6 February 2007

Nearly half of South Africa's energy is consumed by the 15 largest cities, giving them a huge responsibility to help avert the global climate crisis. According to a new report, The State of Energy in South African Cities, sustainable energy interventions such as solar power, efficient public transport networks and building regulations could reduce the country's carbon dioxide emissions by up to 864 million tons over the next 20 years.

The State of Energy in South African Cities, launched on 31 January, comes out of research conducted between April 2005 and September 2006, funded by Sustainable Energy Africa, Danida, the Wallace Global Fund and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership.

The 15 cities in the study - including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and eThekwini - account for 40% percent of national energy consumption.

"Huge carbon dioxide savings can be realised from sustainable energy interventions in South African cities … between 119 million and 864 million tons in the next 20 years," says the report. "Carbon dioxide reduction targets of between 15% and 20% over 20 years appear to be manageable for cities through efficiency and renewable interventions."

In South Africa's six big cities, the average carbon dioxide emission per person is 6.5 tons - higher than the global average but below that of Europe and North America. Emissions from the 15 cities reviewed totalled 156 million tons in 2004 - excluding emissions from the manufacture of liquid fuels from coal and natural gas, which would double or even triple the total.

The report finds that the establishment of sustainable transport systems is the biggest challenge facing local government. Transport accounts for 56% of urban energy consumption.

The report says that while getting more people to use public transport will require huge investment, cities' fleets of trucks or buses can be made more fuel efficient.

The report also found that energy consumption remains skewed along racial and economic lines.

Cape Town's low-income households make up 70% of the city's population but use less than half of the city's electricity supply. In Khayelitsha, most households spend up to 20% of their disposable income on energy.

Across the country, more than 50% of South Africans live in "energy poverty", where at least 10% of their disposable income is spent on energy.

The report also looks at the effect of energy consumption on pollution, which costs South Africa more than R4-billion a year.

For more information and to order a copy of the report, go to www.sustainable.org.za.