The Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) officially launched
Energy Efficiency month last night.
Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, together with several South African business organisations and industry associations, also signed a voluntary Energy Efficiency Accord that aims to save 12% of national energy in the next decade.
Ministers of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Deat) and Public Enterprises also attended the black-tie event, held in Kyalami.
Speaking at the event, Mlambo-Ngcuka also announced the South African Energy Efficiency Accord.
This voluntary accord has a framework of eight strategic and its strategy targets a 15% reduction in 'final energy demand' for the industrial sector by 2015, and a 12% improvement in energy-efficiency for the nation as a whole by the same date.
This target is expressed as a percentage-reduction against the projected national energy usage in 2015.
The forecast usage takes into account projected increases in economic development without any additional efficiency interventions, ensuring that energy-efficiency does not impact negatively on South Africa's commitment to economic growth, investment and job creation.
The minister acknowledged that natural resources are not infinite, but that South Africa is a developing nation with heavy industry and an energy-intensive economy that is largely driven by indigenous coal reserves.
“At first sight, there would appear to be an apparent paradox between using less energy and developing a healthy and prosperous nation based on energy-intensive activities,” she said.
But, recently, energy-efficiency has become recognised as beneficial to sustainable development.
South Africa uses about 40% of the total electricity consumed on the African continent, and it is vital that energy is used as efficiently as possible.
In addition, South Africa is one of the highest emitters of the Greenhouse Gas C02, per capita in the world.
It is hoped by the department that being energy-efficient will address the macroscopic and microscopic aspects of atmospheric pollution.
Some industrial and commercial companies have already adopted an efficient approach, Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
“Our national electricity utility, Eskom has embarked on a Demand Side Management programme to reduce the need for investment in new power generation capacity.”
To grow the practice of being energy efficient, the National Business Initiative (NBI), supported by Business Unity South Africa, has facilitated the process for a voluntary Energy Efficiency Accord to be signed.
The NBI is a coalition of 140 South African and international corporations dedicated to sustainable development.
The group of industries and associations that signed the voluntary accord last night included companies from ABB Holdings to Sasol, Gold Fields amd Absa.
Actively supported by the DME, the Minister said that the accord means that the “private sector recognises the advantages of developing energy efficiency as an imperative for business to thrive in the future”.
The accord allows industries to proceed at a pace suited to their individual situation, but the national target is to achieve energy savings of 12% in the next ten years.
Part of the DME's efficiency strategy is to provide information on the fuel consumption of new vehicles in the face of ever-increasing oil prices.
“As government we need to make it easier for consumers to make energy efficient choices,” said Mlambo-Ngcuka.
The first step is the launch of the appliance labeling campaign, which will see all appliances labeled to indicate operating costs.
Aimed at South African households, which consume about 24% of the country's energy, the department hopes that a large amount of energy savings is possible.
The label will grade products with a letter from A to G, G being the poorest performing product in electricity terms.
“The South African label is identical to the informative label used in EU member states with the EU flag replaced by our unique South African symbol,” said the Minister.
Participation in the initiative is currently voluntary, but will become mandatory when legislated in the next 18 months.
Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, together with several South African business organisations and industry associations, also signed a voluntary Energy Efficiency Accord that aims to save 12% of national energy in the next decade.
Ministers of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Deat) and Public Enterprises also attended the black-tie event, held in Kyalami.
Speaking at the event, Mlambo-Ngcuka also announced the South African Energy Efficiency Accord.
This voluntary accord has a framework of eight strategic and its strategy targets a 15% reduction in 'final energy demand' for the industrial sector by 2015, and a 12% improvement in energy-efficiency for the nation as a whole by the same date.
This target is expressed as a percentage-reduction against the projected national energy usage in 2015.
The forecast usage takes into account projected increases in economic development without any additional efficiency interventions, ensuring that energy-efficiency does not impact negatively on South Africa's commitment to economic growth, investment and job creation.
The minister acknowledged that natural resources are not infinite, but that South Africa is a developing nation with heavy industry and an energy-intensive economy that is largely driven by indigenous coal reserves.
“At first sight, there would appear to be an apparent paradox between using less energy and developing a healthy and prosperous nation based on energy-intensive activities,” she said.
But, recently, energy-efficiency has become recognised as beneficial to sustainable development.
South Africa uses about 40% of the total electricity consumed on the African continent, and it is vital that energy is used as efficiently as possible.
In addition, South Africa is one of the highest emitters of the Greenhouse Gas C02, per capita in the world.
It is hoped by the department that being energy-efficient will address the macroscopic and microscopic aspects of atmospheric pollution.
Some industrial and commercial companies have already adopted an efficient approach, Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
“Our national electricity utility, Eskom has embarked on a Demand Side Management programme to reduce the need for investment in new power generation capacity.”
To grow the practice of being energy efficient, the National Business Initiative (NBI), supported by Business Unity South Africa, has facilitated the process for a voluntary Energy Efficiency Accord to be signed.
The NBI is a coalition of 140 South African and international corporations dedicated to sustainable development.
The group of industries and associations that signed the voluntary accord last night included companies from ABB Holdings to Sasol, Gold Fields amd Absa.
Actively supported by the DME, the Minister said that the accord means that the “private sector recognises the advantages of developing energy efficiency as an imperative for business to thrive in the future”.
The accord allows industries to proceed at a pace suited to their individual situation, but the national target is to achieve energy savings of 12% in the next ten years.
Part of the DME's efficiency strategy is to provide information on the fuel consumption of new vehicles in the face of ever-increasing oil prices.
“As government we need to make it easier for consumers to make energy efficient choices,” said Mlambo-Ngcuka.
The first step is the launch of the appliance labeling campaign, which will see all appliances labeled to indicate operating costs.
Aimed at South African households, which consume about 24% of the country's energy, the department hopes that a large amount of energy savings is possible.
The label will grade products with a letter from A to G, G being the poorest performing product in electricity terms.
“The South African label is identical to the informative label used in EU member states with the EU flag replaced by our unique South African symbol,” said the Minister.
Participation in the initiative is currently voluntary, but will become mandatory when legislated in the next 18 months.
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