Abstract
Despite obvious differences, South Africa’s main contending sources of non-renewable energy apart from coal—nuclear, geothermal, and (fracked or offshore) natural gas—all share three attributes. They are all capital intensive, requiring huge up-front investments in order to break even (thus also requiring an active state role in mitigating risk); they entail significant, probably irredeemably large, externalities and environmental costs that magnify, by orders of magnitude, risks of intergenerational injustice; and related to these, they cannot effectively address South Africa’s historic energy injustices, nor improve its level of energy security. Of these three, South Africa has extensive experience only with nuclear power: Its co-evolutionary relationship with the apartheid state and related culture of secrecy and lack of accountability should serve as an object lesson regarding the development of the other sources discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Voosen (2018).
- 2.
Dhansay et al. (2017).
- 3.
- 4.
Etheridge (2017).
- 5.
Fig (2018: 260).
- 6.
McKinsey (2015).
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
Umeozor et al. (2018).
- 10.
Pieterse (2018).
- 11.
Author’s observations; Nxumalo (2018).
- 12.
Lazard (2018), cf. fn 9, above.
- 13.
Fig (2005: 38–39).
- 14.
UN (1957).
- 15.
Fig (2005: 42–45).
- 16.
Fig (2005: 56–63).
- 17.
- 18.
Fig (2018: 258–261).
- 19.
Gosling (2017).
- 20.
See e.g. Carnie (2015).
- 21.
Fig (2018: 267–268).
- 22.
However, in August 2017, when the speaker of the national assembly, Baleka Mbete, exercised his constitutional authority to announce a secret ballot on a motion of no confidence in then-President Zuma, it was only narrowly defeated, with 198 against v. 177 in favour.
- 23.
Nkosi and Dikgang (2018).
- 24.
Kings (2018).
- 25.
Rizvi (2019).
- 26.
Nkosi and Dikgang (2018).
- 27.
- 28.
Beerten et al. (2009).
References
Beerten, J., Laes, G., Meskens, G., & D’haeseleer, W. (2009, December). Greenhouse gas emissions in the nuclear life cycle: A balanced appraisal. Energy Policy, 37(12), 5056–5068.
Busby, C., & Mangano, J. (2017). There’s a world going on underground—Infant mortality and fracking in Pennsylvania. Journal of Environmental Protection, 8, 381–393. https://doi.org/10.4236/jep.2017.84028.
Carnie, T. (2015, July 16). At least one nuke power station for KZN. IOL News. Accessible at: http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/at-least-one-nuke-power-station-for-kzn-1886079.
Dhansay, T., Musekiwa, C., Ntholi, T., Chevallier, L., Cole, D., & de Wit, M. J. (2017). South Africa’s geothermal energy hotspots inferred from subsurface temperature and geology. South African Journal of Science. http://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2017/20170092.
Esswein, E., Breitenstein, M., Snawder, J., Kiefer, M., & Sieber, W. (2013). Occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica during hydraulic fracturing. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 10(7), 347–356.
Etheridge, J. (2017, March 30). Government gives green light for shale gas fracking in Karoo. News24. Accessible at: https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/govt-gives-green-light-for-shale-gas-fracking-in-karoo-20170330?fbclid=IwAR0L1O_QIpA4KUCRWxH53EqZiFoxmgvN43RtEkHVy-qrUfwahtX8yhB1M18.
Fig, D. (2005). Uranium road: Questioning South Africa’s nuclear direction. Cape Town: Jacana Media.
Fig, D. (2018). Capital, climate and the politics of nuclear procurement in South Africa. In V. Satgar (Ed.), The climate crisis: South African and global democratic eco-socialist alternatives (pp. 252–271). Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
Gosling, M. (2017, February 25). Russian nuclear deal places massive liability on South Africans. News24. Accessible at: https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/russian-nuclear-deal-places-massive-liability-on-south-africans-20170225.
Howarth, R. W., Ingraffea, A., & Engelder, T. (2011). Natural gas: Should fracking stop? Nature, 477(7364), 271.
Johnston, J., Lim, E., & Roh, H. (2019, March 20). Impact of upstream oil extraction and environmental public health: A review of the evidence. Science of the Total Environment, 657, 187–199.
Kings, S. (2018, August 27). South Africa has a new energy plan. Mail & Guardian. Accessible at: https://mg.co.za/article/2018-08-27-south-africa-has-a-new-energy-plan.
Lazard. (2018). Levelized cost of energy data. Accessible at: https://www.lazard.com/media/450784/lazards-levelized-cost-of-energy-version-120-vfinal.pdf.
Magnani, M. B., Blanpied, M. L., DeShon, H. R., & Hornbach, M. J. (2017). Discriminating between natural versus induced seismicity from long-term deformation history of intraplate faults. Science Advances, 3(11), e1701593.
McKinsey & Co. (2015). South Africa’s big five: Bold priorities for inclusive growth. McKinsey Global Institute. Accessible at: https://studyres.com/doc/15857434/south-africa-s-big-five.
Mooney, C. (2011). The truth about fracking. Scientific American, 305(5), 80–85.
Mudd, G., & Diesendorf, M. (2008). Sustainability of uranium mining and milling: Toward quantifying resources and eco-efficiency. Environmental Science & Technology, 42(7), 2624–2629.
Nkosi, N., & Dikgang, J. (2018, January). South African attitudes about nuclear power: The case of the nuclear energy expansion (ERSA Working Paper No. 726). Pretoria. Accessible at: https://econrsa.org/2017/wp-content/uploads/working_paper_726.pdf.
Nxumalo, M. (2018, December 6). Environmental lobby prepares legal fight over offshore drilling. Daily News. Accessible at: https://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/environmental-lobby-prepares-legal-fight-over-offshore-drilling-18406392.
Pieterse, C. (2018, August 21). Oil threat to KZN coast. The Witness.
Rizvi, F. (2019, February 11). South Africa ready to discuss nuclear energy cooperation with Russia—Foreign Minister. UrduPoint. Accessible at: https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/rpt-south-africa-ready-to-discuss-nuclear-e-549632.html.
Sovacool, B. (2008, August). Valuing the greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear power: A critical survey. Energy Policy, 36(8), 2940–2953.
Thomas, S. (2009, June 22). The demise of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Umeozor, E. C., Jordaan, S. M., & Gates, I. D. (2018). On methane emissions from shale gas development. Energy, 152, 594–600.
UN. (1957, July 8). Treaty No. 4234 between the United States of America and the Union of South Africa. Agreement for co-operation concerning the civil uses of atomic energy. Washington, DC. Accessible at: https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20290/volume-290-I-4234-English.pdf.
Voosen, P. (2018, April 26). Second-largest earthquake in modern South Korean history tied to geothermal plant. Science. Accessible at: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/04/second-largest-earthquake-modern-south-korean-history-tied-geothermal-plant.
Willis, M., Jusko, T., Halterman, J., & Hill, E. (2018, October). Unconventional natural gas development and pediatric asthma hospitalizations in Pennsylvania. Environmental Research, 166, 402–408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.06.022.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lawrence, A. (2020). Non-RE Alternative Energies: Nuclear, Geothermal, Fracking and Offshore Gas. In: South Africa’s Energy Transition. Progressive Energy Policy. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18903-7_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18903-7_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-18902-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-18903-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)