LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment

Sunday, August 29, 2021

A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlighted the negative social and environmental impact of the Lower Sesan 2 hydroelectric dam in northeastern Cambodia.

The dam located in the Mekong River Basin was built as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with a budget of approximately 800 million US dollars. It opened in 2018, and its main operator is China’s Huaneng Group.

The dam is a major BRI project in Cambodia, reflecting the close relationship between China and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled the country for more than three decades. Journalists in Cambodia said they have encountered difficulties accessing information about BRI projects.

The 137-page HRW report titled “Underwater: Human Rights Impacts of a China Belt and Road Project in Cambodia” was released on August 10, 2021. The research started in 2019 and involved interviews with more than 60 community members, civil society leaders, academics, scientists, and other project stakeholders.

The report mentioned that around 4,500 to 5,000 houses belonging to villagers near Sesan and Srepok Rivers were submerged due to the dam. It identified Indigenous groups and other ethnic minorities affected by the project, including the Bunong, Brao, Kuoy, Lao, Jarai, Kreung, Kavet, Tampuan, and Kachok communities.

HRW said the Cambodian government and its Chinese partner have failed to provide safeguards or properly compensate residents who were forced to leave their communities. HRW quoted a Bunong villager saying

The company didn’t consider Indigenous rights. They just told us to move. In the consultation, they determined things for us. They didn’t ask us what we want or need.

The dam also cut off the traditional migration routes of native fish in the Mekong River. HRW’s Asia advocacy director John Sifton summed up the destructive impact of the dam:

Today, everything the dammed-up rivers provided – food, water, an income from fishing – is gone.
…the compensation that was offered did not match the value of what they actually lost: fruit trees that were decades old, villages that they and their ancestors had lived in for generations, fields, graves, and religious shrines.

Government response

Responding to the HRW report, government spokesman Phay Siphan insisted that the dam is beneficial to Cambodians:

The development of Sesan 2 Dam is providing income to people. After moving, they got better houses and land than their old houses.
It supports the economy of Stung Treng province and country’s economy by generating electricity to serve the industry, enterprises and factories as a source of employment for the people in the province and as part of boosting the national economy.

He added that through the project, aid was extended to affected communities by building 118 houses, 471 wooden houses, 127 self-construction budgets, 63 ponds, 12 schools, 12 kindergartens, two commune halls, three pagodas, two police stations, a military post, and 181 water wells in new settlements.

Environment Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra emphasized that many Cambodians support the dam project because it addresses the country’s demand for renewable energy sources:

This is what Cambodians want but extremist human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch want Cambodians to continue using kerosene lamps in the 21st century.

Suos Yara, a member of the National Assembly, accused HRW of having “naked political bias, and dubious research methodology.” He wrote that the people interviewed by HRW do not represent the views of the majority of local residents affected by the project:

This sample size is too small and inadequate to be generalised in this kind of in-depth environmental study. Moreover, HRW failed to interview the vast majority of locals who have received fair compensation for their relocations and whose livelihoods have benefited from the construction of 12 schools, 12 kindergartens and numerous other public facilities created by the dam project.

His comments were republished by the Chinese state media outlet Global Times.

The response of Cambodian authorities was echoed by various agencies. Even the Cambodian Embassy in Turkey has released a statement about the HRW report:

Early reports about the dam

The HRW report confirmed what many groups and campaigners have been saying about the dam for many years. Residents and activists have been protesting about the project since 2017.

Environment news website Mongabay quoted 29-year-old Dam Samnang in 2017 about opposition against the dam in his community:

It provides no direct benefits to people in this community, it will destroy all our houses, and it will ruin the river system so that we can never come back.
Our ancestors are buried here and if they flood the area we will not be able to come back and visit them. I can’t put a (monetary) value on graves, but if the Prime Minister’s family graves have value, then why don’t ours?
This dam will be a disaster for us; our destiny is in trouble. They say they want to develop Cambodia, so why do they destroy our homes?

Phnom Penh Post newspaper published a report in 2017 quoting Srang Choeun, a villager in Kabal Romeas, about his family’s refusal to leave their land:

Now we live in Kabal Romeas collectively, we are united as a community by our common ownership of the land. But if we agree to relocate then we will accept private property, we will own land like the Khmer people.

Khmer refers to the ethnic majority in Cambodia.

