Release
THE EMBASSY OF DENMARK AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AFRICA CELEBRATE 12 YEARS OF ESTABLISHING SUSTAINABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY IN SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES
The Sustainable Energy and Environment for Development programme, the national capacity building initiative developed by Sustainable Energy Africa will on Thursday, 25 February 2010 celebrate twelve years of proactively tackling the need for sustainable energy in the country’s urban areas.
Key to the programme´s success, which has had four phases of implementation, has been the ongoing support of the Embassy of Denmark to South Africa., Throughout the 12 years, the Embassy has continuously supported the programme’s holistic efforts to develop and establish cities that offer clean energy services and run efficiently while also positively contributing to poverty alleviation in the cities.
The overall Sustainable Energy and Environment for Development programme has been funded to an amount of R14,8 million over the 12 year period.
The overall Urban Environmental Management programme received funding of R300 million from 2006 to 2010 that was shared between eight local partners – national, provincial, local government and non-governmental organisations.
Megan Euston-Brown, Programme Manager at Sustainable Energy Africa comments: “The Danish government has been a major funder and supporter from the start and has been instrumental in allowing us to move forward with critical goals and strategic phases set by our programme. We would like to thank them for their invaluable contribution and look forward to the coming years of promoting sustainable, low carbon urban futures.”
Dan E. Frederiksen, Ambassador of Denmark to South Africa adds: “The strides made by the programme are considerable; it has created critical awareness amongst energy decision- makers at local level on the importance of integrating sustainable approaches into urban development.
“Moreover, Sustainable Energy Africa has not only provided guidance but workable strategies on how to overcome barriers that now see us at the implementation phase of this ambitious and noteworthy project.”
Amongst its findings, the programme has determined that the energy consumption in SA’s major cities is on a par with Berlin, London and Paris while development levels remain far lower. Almost 100% of energy consumption is fossil-fuel based. The indicative modelling shows that without intervention, energy consumption will double within twenty years.
One of the key highlights in the first phase of the programme was the successful deployment of energy advisors within local government with a focus on integrating energy efficiency in the housing sector.
The second phase integrated energy data collection and planning processes. The studies revealed that 50% of national consumption takes place in South Africa’s major cities. This affirmed the programme’s objective of building city energy management capacity. This led to the pioneering of integrated city energy and climate change strategies. These now actively guide city development in some eight South African cities, including all metro cities.
During the third phase the programme established that energy efficiency and solar water heater implementation could reduce city energy consumption by as much as 25% and to this end are supporting the mechanisms for mass implementation in these areas.
Phase four of the programme continues to grow with knowledge-sharing networks to support sustainable urban resilience for South African cities. The focus is reconceptualising the structural underpinnings of our cities – spatial, transport and infrastructure planning.
The 12-year celebratory event played host to the launch of Tomorrow’s Cities, an inspiring short film. Through the use of animation, the film depicts the critical urban environmental resource challenges and inspires new approaches towards meeting these, as continuously explored through the SEED program.
Furthermore, the event showcased the exhibition “South African City Solutions to Climate Change,’ which was recently exhibited at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The South African entry at the COP15 was funded by the Embassy of Denmark under the so-called Urban Environmental Management Program – the biggest energy/environmental initiatives funded by the Danish government for South African urban areas.
Subscribe to Alternative Energy Africa today for more in depth news in the alternative/renewable energy sector and be sure to grab your risk-free trial to see what we’re doing in 2010.