mini-grids have faced operational and financial challenges because of the pandemic to accelerate access to the rural population.

The lack of access to clean cooking energy remains very acute in sub-Saharan Africa with access increasing only slightly from 15% in 2015 to 17% in 2018. Since 2015, only 25 million people had gained access to clean cooking energy in the region making Sub-Saharan Africa

the only region where the number of those without access continues to rise significantly, highlighting the urgent need for action. Despite accelerated progress in recent years, the SDG target of universal access by 2030 appears unlikely to be met, leaving an estimated more than 660 million people without electricity.

The reliance on gathering biomass for cooking, in particular in rural areas, has been contributing to 600,000 premature deaths per year, related to household air pollution from the lack of access to clean cooking facilities, with women and children the worst affected. Forest deforestation is leading to land degradation, which is another serious consequence of the unsustainable harvesting of wood fuel, twice as high as the rest of the world.

Although Africa has abundant Renewable Energy (RE) sources, mainly Solar, Wind and Geothermal, etc., challenges still remain before full RE potential is achieved. 

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Fig. 1: Population Without Access to Clean Cooking Facilities in 201811

Fig. 2: Population Relying on Biomass in 201811

Fig. 3Sub-Saharan Energy Sources, 2017-2050 Outlook9

Live: https://www.irena.org/Statistics/View-Data-by-Topic/Energy-Transition/REmap-Energy-Generation-and-Capacity

Fig. 4Fig. 4: Sub-Saharan Africa Net On and Off Grid Fuel Added from 2011-2021

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Challenges of Climate Change

Africa’s water and energy security is critically endangered  due to climate change disruptions exacerbated  by increasing human encroachment of water bodies, carbon emissions and unsustainable land use activities. The impacts of climate change are floods, droughts, wildfires, among others, being experienced in extremes. Africa’s energy sector is heavily reliant on non-renewables such as coal, oil, natural gas etc. as in figure 3 above. However, non-renewables contribute to carbon emissions and the eventual global warming, and dammed water levels for hydropower have in the previous decades hit record low capacity due to climate induced poor rains. As a result, power deficits are impacting negatively on the African Countries’ economies and local livelihoods. This development has potentially far reaching social and economic effects on the lives and operations of poor urban residents and small scale business enterprises (SMEs) that routinely depend on stable access to electricity. 

In order to achieve universal access to modern energy services, significant improvements in the enabling environments for relevant projects and programs must be created. There is a need for most African countries to increase their intention to improve their energy policies with a view of increasing energy access to millions of their citizens. However, their intentions to increase Energy Access (EA) through clean and affordable RE at the expense of fossil fuels has not been ambitious enough as Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the lowest average annual improvement rates in energy intensity at just 1.4%, well below the global average of 2.0% in 2019 and the 3.0% needed to achieve the SDG7 target. Electricity access rate was just 46%: with an increase from 548 million people in 2018 to 570 million people who still lacked access to electricity.10

From figure 4, a net of 2,689MW on-grid capacity was added overall in quarter one of 2021 – gas accounted for 1,397MW, followed by coal (800MW), liquid fuels (668MW), hydropower (244MW) and solar (231MW).

Africa must drastically increase investment in climate adaptation, especially Nature-based Solutions (NbS), to build more resilient societies, economies and ecosystems. Investing in sustainable adaptation solutions can help Africa, together with the whole world, to tackle our twin global crises: climate change and nature loss. 

The main areas Africa should drive change through is with increasing access for:

a. Electricity through more focus on RE

b. Clean Cooking energy

c. Energy Efficiency

To upscale energy access (EA) through renewable energy solutions in Africa, we need to catalyse processes under 3 pillars:

a. Good governance to promote an enabling environment for private sector engagement. There is more need to support RE friendly policies & regulatory frameworks 

b. Access to affordable finance for both entrepreneurs and end users. Increasing capital flows to SMEs working with RE access

c. Opening markets and developing entrepreneurship skills so that SMEs can lead and steer the development of energy transition value chains in Africa. There is also a huge requirement to enhance RE entrepreneurship skills and open up markets.

