School of Law (ETDs)

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Browsing School of Law (ETDs) by SDG "SDG-7: Affordable and clean energy"

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    Does South Africa’s energy regulatory framework promote renewable energy?
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Netshithuthuni, Meshack Fhatuwani; Field, Tracy Lynn
    The South African economy heavily relies on fossil fuels such as coal as its major energy source. However, for more than fifteen years, South Africa has been faced with loadshedding and interrupted power cut, that results in persistent energy demand management. The cause is ascribed to inter alia, coal-fired power plants that are ageing, corruption, and lack of promotion of more renewables. The high dependence on coal-fired energy results in high significant environmental effects to the environment and human well-being. The environmental impacts include water and air pollution, climate change impacts due to GHG emissions. These emissions contribute to global warming, and diseases such as asthma, cancer, heart, and lung ailments. At the same time, South Africa has abundant renewable energy sources that can potentially reduce loadshedding, environmental effects or its energy deficit. The study accepts that renewable energy is sustainable, clean, and environmentally friendly in comparison to coal, although energy derived from renewables such as wind, solar, hydrogen cells and renewable- powered batteries also produce GHG emissions during manufacturing processes. The purpose of this study is to analyse and investigate the existing legal framework for promoting renewable energy sources as an alternative to non-renewable energy sources. In addition, this report seeks to determine whether the current regulatory framework sufficiently promotes and supports the integration of more renewables. It concludes that the current regulatory regime does not sufficiently promote and support the integration of renewable energy sources.
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    The Energy Crisis and Sustainable Electricity: An Analysis of SADC’s role in the promotion of Climate Justice in the Regions’ Electricity Industry
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Kamurai, Rumbidzai Lindsay
    Long having depended on fossil fuels to sustain its socio-economic aims, in the face of rolling blackouts and the emerging renewable energy mix the SADC region is under pressure to implement sustainable practises to meet electricity demands and ensure energy security. All in the hopes of attaining regional climate justice. This report aims to access the regions renewable energy and low carbon emitting alternative options as supported by SADC policy in order to understand how far these policies and potential can address the regions prevalent energy crisis. In so doing ,it outlines what an energy crisis is in the SADC context in order to more thoroughly evaluate SADC policies and projects implemented to meet this crisis. Having accessed the successes and failures of these, it endeavours to suggest possible ways forward in the context of the regions renewable energy potential. This report speaks to the role political will and overt nationalism have played in the regions failed energy policies, how current regional implementation is moving at too slow a pace to match socio-economic development and is thereby worsening the electricity crisis, that diversification of the renewable energy mix has been neglected and the fact that climate change must play a greater role in developing energy policies than it is currently, if climate justice is to be seriously attained. The impact of climate change on the region and its energy options is too great a factor to ignore and is used to back the use of regional SPV over the short-sightedness of hydro.