Another villager, Kem Reoun, disclosed the harassment he and his community faced when threatened with displacement:

Authorities have been restricting villagers from their daily tasks, such as leaving the village to go to the market. In short, authorities do not allow people to leave the village. There are people guarding every gate, and they have dismantled a bridge.

There were reports about the hardships experienced by residents forced to leave their flooded ancestral lands two years after the dam completion. Even relocation sites were flooded, and settlers blamed the dam for causing a shortage of clean water.

Writer Horn Chanvoitey also probed the supposed benefits of the dam and the promises made by Cambodian officials to local communities.

Two years after the dam officially began operating, its benefits remain highly contested.

This story is part of a Civic Media Observatory investigation into competing narratives about China’s Belt and Road Initiative and explores how societies and communities hold differing perceptions of potential benefits and harms of Chinese-led development. To learn more about this project and its methods, click here.

Written byMong Palatino

Image by Deewash Shrestha via Record Nepal. Used with permission.

This article by Prasansha Rimal was first published on The Record (Nepal) and an edited version is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.

Waste management, especially in the medical sector, was already a problem area in Nepal and it only got worse during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a September 2020 World Bank report, 2,600 tonnes of waste are dumped in landfills every day in Nepal. The report estimates that, among the total waste generated, as much as 56 percent is organic, 16 percent glass, 8 percent paper, and 13 percent plastic. However, plastic products — especially single-use utensils, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), surgical masks, face shields, and gloves — have become much more ubiquitous since the pandemic began.

These plastic products are not just essential to keeping hospitals running and protecting frontline workers, but have also become common to domestic households as wearing a mask before going out has become routine. But, with more masks, gloves, gowns, and disposable bags being used, they are also being disposed of just as frequently.

Raj Krishna Shrestha sips tea as he waits for people to come to his truck to dispose of their household waste. Early every morning, 52-year-old Shrestha drives his truck from Balkumari to Lagankhel, parks in front of the Patan Hospital, and waits to collect the waste from the previous day. Then, he drives around collecting more waste around the vicinity before dumping it in Balkumari.

This has long been Shrestha’s everyday routine. While not much has changed for him since the pandemic started, one thing that is different is the waste he collects every day — there’s a lot more plastic now.

One study from February 2021 estimates that, since the pandemic started, the global amount of plastic waste generated is 1.6 million tons per day. The study further estimates that 3.4 billion single-use face masks and shields are being discarded every day. Covid-19 has reversed the momentum of a years-long global battle to reduce plastic waste pollution, say the authors. According to estimates by Grand View Research, a global business consulting firm, the sales of disposable face masks skyrocketed from 800 million US dollars in 2019 to 166 billion in 2020. Such a sharp increase in the purchase of disposable face masks correlates with an increase in the amount of waste.

And that’s only part of the story. What is concerning is not just the amount of waste that is being generated but the mismanagement of its disposal. For waste workers like Shrestha, this has led to increased fears of getting infected.

“Nobody separates their household waste into degradable and non-degradable waste. This is hazardous for us and clearly shows that people don’t think twice about what happens to the masks or gloves they have used while infected,” said Shrestha. “It also shows that people have little regard for our work and safety.”

Various studies have found the Covid-19 virus can survive up to 72 hours on plastic, and discarding used masks and gloves along with other household waste could risk strengthening the chain of transmission.

“The amount of surgical masks and other plastics has definitely increased. Sometimes, it is frightening to have to pick up surgical masks because you never know who might have used them. But we cannot stop working. We have families to look after,” said Urmila Deula, a 40-year-old sweeper appointed by Lalitpur municipality.

Image by Deewash Shrestha via Record Nepal. Used with permission.

“In Nepal, data on how much plastic use has increased since the pandemic hasn't been calculated yet, owing to a lack of resources and manpower. However, it is safe to say plastic waste has increased since the pandemic started from just looking at the increasing amount of day-to-day use of surgical masks, gloves, and sanitizer bottles,” said Dr Buddhi Sagar Poudel, spokesperson of the Ministry of Forests and Environment.

In addition to a lack of personnel and budget to segregate waste, there’s a larger problem: a general lack of consciousness among the public regarding waste disposal.

“People do not think about separating their household waste and because of this, waste like masks and gloves are directly going to landfills,” said Poudel.

There is legislation in place — like the Solid Waste Management Act 2011 and the Health Care Waste Management Guidelines 2014 — that mandates waste segregation. The Health Care Waste Management Guidelines recommend that health institutions not mix their non-risk waste with other kinds of waste and that health institutions should dispose of their medical waste themselves.