Further, the role of the private sector in accelerating RE transition is important. The private sector can be effectively engaged if national governments create and maintain vibrant enabling environments for RE trade. 

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There is need to elaborate the gaps in operational environment(s) mainly:

Africa needs to promote National & Regional partnerships using the Triple C Approach that is through Coordination, Cooperation, and Capacity building. This will lead to harmonization of stakeholders, sharing best practices, complementing each other, joint marketing and bulk production, and strong Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and value chain players.

In summary, the following will help accelerate Africa’s quest for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG7) through creating:

References1. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/energy/brief/sustainable-development-goal-on-energy-sdg7-and-the-world-

bank-group2. IEA, Change in total primary energy demand in the New Policies Scenario, 2017-2040, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/

data-and-statistics/charts/change-in-total-primary-energy-demand-in-the-new-policies-scenario-2017-20403. IEA (2018), World Energy Outlook 2018, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-20184. https://www.africa-energy.com/live-data/article/new-data-released-slow-pace-african-power-generation-expansion-

sub-saharan5. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/06/07/report-universal-access-to-sustainable-energy-will-

remain-elusive-without-addressing-inequalities6. https://www.iea.org/articles/the-covid-19-crisis-is-reversing-progress-on-energy-access-in-africa7. Africa 2030, How Africa Can Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, Version 2, November 2017, p48.8. IRENA (2020), Global Renewables Outlook: Energy transformation 2050 (Edition: 2020), International Renewable

Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi.9. https://www.africa-energy.com/live-data/article/new-data-released-slow-pace-african-power-generation-expansion-

sub-saharan10. https://www.seforall.org/news/five-takeaways-from-tracking-sdg7-the-energy-progress-report-202111. https://www.iea.org/reports/sdg7-data-and-projections/access-to-clean-cooking#abstract

a. Regulatory frameworks - reforms are needed to strengthen governance of nascent energy markets, ensure transparency and protection of contracts and property rights, and to open up investment opportunities for global public and private investment.

b. National energy policies so they promote divestment from sustainable sources of energy to renewable energy.

a. Friendly environment for RE private sector through:• Policies that are pro EA and RE.• Regulatory frameworks that promote RE

businesses.• Reduced costs of RE solutions through

joint marketing and bulk production.

b. Regulated value chain for charcoal and other sustainable cooking alternatives through:• Greening (regulations for sustainable

production and use). • Standardization, testing & quality assurance

of cooking stoves.

• Promotion of sustainable non-charcoal cooking alternatives.

c. Increase in RE capital financing to:• Encourage banks to roll out affordable

financial instruments

d. Strengthened capacities of RE players to:• Access financial/technical support for

upscaling.• Market jointly and produce in bulk.

e. Strengthened CSOs for:• Effective in public awareness, advocacy

and monitoring of EA and RE.

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Understanding Deforestation in Zimbabwe’s Context

by Macdonald James (SusEnergetica)

Deforestation is the removal or clear large areas of forest lands and related ecosystems for non-forest use. These include clearing for farming purposes, ranching and urban use. In these cases, trees are never re-planted. Forests cover 31% of the land area on our planet. They produce vital gases and provide homes for people and wildlife. Many of the world’s most threatened and endangered animals live in forest. 1.6 billion people rely on benefits forests offer, including food, fresh water, clothing, traditional medicine, and shelter. “The rate at which deforestation is occurring here will convert Zimbabwe into an outright desert in just 35 years if pragmatic solutions are not proffered urgently and also if people keep razing down trees for firewood without regulation,” Marylin Smith; [an independent conservationist]. At least 6 million tons of timber are consumed annually for fuel, about 1.4 million tons more than Zimbabwe’s forests can sustainably provide, according to Zimbabwe’s Forestry Commission. That means Zimbabwe is losing 330,000 hectares (more than 815,000 acres) of forest i.e., over 60 million trees a year. The current planting rate is about 8 million a year.*

Causes of deforestation

Debate on these issues has identified several causes including.

• Expansion of arable land: Agricultural activities are one of the major factors affecting deforestation. Due to overgrowing demand for food products, huge amount of trees are cut down to clear space for growing crops and for cattle grazing.

