Coal miners’ attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of transitioning to renewable energy in South Africa
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
The current state of load-shedding has sparked an interesting debate about energy security in South Africa. Electricity interruptions, purposefully switching off electricity to save energy for a certain period during the day, have caused significant problems across the country, including low economic activity, closure of businesses, and loss of jobs. Coal miners have concerns about switching to renewable energy due to loss of employment. South Africa depends on coal, a non-renewable resource, to generate electricity and has been struggling to supply electricity effectively. This study investigated the knowledge, perception, and attitude of employees in the coal mining industry about diversifying energy sources and incorporating renewable energy. The process followed was a quantitative study approach conducted in the mining industry, Khutala Colliery. A questionnaire generated from SurveyMonkey was used to recruit one hundred and fifty-four participants. Data analysis, visualization, and presentation were undertaken using SPSS version 29. Inferential statistics were used for this research with the P-values in the following tables. Results show that coal mining employees had a positive attitude towards renewable energy. Employees were overall knowledgeable about renewable energy as an alternative source. There was a positive perception of renewable energy as a source of energy to address the current energy problem. Lastly, the dataset shows a positive attitude towards using renewable energy in SA. There is a need to understand the level of knowledge, perception, attitude, and readiness to transition to renewable energy before implementing alternative energy.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration, Johannesburg, 2023
Keywords
Load-shedding, energy, Electricity interruptions, Coal miners, UCTD
Citation
Marama, Thabo Brian. (2023). Coal miners’ attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of transitioning to renewable energy in South Africa [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40061