Saliem Fakir
Fakir is interim executive director of the African Climate Foundation – saliem@africanclimatefoundation.org
Are we on the cusp of a power grid revolution?
7th September 2012 Is distributed generation the future and the central grid old hat? There is a great facility in convention: its longevity of presence gives it... →
National interests are barriers to regional energy integration
3rd August 2012 Intra-regional trade between South Africa and Africa is growing but still low compared to other regions in the world. Tomorrow’s economic prospects... →
Planned ISMO unlikely to be panacea for power sector’s woes
29th June 2012 The proposal to introduce an independent system and market operator (ISMO) into South Africa’s power generation sector seems to have found favour... →
Renewables: facts and fiction
8th June 2012 There are so many nonsensical comments about renewables and, surprisingly, even very intelligent people also make unfounded and unintelligent... →
Are airline carbon levy wars a sign of things to come?
18th May 2012 The European Union (EU) has unilaterally declared that it wants all planes entering or leaving the EU territory to pay an emissions tax. The bloc... →
Does thorium have a future as an alternative to uranium?
6th April 2012 I recently at a thorium conference in Cape Town hosted by the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. →
Alternative renewables ownership models come under the spotlight at Numsa conference
2nd March 2012 The National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) recently hosted an international conference on alternative models of ownership for renewables other than... →
What should be done about concentrating solar power
10th February 2012 For a long time, concentrating solar power (CSP) was seen as a cutting-edge renewables technology that would best meet South Africa’s energy... →
Will the planet be saved?
20th January 2012 Fourteen days of deliberations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change seventeeth Conference of the Parties (COP 17)... →
COP 17 – waiting for light at end of tunnel
2nd December 2011 Some predictions are easy and others require a savant’s wisdom to penetrate the unseen world. One can be sure the outcome of the United Nations... →
Learning from the Chinese approach to carbon taxation
25th November 2011 The Australian government recently just managed to squeeze through carbon tax legislation. The Australian system starts off with a fixed price,... →
Thinking of value-add in a way that guarantees future of sustainability
7th October 2011 The world was once run on three big economic engines: Europe, North America and Japan. These engines of growth are slowing down but three or four... →
Perennial doubters and future of renewables
2nd September 2011 It is somewhat tired argument to suggest that renewables will make no progress as a technology and that they will never compete with coal or nuclear. →
There are still many unknowns about shale gas extraction in the Karoo
5th August 2011 I recently attended what is probably the most insightful conference I have ever attended – not because it was attended mostly by industry players... →
SA needs an independent system operator
8th July 2011 Previously, I noted some reservations about the idea of an independent system and market operator (ISMO). →
Do green jobs threaten other jobs?
10th June 2011 You have probably heard this before: green industries will steal jobs from other sectors. Superficial logic invites superficial conclusions. But... →
Japan’s nuclear crisis shows up the ‘unknown unknowns’
13th May 2011 After the Japanese nuclear accident following the tsunami there has been a lot of chatter by defenders of nuclear power that nuclear is still here... →
Fracking in the Karoo – who do we believe?
15th April 2011 While Shell is attracting the most negative publicity owing to its application to the Petroleum Agency of South Africa for exploration rights in... →
Why a carbon tax will be useful in supporting a transition to a low-carbon future
1st April 2011 The National Treasury’s deadline for comments on the draft discussion document on carbon taxes was February 28. Business and industry have set up a... →
Will an independent system and market operator fly in South Africa?
11th March 2011 A number of public statements on the issue of an Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO) have been made by government officials in the last... →
Climate change Green Paper under the spotlight
11th February 2011 The 38-page National Climate Change Green Paper was released just before most of South Africa’s negotiating team went to Cancun. →
From Cancun to Durban – what’s in store for the next 12 months?
14th January 2011 When you land in Cancun, what strike you most starkly are concrete blocks upon concrete blocks that have taken occupation where lush mangroves once... →
The merits of a solar cluster
10th December 2010 The solar park idea raises the question of how South Africa should be positioning itself to take advantage of the country's abundant solar resources. →
Taking the wind out of the baseloaders
12th November 2010 What is disturbing is not the debate about baseload power versus intermittent power. This debate is always useful as we grapple with the the... →
Just how much coal do we have in the ground?
15th October 2010 Propaganda has it that South Africa has enough coal to fire our power plants for 200 years or until alternatives that can compete with coal come... →
The carbon tax debate and irrational howls
17th September 2010 No sooner was the announcement that a carbon tax was on the cards made than the hecklers from special interest groups and their lobbyists started... →
Our expectations of electric cars must be tempered with reality
20th August 2010 Electric cars are often spoken of as if they will turn the tide against the current fleet of petroleum junkies. But we may be far from that nirvana. →
Reflections on the Integrated Resource Plan
16th July 2010 The Integrated Resource Plan 2010 (IRP2010) consultation process has begun. It should provide the ideal vehicle for the convergence of low-carbon... →
How realistic is the green economy?
18th June 2010 The idea of a green economy has gained great popularity of late but the proof will be in implementation. During the last year, particularly, green... →
Climateproofing the second Integrated Resource Plan
21st May 2010 The second Integrated Resource Plan (IRP2) should be due anytime soon. It will be a crucial document that will pretty much define South Africa’s... →
Should we have a carbon tax to promote a low-carbon economy?
16th April 2010 The question of the merits of a universal carbon tax compared with those of a cap-and-trade system is a source of considerable debate among... →
Why transformation of the energy-industrial complex is crucial for a low-carbon economy
19th March 2010 Everything new has to start somewhere – so the saying goes. If truth be told, there are more than just climate change reasons why we need to shift... →
The Paradox of peak oil
19th February 2010 The paradox is simply: the lesser of a thing, the more there will be of it. An oil peak implies that the production peak will occur when about half... →
The two stages to a low-carbon future
22nd January 2010 The transition to a low-carbon future is inevitable and will involve two stages. →