• Use as wood fuel: demand for fuelwood especially in off grid areas.

• Construction poles and timber; Tobacco curing; Urban expansion: Overpopulation too has directly affected forest covers, as with the expansion of cities more land is needed to establish housing and settlements. Therefore, forest land is reclaimed; and,

• Fires: Another example would be forest blazes; hundreds of trees are lost each year due to forest fires in various parts of Zimbabwe, especially in hotter parts of the country. This happens due to extremely warm summers and milder winters. Fires, whether caused by man or nature results in huge loss of forest cover.

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Effects of Deforestation

Climate impacts, Global warming (burning releases carbon dioxide/CO2 which is a greenhouse gas responsible for global warming). Soil erosion river siltation (sedimentation resulting depletion of water sources). Loss of biodiversity, in that respect our nation will struggle to meet international commitments to protect endangered species and biodiversity, which also rely on thriving forests.

Solutions

To address the problem of deforestation, there is need to:

• Educate the public through media and other forms of awareness.

• Strong enforcement of the law against tree cutting.

• Promote a culture of tree planting in citizens.

• Provide substitute sources of energy, hence SuS Energetica biogas solutions are part of the winning strategy to the problem bedevilling our country and Africa. [SuSEnergtica, provide off-grid energy solutions through design, construction, and commissioning of bio-gas digesters. Biogas offers the following benefits amongst others: clean cooking, heating and lighting biogas; Easy agricultural waste management].

• Effective control of legal access, usage, and rehabilitation of the nation’s timber land.

*The statistics are as of as year 2018, no updated information on the planting rate was found.

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Sustainable Energy – The answer to Africa’s

Energy crises and Sustenance

by Clinton Prophecy Ankutakpuie

Africa, a vast continent of about 1.3+ billion people according to estimates from the United Nations is not devoid of a myriad of challenges. Central to the plethora of challenges that plagues our continent is the one with energy because, it serves as the backbone of our economic system. Energy poverty thus means “economic poverty”.

It is estimated that, about 759 million people lack electricity worldwide and that by 2030, 660 million people will still lack access to electricity. This is according to data from the world bank. The International Energy Agency says that about 75% of people lacking access to electricity are from Africa. It is no news that Africa although resource rich, is often tipped as the poorest continent on Earth. With about 1.3+ billion people, having a population of more than 600 million people lacking electricity automatically translates to energy poverty.

As it stands now, Africa is heavily powered by fossil fuels. About 80% of the world’s energy is supplied from fossil fuels. Inherent to its use has been the build-up of greenhouse gasses as they are released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burnt. This has led to drastic climate changes worldwide and a decrease the quality of air we breathe. Respiratory diseases like pneumonia, bronchitis among others have been on the surge to this effect.

To mitigate the effects of fossil fuel use and ensure perpetuity, Africa is in a phase of energy transition. This transition is one centred on renewable energy, a subset of sustainable energy. To build a robust economy, woo in investors, promote economic empowerment, industrialize, reduce air pollution etc, Africa needs power that is clean, cheap, readily

available, and sustainable. Sustainable energy is one that comes from sources that don’t need to be replenished as such sources cannot be depleted so long as our planet is in existence. Examples include solar, wind and tidal energy. Africa is blessed with resources in their regard and must harness it for sustenance. It is imperative that Africa doesn’t remain oblivious of the fact that change is at hand and that we must embrace it. Failure to do so will only mean setting back global efforts. It’s very unrealistic that we move away from fossils almost immediately, but we must not relent in taking steps to achieve the goal, the goal of phasing out fossil fuels in due time.

Sustainable Energy is now, the future, and beyond in space! Governments across Africa should create a conducive atmosphere for sustainable energy companies/projects and be receptive of them. Investors should pay more attention to the sustainable energy market on the continent because it offers a lot of good investment opportunities. Investments will also go a long way to reduce pollution, reduce greenhouse emissions, help solve the current energy crisis being faced by the continent, create jobs amidst others.

