LETTER: Lessons from Europe

The Western world’s net-zero-carbon project is rapidly morphing into another “great leap forward”. 

This was Mao Zedong’s attempt to increase Chinese output in everything from agricultural products to steel. While the objectives were laudable, the methods used to achieve them were not. Unrealistic targets set by a messianic central elite who had no practical knowledge of industry and agriculture and backed  by threats resulted in the world’s worst man-made catastrophe to date.

The net-zero project, propelled by panic, is already out of control, but the drivers continue pushing the accelerator into the floor. Last week, the UK’s electricity prices rose by a factor of 10 during peak periods. No industry can cope with such wild fluctuations if they become continuous. Wind turbines are great if the wind blows, but industrial nations need a reliable backup when it doesn’t. Europe’s gas and electricity shortage is compounded by the carbon tax, which will make their exports uncompetitive. An Elysian green future without jobs doesn’t look that attractive.

I understand representatives of the “green elite” have visited SA with the objective of pressurising Eskom into closing its coal-fired power stations. The sort of winter of discontent Europe is contemplating is the last thing SA needs. Closing a couple of the older stations in return for sufficient compensation to reduce Eskom’s debt and buy time is one thing. Wholesale closures are something else. 

With the time bought, accelerate renewables in commercial and domestic applications, free up the stalled gas storage facility in Saldanha so the Ankerlig power station no longer requires diesel, increase Mozambican gas imports together with local storage, and consider adapting an existing coal-fired station to gas. In the medium term, home-developed modular reactors or alternatives sourced from Rolls-Royce could replace base load as additional coal-fired stations are phased out.        

James Cunningham
Camps Bay

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