Larger hospitals like Bir Hospital, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, and Patan Hospital are able to properly dispose of the waste themselves as they have the resources. Private hospitals like Alka Hospital in Lalitpur are also attempting to do the same.

“We autoclave medical waste related to Covid-19, as this reduces the risk of spread of the virus through medical waste,” said Navaraj Thapa, manager at the lab of Alka Hospital.

But not all hospitals follow the guidelines, and local bodies and households do not bother with waste segregation.

“We have issued instructions asking that the waste produced in households, which might be infectious, like surgical masks, clothing, or other materials used by Covid-19 infected persons, should be kept separately for 72 hours before mixing it with other types of waste produced in the household,” said Sarkar Bir Shrestha, in-charge of the Okharpauwa landfill site. “But we don’t have any mechanism in place to check if the public is following our instructions.”

A simple solution to this problem would be to choose sustainable, environment-friendly alternatives over plastic. Washable, reusable cloth masks, for one, could help. A research paper on cloth masks found that textile products that have less than 300 TPI (threads per inch) have filtration efficiency above 80 percent, which provides good protection against the virus. The paper also recommends another alternative to single-use masks — using two layers of cotton or flannel masks of at least 100 TPI. A well-fitted multi-layer mask combining a layer of 600 TPI cotton and electrostatic filtering produces an efficiency of over 90 percent, comparable to those achieved by N95 respirators, says the paper.

“In addition to encouraging the use of cloth masks, another solution to tackle the problem of increasing plastic waste would be to incinerate medical waste or discard it properly in structured landfill sites,” said Stuti Sharma, partnerships and advocacy lead at Doko Recyclers.

But in the long-term, the old principle of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ remains the only sustainable way to tackle increasing plastic pollution, say experts. Everyone — individuals, organizations, hospitals, and local bodies — must do their part.

“The chance of Covid-19 spreading is higher when there is lack of participation of the community,” said Prakash Pathak, managing director of Scrap Recycle Foundation. “The authorities need to come up with an alternative to surgical masks and PPE, as this would reduce the amount of plastic production at the source. But more importantly, everyone needs to just take responsibility to properly sort their waste.”

Read more Global Voices stories on the global impact of COVID-19

Written byThe Record (Nepal)

GREENWASHING AFRICA
The green and equitable revolution: A call to arms FROM ROLLS ROYCE

Aug 24, 2021

Image: Pixabay

Why we must work together to ensure the COVID-19 pandemic does not delay our journey towards Africa’s net zero writes Ben Story, strategic marketing director at Rolls-Royce.

The impact of COVID-19 has been colossal. Economies are being stunted and health systems severely strained in Africa and across the world as governments continue to grapple with a profoundly complicated pandemic. Many fear that global recovery will not be equitable.

Against this unprecedented backdrop, you could be forgiven for assuming that the green revolution has slid down the agenda. Yet the world’s pre-pandemic challenges have not disappeared – our collective vulnerability as a planet and our exposure to nature have been revealed again. How we survive sustainably as a species, everywhere, must be ingrained into everything we do as corporations, governments, institutions and communities.

The pandemic should galvanise our collective vision and sense of urgency. We already knew that the power that matters is sustainable power; a Rolls-Royce mantra backed by years of R&D investment into net zero power solutions.

We know Africa has huge potential and that today’s technologies can help industries, entrepreneurs and communities flourish sustainably while reducing the implications of global warming.

And the implications are eye watering. While addressing global leaders at the 1st Climate Change Adaptation Summit in Switzerland, African Development Bank President AkinwumiAdesina said that climate change is costing Africa up to $15 billion a year.

Even though the continent currently only contributes around 2% of harmful global emissions, we stand at the frontline of the crisis. Last year we saw deadly flooding and the worst locust outbreak for 70 years, events created by extreme weather that continue to displace hundreds of thousands of people across the Sahel and threaten the future security of millions.

We are issuing a call to arms by joining thousands of companies in the UN Race to Zero, aligning our entire business system and value chain around achieving net zero by 2050. By 2030 we want all our new products to be net zero compliant; and by 2025, more than 75% of our R&D spend will be channelled into lower, net zero and zero carbon technologies.

Transforming carbon-intensive industries is a good starting point. These sectors, which include activities such as mining, aviation, power generation and maritime, account for 30% of global emissions.