We (Mr. Clinton Prophecy Ankutakpuie, Mr. Christopher Kuntz and Mr. Akubiah Reagan {Togbe Tsatsu Agbe V}), Co-Founders of Ghanadian Power Incorporated (GPI) are taking proactive steps to contribute our quota towards ensuring that Africa is not left behind during this transitional phase. We have 500 MW pipeline for the next 5 years, 90% Solar and 10% wind. 2022 is all about 100MW Solar ready to build (RTB) in Ghana!

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Sustainable Energy Symposium in Africa

by Nyararai Jerald Chipandambira

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all, the goals address global challenges we face, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation. The exploitation of fossil fuels made the industrial revolution possible and has been providing us with economic growth and technological progress. Economic growth and improving the standard of living for everyone should be achieved in a sustainable manner through focusing on affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities plan, communities, and climate action. In the quest to improve the standard of livelihoods, the human activity has caused more harm than good to the environment.

According to Statista 2021, 592 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity and national grid expansion is costly and unlikely to be prioritized over major public work projects. Current traditional methods of electricity generation in Africa have a significant carbon footprint, they generate a significant amount of greenhouse gases, through fossil fuel combustion. In Africa fossil fuels account for about 82% of the total electricity generation, mostly dominated by coal accounting for 41% and natural gas 28%. According to Carbon tracker, constructing new wind and solar plants will soon be cheaper in every major market across the globe than running existing coal-fired power stations. Thus, Africa should come up initiatives to develop alternative ways of electricity generation which are environmentally and financially sustainable. China cancelled the construction of 103 coal fired thermal power station because the coal fired thermal power plants are not environmentally sustainable and the availability of financially viable and cheaper electricity generation options. Humans and wild animals face new challenges for survival because of climate change due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The earth is now experiencing more frequent and intense drought, storms, heat waves, rising sea levels

and melting glaciers, the warming oceans can directly harm animals, destroy the places they live, and wreak havoc on people’s livelihoods and communities.

Despite solar photovoltaics being one alternative for generating environmentally and financially sustainable electricity it contributes only 5.3% of the global electricity generation mix. In the sunniest areas like in Sub Saharan Africa Solar Photovoltaics will generate the cheapest electricity. The technology of the Solar Photovoltaics has improved further, and the cost of solar energy has significantly dropped from $77.00 in 1977 to $0.22 in 2019 per watt. This reduction in cost of solar photovoltaic has driven adoption solar photovoltaics. As part of the mitigation measures of the nationally determined contributions, solar photovoltaics is one of the practical electricity generation alternatives.

Globalisation and improved trade relationships between countries has led to an exponential increase in transportation. Transportation generates a significant amount of greenhouse gases up to 16.2% of global greenhouse emissions with road transportation contributing 11.2% of greenhouse emissions.

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The transportation sector is made up of aviation, shipping, road transportation and rail. Emissions are generated from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, Lorries, motorcycles, and buses. 60% of road transport emissions come from passenger travel that is cars, motorcycles and buses and the remaining forty percent from road freight that is heavy vehicles.

A new generation of vehicles is coming up, the electric vehicle with 2.65 million electric vehicles sold in the first half of 2021. According to Bloomberg we have already passed the peak demand of internal combustion engine vehicles. The Electric Vehicle is expected to become more popular as the cost of the electric vehicle continuously decrease, due to the decrease of the cost of the lithium-ion battery, which is the most expensive part of the electric vehicle. The cost of the lithium-ion battery has dropped price by 98% in the past three decades. The future of road transportation is expected to be dominated by autonomous electric powered vehicles which environmentally and financially sustainable, with charging stations which are powered by renewable energy sources.

To avoid the worst effects of climate change, we need to dramatically reduce global carbon emissions to keep the global temperature increase at below 2oC. However, we must also prepare for the significant and unavoidable consequences of greenhouse gas emissions such as increasing temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, ocean acidification, sea level rise and the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. Energy is the biggest constituent in the generation of greenhouse gases, but we cannot do without energy, we need electricity to improve our standard of living, to power our industries and to grow our economies in a sustainable manner. African must adopt alternative ways to generate electricity and still minimize the generation of greenhouse gases. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets. The Convention itself only asks those countries to adopt policies and measures on mitigation and to report periodically.

