LETTER: End the chemical fantasy of green hydrogen
The $8.5bn could buy eight small modular reactors, and our energy problems would be over
30 November 2022 - 17:19
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SA has unveiled a plan at COP27 to target the green hydrogen industry. Picture: BLOOMBERG
Your edition of November 29 contained a number of articles that might have prompted the late Nigerian author Chinua Achebe to write a sequel to his well-known novel Things Fall Apart.
Criminality is rampant at Eskom and load-shedding is at a record high. Cement production is at a record low. High interest rates are crippling the housing market and everyone is strapped for cash this Christmas. President Cyril Ramaphosa is hoping to get $8.5bn from donors so we can transition to a green tomorrow.
It seems the half that doesn’t get stolen will be wasted on the flavour of the month — green hydrogen, a chemical fantasy that even sophisticated economies aren’t sure about. The money could buy eight small modular reactors, and our energy problems would be over.
However, in a country whose products are mainly low-grade politicians and a few rugby players, this seems unlikely.
Bernard Benson Parklands
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: End the chemical fantasy of green hydrogen
The $8.5bn could buy eight small modular reactors, and our energy problems would be over
Your edition of November 29 contained a number of articles that might have prompted the late Nigerian author Chinua Achebe to write a sequel to his well-known novel Things Fall Apart.
Criminality is rampant at Eskom and load-shedding is at a record high. Cement production is at a record low. High interest rates are crippling the housing market and everyone is strapped for cash this Christmas. President Cyril Ramaphosa is hoping to get $8.5bn from donors so we can transition to a green tomorrow.
It seems the half that doesn’t get stolen will be wasted on the flavour of the month — green hydrogen, a chemical fantasy that even sophisticated economies aren’t sure about. The money could buy eight small modular reactors, and our energy problems would be over.
However, in a country whose products are mainly low-grade politicians and a few rugby players, this seems unlikely.
Bernard Benson
Parklands
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
SA’s green hydrogen plans get R400m boost from German development bank
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