In aviation, the physics of generating enough thrust to elevate and safely sustain 300 tonnes of metal in the air for 8,000 nautical miles (the longest A350 journey) has made fossil-based fuels difficult to dislodge. Here, we are working with partners to develop 100% sustainable aviation fuel which mimics the kerosine that we use today. For shorter journeys, electric and hybrid aerospace propulsion gives great cause for excitement.

Meanwhile, in power generation, change is happening at pace. The International Renewable Energy Agency announced in January that with the right policies, governance and access to finance, Sub-Saharan Africa could meet up to 67% of its energy needs via renewable power before 2030.

However, critical baseload power requires a transitioning energy source that is reliable enough to replace fossil fuels. It is our belief that the renewable power mix should be supported by a network of standardised, state-of-the-art, affordable nuclear power stations, powered by the UK’s small modular reactor (SMR) solution. With a capacity of 470MW, each SMR can supply enough electricity to power one million homes a year, for 60 years. SMRs can also underpin the immense power needed to create green hydrogen and synthetic fuels

Five calls to policymakers

To assist and accelerate industrialists like us and many others on their net zero strategies, five things need to change.

First, we need global consistency between countries and regions to establish level playing fields which avoid the risk of carbon leakage. The upcoming COP26 hosted by the UK and Italy is another chance to align priorities and set this in motion – indeed, many have commented on this being a make-or-break event.

Second, alongside drastic reductions, we need to concurrently tackle the removal of carbon already in the atmosphere. This will require prioritising and incentivising investment in regenerating nature’s natural carbon sinks, protecting existing ecosystems and restoring those that have been degraded, as well as developing and implementing new technological solutions that capture and store or re-use carbon.

Third, policymakers must incentivise circular economy business practices across the entire value chain. Ideally, this would protect biodiversity and nature, human health and social mobility, and economic growth, without negatively impacting developing economies.

Fourth, financing needs to become more accessible. Up to $100 trillion is needed between now and 2050, and much of that needs directing beyond companies that are already making progress to those which hold the key to making entire economies sustainable.

And fifth, the entire transition process must be fair for Africa and spur inclusive growth and job creation – without this, widespread support for net zero will be impossible to achieve.

If these five wheels are set in motion, then net zero becomes eminently more attainable.

Written by: Ben Story, Strategic Marketing Director, Rolls-Royce

SOUTH AFRICA

Commentary: Nuclear waste storage is not a problem

WE HAVE A WHOLE DAMNED CONTIENT TO BURY IT IN
Aug 20, 2021

Low level nuclear waste trench during packing in South Africa

By Dr Kelvin Kemm is a nuclear physicist and is CEO of Stratek Business Strategy Consultants

The European Commission’s scientific body the Joint Research Centre released a report in April 2021 which stated that nuclear power is classified as ‘green’ because it does not emit any carbon dioxide gas. This is important because nuclear then qualifies for a ‘green’ investment label under the EU green finance taxonomy.

But the anti-nuclear lobby immediately objected. Currently, nuclear power accounts for 26% of EU electricity. Of course, it is also stable electricity, which is available all the time and not dependent on the weather. So why do the extreme greens object to nuclear when it emits no CO2? Well, one reason is that extreme green elements want to curtail all electricity production, and also do not want inexpensive electricity.

Their argument is that if there is plentiful inexpensive electricity then mankind will make more cars, more TVs, more air conditioning, and so on. For that more factories will be built, roads made, telecommunications extended and so the list goes on. They don’t want that. They want GDP growth to slow down, or ideally stop. They advocate a simple lifestyle in which flying in aeroplanes, and eating red meat is to be frowned upon.

So they don’t like the idea of inexpensive reliable nuclear power, particularly if it becomes available in African countries.

So now that the EU says that nuclear is ‘Green’ from a CO2 point of view, they are desperately looking for another angle to use to oppose it. One that they are grasping at is nuclear waste.

Have you read?
Commentary: Opportunities presented by nuclear energy for South Africa

Aircraft landing at low level nuclear waste site in the Western Cape, South Africa

The nuclear waste threat

Let me state clearly that nuclear waste disposal is not a problem. A far larger problem is the disposal of old wind turbines and solar panels.

The first thing to take note of is the volume difference. There is a huge volume of wind turbines and solar panels which have to be disposed of in due course. But the amount of high-level nuclear waste is tiny.

