Salman's Infobahn

Image via Wikipedia The renewable resource with the greatest potential in South Africa is solar energy. The total area of high radiation in South Africa amounts to approximately 194,000 km2, including the Northern Cape, one of the best solar resource areas in the world.  South Africa has average daily solar radiation of between 4.5 and 6.5 kWh per m 2 . Solar thermal heating is the predominant mode of solar energy utilization in South Africa.  Eskom is building a 100MW concentrated solar (CSP) power project in Upington (Northern Cape) with financial assistance from the World Bank.   The Clinton Climate Initiative is partnering with the   Department of Energy to set up a solar park in the Northern Cape, which will add 5GW to South Africa’s electricity generation. Siemens is also currently   conducting a feasibility study on a possible 210 MW CSP plant in the Northern Cape to possibly come online by 2014 and the Industrial Development Corporation is also invest...

Image via Wikipedia Renewable energy is growing rapidly in India. With an installed capacity of 13.2 GW, renewable energy sources (excluding large hydro) currently account for 9% of India’s overall power generation capacity. By 2012, the Indian government is planning to add an extra 14 GW of renewable sources. Grid Interactive Renewable Power in India Technology Potential (MW) Achievement (MW) Windpower 45,000 5,246 Small Hydro (<25MW) 15,000 537 Cogeneration/Bagasse 5,000 759 Biopower (Agro-residues and woody biomass from plantations 61,000 26 Waste-to-Energy 7,000 1 Solar PV Systems (4-7/kWh/km 2 /day) 20MW/km 2 2 Total 133,000 14,914 Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, 2009 In its 10th Five Year Plan, the Indian government had set itself a target of adding 3.5 GW of renewable energy sources to the generation mix. In reality, however, nearly double that figure was achieved. In this period, more than 5.4 GW of wind energy was added to the ...

South Africa, the most industrialized country in Africa, is highly dependent on conventional fuels which make it one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. Coal provides around 75% of the fossil fuel demand and accounts for 90% of power generation in the country. A smooth transition to a low-carbon society requires diversification of energy resources to other energy forms, especially renewable energy. The country is endowed with abundant sunshine, good wind regimes and attractive biomass feedstocks which could provide sufficient means to replenish energy supplies and counter environmental degradation. According to the Government’s White Paper on Renewable Energy Policy (2003), renewable energy projects are aimed to deliver the equivalent of 10,000 GWh by 2013, from wind, solar, biomass and hydro resources. Some of the larger projects that are under development include the Darling wind farm and the Bethlehem hydro scheme. Other projects such as landfill to gas ...