South Africa waste-to-energy project can boost Economic Growth of the entire World

Christopher Zenios15/08/20193min
South Africa is suffering from an electricity crisis which has resulted in a series of electricity power cuts in various areas. Eskom, the state-run provider is in financial trouble and cannot meet daily demands. Waste-to-energy is an alternative source of electricity now for them.

Africa’s waste-to-energy project

Waste-to-energy is a form of biomass where garbage is collected and used as a feedstock to create electricity. Cape Town uses a waste-to-energy plant to reduce its garbage sites while helping to raise its use of green energy to a fifth of its electricity supply.

According to the Climate Neutral Group, “Municipal landfill sites are a danger to the environment and pose health hazards by producing huge quantities of methane gas”. Its projects will capture methane from 5 of these landfill sites in Johannesburg and convert it to electricity, in effect solving South Africa’s 2 biggest problems. This action will produce electricity that will power 16,500 homes in the country.

The current population of Africa is 1.2billion and 600million of those people lack access to electricity across the continent. This new project should boost the region’s economy by 10% per year. Africans will be demanding more energy whilst creating more garbage. The waste-to-energy project will help reform Africa and its economy, including other developing regions.

Waste-to-energy on a Global scale

Back in February 2019, Bill Gates expressed his thoughts at the African Unions annual summit and said that he was most passionate about…

The African people and clean energy but more importantly the need to bring electricity to a growing population in a climate-friendly way.

The Gates Foundation spends $2billion a year on the continent of Africa and these funds improve medical care and agribusinesses, which both improve the living standards in the country. Furthermore, it’s trying to give electricity to a continent of 500,000 with no access to power. This is the basis for enhancing their living standards.

The waste-to-energy along with other forms of help like the Gates Foundation could help the population to grow from 1.2billion to 2billion by 2050. According to the International Energy Agency, sub-Saharan Africa will require $400billion by 2035 to modernize its energy foundation and the World Bank Group will invest $200billion globally by 2025 to help with producing a low-carbon future.

Bill Gates referring to investments in healthcare and infrastructure says,

We need to do a much better job of informing people about the challenges, But I worry that wealthy countries are turning inward…they’ll decide these efforts aren’t worth the cost.

Gates Foundation and the United Nations with the launch of Sustainable Energy for All, are ready and willing to give all the help necessary to provide universal energy access by 2030. They will also use energy efficiency and renewable energy during this time.

 

Image Source by Visionscape

Christopher Zenios

Christopher has always been a pioneer, a first adopter when it comes to technological advancements. Over the years, his expertise surrounded the real estate and digital markets and their evolution in today's society. After being the editor to various professional business news portals and blogs, he was selected to become the chief editor for HWC. Contact Christopher at +357-22029786 ext: 6110 or by email at [email protected] for editorial related questions.



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