Koeberg nuclear power station uses only one truckload of nuclear fuel per year. That fuel then powers all of Cape Town and half of the Western Cape. Only one truckload in a year! When you burn coal it turns into other stuff, like coal ash, carbon dioxide, and other gases. Mountains of ash in fact. But if you look at a nuclear fuel element before it goes into a nuclear reactor, and then when it comes out again, one and a half years later, it looks exactly the same.

Some uranium atoms inside have been changed into other atoms, but nothing like ash or gas is produced. Nothing! All you have to dispose of is the original truckload. One per year. Only individual metal assemblies, no gas, no ash, nothing else.

So we must ask: are these used fuel elements dangerous? The answer is an emphatic yes. If you were to walk past an unprotected one it will kill you. But you can also die from sleeping pills; skydiving; or driving a car; if you do not take due care. If you want a good night’s sleep you can take an entire bottle of sleeping pills. You will not wake up! But people generally do not do stupid things with products, or with actions, which can be dangerous. Nuclear professionals do not do stupid things with spent fuel elements either.

When anti-nuclear activists accuse nuclear professionals of not taking nuclear waste into account, that is plain stupid. Can you seriously imagine professional nuclear engineers designing a nuclear power station and forgetting to make provisions for handling spent fuel elements?

Vaalputs HQ nuclear waste site in South Africa

Disposal for Koeberg NPP

South Africa possesses one of the largest and oldest nuclear waste repositories in the world. It is called Vaalputs and is about 100km inland from the remote Northern Cape town of Springbok. South Africa is the same size as the whole of Western Europe, so we are fortunate to have ample space to choose a place that is 100 kilometres from human habitation.

Currently only lower levels of nuclear waste are stored underground there. Items like lab coats, paper towels, old pipes, and so on, which were used in a nuclear facility and which may contain some nuclear residue.

The government has not yet authorised the permanent storage of the spent nuclear fuel there. All the spent fuel, from nearly 40 years of operations at Koeberg is still on-site, either underwater in a pool, or lined up outside in special protective casks. That is how little there is. If you want to sit next to one of the casks and eat your lunch it is quite safe to do so.

The extreme green’s attempts to demonise nuclear waste are plain silly. Even sillier is to try to claim that waste storage is beyond the ability of nuclear professionals to deal with.

There is no problem with nuclear waste, when it is handled by professionals, in accordance with the stringent rules of procedure that are in place.

Nuclear power is by far the best green energy for Europe, and even more so for all of Africa.

Dr Kelvin Kemm is a nuclear physicist and is CEO of Stratek Business Strategy Consultants, a project management company based in Pretoria. He carries out business strategy development and project planning in a wide variety of fields for diverse clients. Stratek@pixie.co.za

AFRICA

Is there space for hydrogen in the just energy transition?
Aug 26, 2021

Image: Pixabay.

A just energy transition within the Global South context doesn’t just mean changing the energy source from brown to green, but often means creating energy access in the first place.

A newly released TIPS policy brief into the relationship between energy access and poverty and the necessary energy transition brewing around the world, suggests that addressing the lack of access to electricity could help create the necessary change.

The International Energy Agency in its Financing Clean Energy Transitions in Emerging and Developing Economies report says the world’s energy and climate futures are increasingly hinged on whether these economies can manage their transitions successfully.

Have you read?
Link between just energy transition and energy poverty
Emerging and developing nations need help to fund the energy transition

While the world does have enough money to manage the necessary transition (according to the report), the money isn’t making its way to where it is needed. This is despite the fact that in many cases it is easier for emerging and developing economies to develop green energy sources from scratch rather than make the same mistakes developed nations have already made with brownfields developments.

While Africa may be considered energy poor by most metrics (the World Bank earlier this year said close to 85% of sub-Saharan Africa lacks access to clean cooking, accounting for 35% of global access deficit) it is enriched with renewable resources as well as the metals required by the technological processes to produce green hydrogen.
Could green hydrogen boost Africa’s just energy transition?

Hendrik Malan, CEO at Frost & Sullivan Africa, sees hydrogen as a key building stone in addressing sub-Sahara Africa’s electrification challenge. “Select countries in the region already have infrastructure in place which can be leveraged to take advantage of green hydrogen for both production and export.”

Given the attributes and pace of development of the sector, Malan believes it is critical that Africa creates a conducive R&D and investment environment to drive local applications for hydrogen. For him, this starts with an enabling policy environment: “Without a local market and commercial ecosystem, it would be challenging to consistently attract large scale investors due to the capital intensive nature of the sector.”

