AFRICA "RICH IN SOLAR, WIND POWE POTENTIAL"

Africa should use wind, sun

 25/11/2003 14:49  - (SA)  

Cape Town - The first global conference on wind energy to be held in
Africa opened here with delegates saying the power-starved continent
was using only a fraction of its potential.

German MP Hermann Scheer, who doubles as the chair of the World
Council for Renewable Energies, said weather conditions in Africa were
far more favourable than in Europe or the United States for tapping
renewable energy sources.

Scheer's keynote address at the start of conference in Cape Town on
Monday was marked by a strong pitch for wind and solar energy.

"Fossil fuels like crude oil and coal are fast depleting and a mind
shift towards large scale use of solar and wind energy has to be made
worldwide," he said.

He said wind and solar power plants would be far cheaper than
conventional hydro power and grid solutions.

"The (African) continent has great potential to develop these energy
sources, because the weather conditions in most parts of Africa are a
lot more favourable than in Europe or the US," he said.

The conference is being attended by some 350 delegates from 21
countries.

Scheer who was last year named as the Green Hero by Time Magazine,
said: "It only takes an area of 2 000 sq km with photovoltaic modules
(solar panels) to produce energy for the whole African continent."

South Africa's Minister for Minerals and Energy Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka, who officially opened the conference, said the cabinet
would discuss a white paper on renewable energy next week.

She said the country planned to have 10 000 gigawatt hours of
electricity by 2013 from renewable energy sources.

"South Africa has fair wind resources and the potential capacity for 3
000 megawatts of electricity coming from wind energy," she said.

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