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Landfills to offset carbon emission

Tuesday, 24 March 2009 18:18

STATE-owned CEF (Pty) Ltd wants to build several landfill gas sites in Gauteng and the Western Cape in a bid to offset emissions from coal-fired power stations. Owing to its over-reliance on coal, SA produces more than 40% of Africa’s fossil fuel-related carbon dioxide emissions. But the global move to curb climate change has seen the country throw cleaner sources of energy into its energy mix.

Belville Landfill

The government has set a target of 10 000GWh renewable energy contribution to final energy consumption by 2013. Environment assessment consultancy WSP Environment and Energy has given notice of its intention to carry out the scoping and environment impact assessment for the extraction and utilisation of landfill gas and the use of the recovered gas to produce electricity from landfill sites in Cape Town, Vanderbijipark and Vereeniging. WSP is conducting the assessment on behalf of the CEF. The government’s mandate to the CEF is to search for energy solutions to meet SA’s future energy needs.

According to the consultants, the Cape Town projects in Bellville South, Brackenfell, Muizenberg, Blue Downs, Khayelitsha and Morning Star would collectively generate up to 9MW of electricity, which will offset emissions from coal-fired generation plans and provide further - reduction of (greenhouse gas emissions). The projects at the Emfuleni municipality: two in Vanderbijlpark and one in Vereeniging would collectively generate up to 2,8MW. The proposed activities are in line with the South African government’s 2002 accession of the Kyoto, Protocol on world climate change and its provision for the implementation of clean development mechanism projects.

The project objectives are to promote renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere, the consultants said this week. The release of the National Energy Regulator of SA’s (Nersa) long awaited feed-in tariffs for renewable energy at the end of this month could stimulate the establishment of more landfill gas sites around the country. With no tariffs for the generation of renewable energy, prospective investors are cautious. The tariffs will indicate the returns that investors can expect from renewable energy projects such as landfill gas sites.

In its consultation paper, released in December, Nersa proposed tariffs ranging between 40c/KWh and 43c/KWh. Of the various renewable technologies that Nersa used, landfill gas had the lowest tariffs. Hydro technology had the highest tariffs, followed by wind and concentrating solar. Nersa has said that the feed-in tariffs that it is going to release are premised on a price that covers cost of generation and a reasonable profit to induce investment.