Saliem Fakir - Low Carbon Future
South Africa's IRP2010 blueprint is outdated
By: Saliem Fakir 12th April 2013 Since the first Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) was drafted in 2010, the world has changed: Fukushima happened, more gas has been confirmed off the... →
Green growth or deep green economy?
By: Saliem Fakir 8th March 2013 Green growth or deep green economy? The green economy debate has been in South Africa for at least 5 years. The green economy also has other names:... →
Of oil refineries, nuclear plants and the planning fallacy
By: Saliem Fakir 8th February 2013 The great project Mthombo (new large refinery capacity) and the proposed 9.6 GW nuclear fleet is still on the cards. Both do not only describe the... →
The challenge of fossil fuel binding constraints
By: Saliem Fakir 18th January 2013 Despite the failure of the recent round of the Doha climate change talks, the national project on a low-carbon transition requires continued impetus. →
LTMS and the challenge of long-term technology planning
By: Saliem Fakir 7th December 2012 Many moons ago, South Africa did pioneering work on how best we can meet our international climate mitigation obligations. →
Negotiating the CSP maze
By: Saliem Fakir 9th November 2012 I attended a recent workshop jointly hosted by the Academy of Science of South Africa and the German National Academy of Sciences (which is known... →
Will renewables IPPs work?
By: Saliem Fakir 5th October 2012 The independent power producer (IPP) process has an explicit specification that communities should be co-owners in any renewables projects in terms... →
Are we on the cusp of a power grid revolution? 
By: Saliem Fakir 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
By: Saliem Fakir 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
By: Saliem Fakir 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... →