References• https://www.statista.com/statistics/1221698/population-without-access-to-electricity-in-africa/

• https://www.uncclearn.org/wp-content/uploads/library/uneca13.pdf

• https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/12/wind-and-solar-plants-will-soon-be-cheaper-than-coal-in-all-big-markets-around-world-analysis-finds

• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/world/asia/china-coal-power-plants-pollution.html

• https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/world-gross-electricity-production-by-source-2019

• https://ourworldindata.org/ghg-emissions-by-sector

• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-10/peak-internal-combustion-engine-may-already-be-years-behind-us

• https://www.ev-volumes.com/

• https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/03/31/lithium-battery-costs-have-fallen-by-98-in-three-decades

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7.1Ensuring universal access to electricity and clean cooking solutions.

7.2Substantially increase the share of renewable energy.

7.3Doubling progress on energy efficiency.

7.AEnhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology.

7.BExpand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, least developed countries, small island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support.

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The Engendered Safety Implications of LPG consumption

by Robert Mandeya

In Africa, access to clean cooking energy is particularly gendered issue, because women are primarily responsible for cooking in virtually all cultures. About 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity, more than double that number about 3 billion people, mainly in South Asia but also in Africa, parts of Latin America and elsewhere still rely on solid fuels for cooking and heating. Access to clean and safe cooking energy will certainly be a key contributor to meeting sustainable development goal 5 on gender equality and to reducing poverty. Given the foregoing, increasing household use of LPG is one of several alternatives to meet the objective of universal access to clean cooking and heating solutions by 2030, which is one of the three pillars of the UN Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative. With the rife of fossil fuel consumption in Africa, there has been also a rise in challenges necessitated by carbon emissions from fossil fuels impacting on climatic changes and global warming.

There is a serious need to transition people from traditional fuels to LPG. Women being at the centre of the, “access to clean cooking energy campaign,” should be prioritised in the LPG safety educational and awareness initiatives. The “cooking for life” campaign launched by the World Liquid Petroleum Gas Association (WLPGA) must be emulated in the different jurisdictions around the globe particularly African countries. The campaign seeks to communicate the health benefits of switching communities from wood, charcoal, dung and other traditional fuels to LPG for cooking.

LPG is a clean-burning, efficient, versatile and portable, produced as a by-product of natural gas extraction and crude oil refining. It can be up to five times more efficient (high calorific value) than traditional fuels, produces less air pollutants than kerosene, wood or coal, and emits about 20% less carbon dioxide than heating oil and 50% less than coal; it also reduces black carbon emissions.

Currently, the main hindrance to wider LPG use in developing countries is affordability and availability. LPG is currently used predominantly by the upper half of the income groups in low- and lower-middle-income countries and especially urban and suburban households. However, increasingly in Zimbabwe, LPG is penetrating to lower income households particularly in urban settings. There is a deliberate need for African governments to promote the establishment of proper LPG infrastructure, pricing and equipment packages that make LPG accessible everyone and even rural areas, to mitigate against impact of deforestation. It is clear that there are still many households in Africa without access to clean cooking energy, who could afford to switch to LPG if other obstacles could be reduced.

LPG promotion has the major role in this multi-pronged search for solutions to access clean and safe energy, for cooking for women in developing countries.

Robert Mandeya is the interim President of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Safety Association of Zimbabwe (LPGSAZ). He can be contacted on admin@lpgzim.co.zw, www.lpgzim.co.zw

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WHAT CAN BE DONE?At home• Insulate your home • Switch to renewables • Buy energy efficient• Use less water• Change your diet

At school• Raise awareness• Compost• Switch off computers • Use local food • Take local trips

At work• Turn off the lights• Go digital• Cycle to work• Reduce, reuse & recycle • Eliminate single-use plastic

When travelling• Use public transport• Fly direct• Offset your carbon• Pack a water bottle• Think green

CARBON FOOTPRINT REDUCTIONAt Individual Level Your carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases and others, that you produce as you live your life. The Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project determined that to hold the global temperature rise to 2˚C or less, everyone on earth will need to average an annual carbon footprint of 1.87 tonnes by 2050. Global experts call for a target limit of approximately 2 tonnes per person per year. Currently, the global average is 4 tonnes per person, with wide variation between countries.

