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Richards Bay Coal Terminal: Media Release 01/09/06
Media releases
Energy Efficiency is both a business and a human imperative!
Never in the history of mankind has energy conservation been this important - whether one looks at the phenomenon as a corporate citizen or from a carefully organised civil society group's point of view. Globally, the need for adopting sustainable energy practices has been recognised as an imperative crucial and central to the triple bottom line.
While it is a well recognised fact that at least 90% of the electricity supplied by Eskom is comes from coal, which then means that South Africa's coal industry plays a key role in ensuring the cheap supply of energy that underpins this country's good global competitive ratings in energy costs and reliability of supply. It is crucial for SA to put the appropriate measures in place to have a very robust approach to handle energy security by being in the forefront of energy efficiency initiatives.
Reports indicate that South African mines produced around 306, 3 million tons of coal last year. Of this figure, 187, 37 million tons were used locally, at a value of R13, 7 billion, with export sales totalling around 71 million tons, at a value of R21, 66 billion.
The greatest energy security challenges for South Africa are not only terrorist attacks, power cuts or our mere existence, but also the globalization of black economic empowerment (BEE) and the concomitant rise of the black middle and upper classes as well as the realization of the 6% growth rate as espoused by the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (Asgisa).
Of paramount importance for business and civil society, is to be part of a drive to manage energy sufficiently. We are and must be accountable to the environment, our employees, communities in the areas where we operate and our shareholders. However, the most interesting and at the same time the most disturbing aspect of energy saving is that the problems are known - and so are the solutions.
Both the business community and the State recognised that improvements in energy efficiency are needed if the country is to remain globally competitive whilst dealing effectively with potential electricity capacity shortages, environmental concerns and the steadily rising prices of all energy sources. The approach, referred to as 'ecological modernisation' is key to ensuring a fine balance between industrialisation and environmental sustainability.
Often the missing link in effective ecological modernisation is the need for investments in the education of consumers, distribution channels to make the behavioural changes widely available. Because our communities are often under the radar screen of large firms, these opportunities do not attract the necessary technical or market development investments. And they are key to mainstreaming the energy efficiency drive to ensure broad awareness and buy-in by all stakeholders.
The irony of the current surge in the oil prices is not that supply is falling short of demand, as there is no current shortage of oil under earth, but that there are market fears. One of the challenges is to reassure the market that oil supplies would not be threatened regardless of the situation in Iran, the greater Middle East, Nigeria and other unstable oil producing parts of the world. The other opportunity is the need to intensify the drive to diversify sustainable sources of energy while simultaneously adopting and adapting best practices in energy efficiency practices.
At Richards Bay Coal Terminal, we have put together a project team dedicated to continuously improve our performance on energy savings by continuously measuring and monitoring our targets and integrating the energy saving imperative as part of our company's business objectives and culture. We are very pleased to be part of the Department of Minerals and Energy's voluntary energy efficiency accord as this would enable us benchmark our performance in this crucial area with our peers.
Part of the challenge and opportunity for us is to constructively engage all our employees' hearts and minds in this process in ways that make it relevant to their day-to-day performance goals to ensure our future sustainability as the single biggest and world-class coal export facility in the world. We need to plan ahead for this and employ the most appropriate mechanisms of conserving energy efficiently and thus reduce our environmental footprint. Our ISO 14001 accreditation gives a good platform on which to further improve our performance in this key area.
We realize and indeed embrace our wider objective beyond being just a business. We are passionate about embracing a philosophy that espouses ethical accountability as we compete for the future. The future lies in a mutually reinforcing relationship between industrialisation and conservation, between growth and energy saving.
Being part of the Department of Minerals and Energy's voluntary Energy Efficiency Accord appeals to a dire need to find the most innovative practices for all stakeholders to be part of South Africa's energy saving coalition which can position this country in the forefront of global best practices on energy saving.
Our best allies in pushing for energy efficiency are our people themselves. Their resilience and perseverance must give business communities the courage to move forward with robust approaches to the problem.
Given visionary and responsible leadership from the public, private and civil society communities, one has no doubt that the elimination of such threats posed by the lack of conserving energy which can cause and perpetuate poverty for future generations, is possible by 2015.
Failure to realise these goals and targets will no doubt throw the country and our environment into untold calamities. Above it would be a gross betrayal of the promise for a better life in a better world for all. Once again we must keep before us the unfortunate example global warming and the unintended consequences of fossil fuels and carbon emissions.
South Africa can and should play a leading role in this campaign not only for the region but also for the world at large. Needless to say, the continent looks to us to implement these mission directed objectives. Working with the Department of Minerals and Energy in achieving these objectives is the cornerstone of a broader strategy to bring all our efforts under one roof.
The successful pursuit of energy conservation hinges largely on sustainable supplies of energy at cost-effective prices. The two are forever related and important for one another's survival.
Kuseni Dlamini is the Executive Chairman of the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) and recently signed, on behalf of RBCT, the Energy Efficiency Accord with the Minister of Minerals and Energy.