A Touch of ''Green'' Electricity

By Anthony Stoppard

JOHANNESBURG

In keeping with the theme, some of the main venues hosting the World Summit will use environment-friendly ''green'' electricity during the summit.

Green electricity is produced in an environment-friendly way from renewable energy sources like the sun, the wind and waves.

Electricity generated more conventionally - in coal or nuclear power stations -- either release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere or produces pollutants, like radioactive waste.

While South African produces some of the cheapest electricity in the world, its power stations are fired by ''dirty'' coal, which emits large amounts of carbon. South Africa produces 42 percent of Africa's carbon emissions.

However, the emissions for the whole of the continent are still substantially less than that of a single developed country.

The electricity for the WSSD will be supplied by large and small green power stations in South Africa. It will be certified 'green' by South Africa 's National Electricity Regulator (NER).

Basically, the electricity used at some of the WSSD venues will be measured during the summit. The electricity will be drawn from South Africa' s national grid, which mainly uses conventional power.

However, green electricity - equal to that used by the venues - will be added to the grid from environment-friendly power stations.

City Power - the Johannesburg energy company -- plans to buy sufficient green electricity to cover all the power needs of the two main WSSD venues: Ubuntu Village and the Expo Centre - site of the Global Forum. The bulk of the expected 60,000 delegates attending the WSSD will be meeting at these two venues.

Green electricity costs about 100 percent more than conventional power, but the venues will be reimbursed for the additional cost of using the energy during the WSSD -- from a grant by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

''The aim of the project is to show that green electricity can be supplied to those venues and companies that want to operate in an environmentally responsible way, explains Glynn Morris of Agama Energy. Agama is a South African company that promotes the use of sustainable energy sources. ''It will lay the basis for a regulatory and trading regime for green electricity in South Africa -- which can be used after the WSSD,'' he adds.

''The growth in electricity demand in South Africa is expected to outstrip the existing capacity within the next three to five years,'' says Morris. ''It is essential that South Africa creates new electricity capacity, and this means that we have a rare opportunity û to make an informed and considered choice about the sustainability of that electricity supply,'' he adds.

Energy is one of the key issues to be discussed at the Summit. Morris argues that increased use of green electricity will ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, ease air pollution and save water.

Green electricity can also contribute to the WSSD's commitment to poverty alleviation by encouraging the development of independent power production businesses, he says.

The supply of renewable energy is more labour intensive than coal or nuclear electricity generation and research shows that wind energy is about 10 times as labour intensive than nuclear energy; and that wind-generated electricity is twice as labour-intensive as coal-fired power.

Ahead of the summit, it has been estimated that the WSSD will generate an estimated 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, says Future Forests, a carbon-management company.

The Johannesburg Climate Legacy (JCL) project is organising a campaign to ''off-set'' greenhouse gas emissions generated by the WSSD, through compensating investments in energy-saving technology. Delegates to the summit can invest in sustainable energy projects, which will replace the fossil fuels presently being used for heat and lighting in many communities. The resulting reduction in greenhouse gasses from these projects will compensate for emissions caused by the WSSD.

''Climate Legacy Certificates'' - which will cost between 100 rand (10 U.S. dollars) for individuals and one million rand (100,000 U.S. dollars) for corporations are available on the website, www.climatelegacy.org. A 100 rand (10 U.S. dollars) legacy certificate is estimated to be worth one tonne of carbon. JCL is aiming to raise as much as five million U.S. dollars from the sale of these certificates.

The company is still finalising appropriate ''off-set'' projects to fund, but those on the short-list include the supply of solar power generators to hospitals and technikons.