Food • Clothing • Shopping Home • Transportation

SOURCES OF CARBON EMISSION

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Climate Change Impact on Energy

by Tichaona Mungazi

Over the past few decades, scientists have become increasingly aware of the adverse effects that human activities are having on the environment and climate on Earth. These environmental and climatic changes have several consequences, impacting both the health of living organisms and more practical aspects of society.

Among other things, recent studies reveals that climate change is a true story and it is negatively impacting energy systems, increasing transport costs, or making it harder for suppliers to meet demands due to unpredictable and adverse weather conditions. Technologies that use natural resources to produce electrical energy, such as solar panels and wind turbines, are highly dependent on climate, so radical climatic changes can prevent them from generating enough energy.

Changes in temperature, precipitation, sea level, and the frequency and severity of extreme events will affect how much energy is produced, delivered, and consumed across Africa. Energy plays an important role in many aspects of our lives. For example, we use electricity for lighting and heating or cooling. We use energy for transportation, heating, cooling and cooking. There is a relationship between energy production and consumption and many other aspects of modern life, such as water consumption, use of goods and services, transportation, economic growth, land use, and population growth. Our production and use of energy (most of which comes from fossil fuels) also contributes to climate change, accounting for more than 84% of greenhouse gas emission.

There is direct proportion in Increase in temperature energy demand, as well as change in capacity and ability to produce electricity and reliable delivery. In warmer climates, people uses more electricity for air conditioning and less natural gas, oil, and wood for heating. If the climate warms by 1.8°C, the demand for energy used for cooling is increases by about 5-20%, while the demand for energy used for heating decrease by about 3-15%.  Since demand for electricity for cooling increases because of temperature increase and extreme heat events, the balance in energy delivery is likely to shift from natural gas and oil used for heating to electricity used for air conditioning.  Changes in energy demand affect greenhouse gas emissions, but the net effect depends on which energy sources, including alternative energy used for electricity and heating.

Warmer climates reduce the efficiency of power production for fossil fuel and nuclear power plants because these plants use water for cooling. The colder the water, the more efficient the generator. Thus, higher air and water temperatures reduce the efficiency with which these plants convert fuel into electricity.

Energy and water systems are connected. Energy is needed to pump, transport, and treatment of drinking and wastewater. Cooled water is needed to run many of power plants. Hydroelectricity is itself is one of the major source of power in parts of Africa. Changes in precipitation, increased risk of drought, reduced snowpack, and changes in the timing of snowmelt in spring influence patterns of energy and water use.

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Power plants can require large amounts of water for cooling. On average, a kilowatt-hour of electricity (enough power to run 400 typical compact-fluorescent light bulbs for an hour) requires 115 litres of water. Parts of Africa faces increased competition for water to meet the demands of population and economic growth while also protecting natural ecosystems. Many local governments in these regions have slowed or stopped plans for new power plants that require large withdrawals of water due to concerns about adequate availability of cooling water.

More frequent and severe heat waves will likely increase the demand for electricity in some parts of Africa. At the same time, these areas are likely to experience reduced water supplies due to increased temperature and evaporation, as well as possible decreased rainfall. Since water is necessary for electricity production, these combined effects could stress water resources.

Hydroelectric power plants are sensitive to the volume and timing of stream flows. In some regions, especially during times of increased rainfall, dam operators may have to allow some water to bypass the electric turbines to prevent downstream flooding. Maintaining stream flow for hydroelectric dams could present conflicts with other activities, such as salmon habitat restoration.

Growing crops for biomass and biofuel energy may stress water resources in certain regions, depending on the type of crop, where it is grown, agricultural production in the region, and current water and nutrient management practices. Given the many factors involved, more research is needed to understand how climate change may affect these resources.

