Eco Minute 13:00

BULLETIN 24 October 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# A total of 3.3-gigawatts of renewable-energy projects have been registered with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa this year, with more than two-gigawatts registered in the third quarter alone. These included a 475-megawatts solar photovoltaic project in the Free State and a 380-megawatts wind farm in the Western Cape. Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies senior economist, Gaylor Montmasson-Clair, says the prominence of wind projects is also supportive of both system stability and diversity, and a just transition in the main coal region of South Africa.

# The European Commission has selected 85 innovative net-zero projects to receive grants from the Innovation Fund. The selected projects are located in 18 countries and cover a wide range of sectors including energy-intensive industries, renewable energy, energy storage, and industrial carbon management. The commission says the projects are set to enter into operation before 2030, and over their first ten years of operation are expected to reduce emissions by about 476 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

# And finally: A study by the World Weather Attribution network has found that human-caused climate change in Africa has worsened seasonal rains that have resulted in devastating floods. This year’s floods killed around one-thousand-500 people and displaced over one-million more in West and Central Africa. Global warming made the seasonal downpours this year about five-to 20-percent more intense across the Niger and Lake Chad basins. The network is calling for more investment in early warning systems and dam upgrades.

Stay tuned for more news………….