Greenpeace pushes for renewable energy in SAfrica
By MIA SNYMAN (AP) � 1 day ago
JOHANNESBURG � South Africa has renewable resources that can provide
solutions to the country's energy problems and create jobs � while
fighting global warming, Greenpeace officials said Wednesday.
"Greenpeace's estimate that 78,000 green jobs could be created is
conservative," Glen Mpufane, who heads a development group, who
joined a Greenpeace forum on green jobs on Wednesday.
Unemployment is around 25 percent in South Africa, which was hard hit
by the global recession.
Environmental groups in South Africa are campaigning for a major move
toward renewable energy rather than nuclear and coal energy. The
government says it needs coal and nuclear energy now to grow, but
plans to move toward renewable energy later.
"South Africa needs a paradigm shift in terms of renewable energy,"
said Olivia Langhoff, director of the Greenpeace jobs campaign.
Eskom, South Africa's state-owned electricity supplier, experienced a
supply crisis in 2007 due to ailing infrastructure. That led to power
rationing that hurt economic output.
"We are asking from the government to be more ambitious in their
targets of generating electricity from renewable energy," said Melita
Steele, a Greenpeace energy and climate campaigner. "A minimum of 36
percent of the country's electricity should come from renewed energy
sources by 2030."
Richard Worthington, the climate change program manager for the World
Wildlife Foundation, agreed with the Greenpeace initiative. He said up
to 55 percent of the country's power can be generated from renewables
as South Africa has very rich renewable resources.
In April, the World Bank approved a $3.75 billion loan to help South
Africa build a major coal-fired plant in the north, though the United
States and environmental groups have expressed worries about its impact.
South Africa is the only African nation among the 20 countries that
emit nearly 90 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. South African
environmental officials have a long-term plan to reduce emissions, but
say that in the short term the country needs polluting technologies to
develop.
Copyright � 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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