Switching out Coal for clean energy

Switching out Coal  for clean energy

by Katharine Heyhoe

Coal isn’t just an inefficient, expensive, carbon-belching, way to generate electricity – it’s also a huge source of pollution that directly impacts people’s health. Seven years ago, for example, a coal processing plant near Pittsburgh closed. This month, a new study finds that nearby residents’ ER visits for heart issues immediately fell by 42%; a huge drop that increased even further, to 61%, over the next few years.

That’s why it’s such great news that in South Africa, a coal plant that has been active for half a century is now retired — and being turned into a clean energy powerhouse! Instead of fossil fuels, the grounds of the Komati Power Station now generate solar and wind energy and serve as a battery storage system. 
 
This encouraging new role for the coal plant is the result of a partnership between South Africa, the E.U., and the U.S., which reached a deal at the COP26 climate summit in 2021 to deliver $8.5 billion in loans and grants to accelerate South Africa’s transition to renewable energy in a socially and economically just way. The country’s aging coal-fired power stations currently supply 86 percent of its electricity.
 
The South Africa agreement is the first of what’s called Just Energy Transition Partnerships, agreements that provide global financing for emerging economies that want to shift away from fossil fuels without leaving vulnerable communities behind. Since then, Indonesia and Vietnam have also signed JET agreements, and are currently developing their own plans.
 
This is the kind of creative climate solution I love to see, similar to the debt-for-nature deals I covered a few months ago in this edition of the newsletter. More please!

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