Rising temperatures, increased evaporation, and drought increase the need for energy-intensive methods of providing drinking and irrigation water. For example, desalinization plants convert salt water into freshwater, but consume a lot of energy. Climate change may also require irrigation water to be pumped over longer distances, particularly in dry regions.

A large portion of energy infrastructure is in coastal areas especial the hydropower stations, therefore sensitive to sea level rise and storm surge. For example, fuel ports and the generation and transmission lines are at risk. Changes in the frequency and severity of storms and other extreme events may also damage energy infrastructure, resulting in energy shortages that harm the economy and disrupt peoples’ daily lives.

Flooding and intense storms can damage power lines and electricity distribution equipment. These events may also delay repair and maintenance work. Electricity outages can have serious impacts on other energy systems as well. For example, oil and gas pipeline disruptions following extreme weather events are often caused by power outages rather than physical damage to the infrastructure.

Railways and marine  transportation  that move large amounts of oil and coal are also vulnerable to climate change. More intense rainfall and storms can threaten railways by washing out railway beds. Changes in precipitation could affect marine transportation by reducing the navigability of rivers. 

The impacts of climate change on wind and solar power is still a developing area of research due to the challenges involved in modelling wind and cloud cover changes at the necessary spatial scales.

Climate Change Impact on Energy (cont.)

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Act Now.Stop Climate Change.

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Source: https://www.iea.org/regions/africa

Notes: TES here excludes electricity and heat trade. Coal also includes peat and oil shale where relevant.

Total energy supply (TES) by source, Africa 1990-2018

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FOR UPCOMING & PREVIOUS E-LOUNGE WEBINAR SESSIONS

visit www.esh.africa or scan the QR-CodeYour feedback

is most welcome.If you wish to share your comments and opinions about environmental, safety and health at a workplace, please contact us on esh@esh.africa.

Did you miss out on our Webinar? Here are some topics.

Understanding Deforestation in Africa MacDonald James

The Environmental Effects of Disposable Face MasksTadiwanashe Chigowe

Managing the Covid-19 Infodemic in the WorkplaceElingah Magada

The Rife of Fossil Fuel Consumption in AfricaRobert Mandeya

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Africa’s Quest for SDG 7Michael Sakala

Management of Contractors Siyabonga Makhaye

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Greenwich Mean Time .... 8am-10amWest Africa Time .............. 9am-11amCentral Africa Time ....... 10am-12pmEast Africa Time ................11am-1pm

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FACT

S A

ND

FIG

UR

ES

One in seven people still lacks electricity and most of them live in rural areas of the developing world.1 in 7

Energy is the main contributor to climate change, it produces around 60% of the greenhouse gases.60%

More efficient energy standards could reduce building and industry electricity consumption by 14%.14%

As of 2015, more than 20% of power was generated through renewable sources. 20%

More than 40% of the world’s population (3 billion), rely on polluting and unhealthy fuels for cooking.

3billion

The renewable energy sector, employed a record 10.3 million people in 2017.

10.3million

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Events and Global Observances

OBSERVED6-7 Sept 9th Global Summit Expo on Pollution13-14 Sept 2nd Annual Congress on Biofuels and Biopolymers 20-21 Sept International Women Conference in Women’s Safety and Health

at Workplace 21-22 Sept World Congress on Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology20-23 Sept XXII World Congress in Safety and Health at Work 2021

UPCOMING1 Oct International Day of Older Persons2 Oct International Day of Non-Violence4 Oct World Habitat Day5 Oct World Teachers’ Day9 Oct World Post Day10 Oct World Mental Health Day11 Oct International Day of the Girl Child13 Oct International Day for Disaster Reduction14 Oct World Sight Day16 Oct World Food Day17 Oct International Day for the Eradication of Poverty24 Oct United Nations Day24 Oct World Development Information Day

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCES 10-15 Oct Innovate 4 Cities 2021 Conference10 Oct SADC Youth in Energy Webinar Series: #5 Entrepreneurship25-29 Oct ISES Solar World Congress 202131 Oct-12 Nov 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26)15-17 Nov 23rd Africa Energy Forum

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