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May 24 2012 17:31
The Reserve Bank will maintain current interest rates, and a sizeable reduction in the local petrol price is expected, says governor Gill Marcus.
May 24 2012 15:29
The Reserve Bank will maintain current interest rates, says governor Gill Marcus.
May 23 2012 22:00
Economic liberation or the lack thereof is the most divisive issue in the country, according to a survey.
Johannesburg - South Africa will have to get a new nuclear power station before 2020 if the country is to achieve its new targets for combating greenhouse gas emissions.
The government initially planned to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions from 2025 onwards, to maintain the levels for 10 years, and then to reduce them to about 30% below their 2000 level.
On Monday government announced that the year has now been adjusted to 2020, and the target to 34%.
Dr Steve Lennon, Eskom's managing director for resources and strategy, says that if South Africa fails to build a big new nuclear power station these targets will not be attained.
He explained that the new targets already factor in the two new coal-fired power stations currently being built.
A study has been made of future greenhouse gas emissions in South Africa, and the targets are partly based on these. Energy efficiency, renewable energy resources and new nuclear power are required to meet the targets.
At the same time, Lennon explains, older Eskom plants will be removed from service after 2020.
These older power stations are very inefficient in terms of carbon emissions, while the new power stations will be highly efficient.
Lennon says the plan will furthermore rely on resources from elsewhere on the globe.
In a statement on Monday the presidency declared that, in order for South Africa to achieve these targets, developed countries would have to help the country with finance, technology and skills development.
Stefan Raubenheimer, head of the non-governmental organisation SouthSouthNorth and an adviser to the government on climate change, says this could stimulate investment in South Africa's power industry.
Prospects for success are furthermore largely in the hands of Eskom and Sasol, the two single largest emitters of man-made greenhouse gases in South Africa.
Eskom currently releases about 49% of South Africa's total greenhouse gases each year, and Sasol some 19%.
Sasol spokesperson Jacqui O?Sullivan says the company has an existing strategy to restrict greenhouse gas emissions.
- Sake24.com
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