The facts: South Africa powers its continent with coal

As the U.N. Climate Conference in Copenhagen approaches, we’ll be hearing a lot about South Africa. The country plays a major role in Africa’s total electricity generation – and the continent’s rising demand for energy has led to increased interest in new coal-generated power projects.

Understanding the energy needs and resources of our global neighbors is important, because, as we’ve said before, climate change is an issue that requires a global solution.

Consider these facts:

•At 54 billion short tons, South Africa has the world’s sixth largest recoverable coal reserves, according to a 2007 Energy Information Administration (EIA) report. That’s approximately five percent of the world’s total coal reserves.

•South Africa currently accounts for 92 percent of the coal consumed on the continent and is expected to continue to account for much of Africa’s total coal consumption over the projection period, reports the EIA’s 2009 International Energy Outlook.

•Due to its large coal deposits, South Africa is one of the cheapest electricity suppliers in the world, says the EIA.

As you can see, the U.S. is not the only nation depending on coal-generated electricity to power our economy and provide low-cost electricity for its people. With coal-use growing in South Africa and other countries, the commercial development of carbon capture and sequestration technologies becomes ever more important—allowing all nations to use their most abundant and affordable resources with technology that can help us reach our global emissions reduction goals.