South Africa’s performance on renewable energy and its relative position against the OECD countries and the rest of Africa

Abstract

Renewable energy has been a "hot topic" since the increased awareness of the consequences of climate change. Africa is vulnerable to such climate changes and, hence, should be more aware of the impact of fossil fuel generation on the environment although it has coal in abundance. South Africa is among the countries who negatively contributed to the pollution of the environment in recent years especially as nearly 90% of its energy is produced from coal. We position South Africa with regards to renewable energy supply, usage and intensity both among other African countries and among more developed countries, such as the OECD group. The findings show that South Africa is not the best performer regarding renewable energy among African countries, despite its main economic position in the continent. Furthermore, the comparison of South Africa to OECD countries shows that South Africa has a long way to go to achieve a sustainable environment.