He thinks South Africa is at least ten years away from developing a functioning hydrogen economy, if that enabling policy environment is first created.

Malan will moderate a roundtable on hydrogen on 1 September, during which he will discuss with expert panellists the kinds of policies and support mechanisms Africa would need in place to foster the development of the sector.

“Chemical storage systems such as hydrogen are considerably easier, cheaper and can be stored for longer periods than battery energy storage systems, which generally have higher production costs and geopolitical complications. With Africa’s renewable energy opportunities, would the advancements in hydrogen and storage technology enable Africa to fully utilise these resources and supply the world with large quantities of green hydrogen for instance?” asked Malan.

MoUs between developed nations with aggressive decarbonisation targets who want to use hydrogen and emerging markets in Africa are a sign of traction in the market. Whether this results in Africa as a net exporter of hydrogen or creator of more electricity for own consumption is anyone’s guess. ESI

Germany eyes world's cheapest green hydrogen from Namibia amid global 'race for best sites'

Europe’s largest economy closes partnership deal with African nation, which hopes to produce renewable H2 at prices as low as $1.8/kg

Namibia has huge space and a small population.

Photo: Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

25 August 2021
By Bernd Radowitz

Germany plans to import huge volumes of what it claims will be the world's cheapest green hydrogen under a pact with Namibia that further widens a global dash to secure prime locations for H2 production linked to massive renewable power installations.

German science minister Anja Karliczek and Obeth Kandjoze, head of the Namibian planning commission, signed a joint communiqué of intent to build up the southern African nation's enormous solar and wind energy potential, and then ramp up its green hydrogen economy.

The science ministry will provide up to €40m ($47m) in support from Germany’s post-Covid economic stimulus programme for the partnership, Karliczek pledged.

“There is already a race around the world for the best hydrogen technologies and the best locations for hydrogen production,” she said.

Germany to tap Australia for 'industrial scale' green hydrogen imports in funding pact plan Read more

“From our point of view, Namibia has particularly good chances in this competition. We want to use them together.”

Hydrogen strategy

The deal with Namibia is part of Germany’s €9bn ($10.6bn) national hydrogen strategy that was presented last year and includes €2bn in support to green hydrogen projects in partner countries around the world, as Europe’s largest economy due to space restraints won’t be able to produce sufficient green H2 at home to meet expected demand.

Berlin last year signed a deal with Australia – one of the world’s most promising countries in the emerging global hydrogen economy – amid an effort to secure massive future imports of the green gas, as well as exports of electrolysers made in Germany.

Namibia, while not yet a renewables hotspot like Australia, also has very favourable conditions. The African nation is very sparsely populated with only only 2.5 million inhabitants, and boasts more than 3,500 hours of sun, plus strong winds.

Those conditions would enable production of green hydrogen via electrolysis at a price of €1.50-2.00 per kg ($1.76-2.34) – the cheapest in the world, according to Karliczek, who said the expected production prices in Namibia would be even more competitive than in renewable hydrogen front-runner countries Chile and Australia. Some analysts, however, have warned that pricing assumptions of green hydrogen mega-projects are based on over-optimistic assumptions.

Germany targets massive green hydrogen output and imports in $10bn national strategy Read more

“The [German] National Hydrogen Council estimates that German industry alone, excluding refineries, will have a hydrogen requirement of 1.7 million tonnes per year by 2030, which will continue to increase thereafter,” Karliczek said.

“This demand forecast shows that we need large quantities and cheap kilo prices quickly. Namibia can deliver that.”

Namibia in November plans to present its own hydrogen strategy. But the country is also one of the driest on the African continent, creating a need for desalination plants in order to provide the water for the giant electrolysers necessary to produce large quantities of green H2 for export.

Germany plans to at first carry out a feasibility study, followed up by German-Namibian pilot projects and the training of local specialists for hydrogen.

Giga-scale green hydrogen: 'Developers are being unrealistic about levelised costs'Read more

“The feasibility study aims to show the potential of a green hydrogen economy, including innovative seawater desalination, in Namibia and exports to Germany,” said Stefan Kaufmann, a German lawmaker from Karliczek’s Christian Democrats (CDU).

“Building on this, we want to test in pilot projects how green hydrogen can be generated and transported in Namibia.”
Vulnerable to climate change

Kandjoze added that Namibia is particularly prone to the consequences of climate change, and needs to act now.

“Namibia is particularly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. Two thirds of our electricity comes from hydro-power, which depends on the rain and the rivers at Ruacana,” the head of the Namibian planning commission said.

World's largest hydro dam 'could send cheap green hydrogen from Congo to Germany'Read more

“Twenty-three percent of our workforce depends on agriculture. Long periods of drought, as we have recently experienced, are only a harbinger of catastrophic conditions for many of our fellow citizens.”

The country hopes to be able to start with green hydrogen exports before 2025, after previously covering its own needs for renewable energy and green H2.

The hydrogen agreement comes in the wake of a recent reconstruction aid deal, which foresees payments of €1.1bn from Germany to Namibia in compensation for colonial crimes, although the funds are not officially called a reparation payment.

Namibia was a German colony between 1884 and 1915, during which Germany from 1904-07 massacred tens of thousands of Herero and Nama in the first genocide of the twentieth century. The country was later occupied by South Africa before it became independent in 1990

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Alstom pioneers hydrogen mobility for rail in the Middle East and North Africa

Through innovations in electric transport and hydrogen fuel, Alstom aims to shape the future of the region’s mass transit and mobility for the better. In doing so, it remains dedicated to significantly reducing emissions, minimising land use and carbon footprint, and decarbonising rail transport

by Disha Dadlani

August 29, 2021

Saudi's 450km high-speed Haramain rail link to open soon

Hydrogen technologies and solutions in transport will play a very important role in transitioning to a cleaner more sustainable future accelerating the Middle East and North Africa Green Economy vision. Alstom, a global leader in rail transport and sustainable mobility, is working closely with many regional transportation authorities to ensure the most advanced and sustainable technology innovations are in place to safeguard the health, wellbeing, and mobility of communities across the Middle East and North Africa.

In line with the aim to facilitate a global transition to a low-carbon transport system, Alstom has pioneered several sustainable mobility solutions. The Coradia iLint™ is a perfect illustration for the commitment to designing and delivering innovative and environmentally friendly solutions making Alstom the first company to have developed and put into operation hydrogren trains.

The region’s government is taking major strides towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, cutting down on the use of fossil fuels, and decarbonising transportation.

Supporting the UAE Vision 2021, the National Agenda focuses on improving the quality of air, preserving water resources, increasing the contribution of clean energy, and implementing green growth plans. Consequently, outlining Dubai’s commitment to transitioning to a green economy, the leadership inaugurated the Green Hydrogen Project at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park – a first of its kind project in the MENA region that aims to produce eco-friendly hydrogen using renewable energy.

Known as a global driver of innovation towards carbon neutrality in rail transport – Alstom places a huge focus on greener and smarter mobility solutions. Alstom has been the first company worldwide in 2018 to introduce a new regional train based on hydrogen fuel cells and batteries. Most recently, Alstom completed the acquisition of Helion Hydrogen Power. This promising, innovation-driven company, a 100% subsidiary of AREVA Energies Renouvelables, is specialised in high power fuel cells, thus complementing Alstom’s expertise in hydrogen technology.

“At Alstom, we are proud to be contributing to promoting the use of hydrogen as our aim is to position hydrogen as a strategic factor in the energy transition, as we are convinced it will bring about the change in road and rail transport – towards a clean and ultimately emission-free energy system,” says Mama Sougoufara, Managing Director, Alstom MENAT.

“The key advantage of the technology is that it is emissions-free when used to power a train (the only by-product is water) and is zero-emission throughout its full lifecycle if produced from renewable energy. The railway industry is already one of the cleanest sectors in the field of transport. As a dedicated and long-standing partner of the region’s transportation and mobility development, Alstom will continue to play an integral role in improving the environmental performance of rail across the region.”

Alstom acknowledges its responsibilities to further decarbonise mobility and thus is committed to accompany its clients in this major transition by offering efficient alternatives to diesel trains.

Through innovations in electric transport and hydrogen fuel, Alstom aims to shape the future of the region’s mass transit and mobility for the better. In doing so, it remains dedicated to significantly reducing emissions, minimising land use and carbon footprint, and decarbonising rail transport.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Cambodia’s China-funded mega dam linked to rights abuses and loss of fisheries

Government response

Early reports about the dam

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Masks save lives, but they’re also becoming a gargantuan waste problem

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