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Developing and industrialising regions and economies require reliable and low-cost electricity from dependable sources. Global economic growth is increasing the demand for efficient cost-effective supply chain for the fuels, thousands of products, and for electricity that came about after oil.
South Africa and Global Progress are Rethinking the Global Electricity Debate: Why reliable power matters for economic growth.
Human development and economic prosperity have always hinged on the availability of the many products made from fossil fuels and electricity. From the discovery of fire to the Industrial Revolution, each leap in energy transformation has reshaped societies, increasing productivity, reducing poverty, and improving living standards.
Today, the world faces another critical energy crossroads, with a heated debate on the role of crude oil, renewables, and nuclear power in driving future growth. The primary Energy Literacy educational points to remember are that crude oil, renewables, and nuclear power do different things:
- Crude oil is virtually useless in its “raw black tar” format, but once it’s put through the refinery processes, human ingenuity has been able to use those manufactured oil derivatives to benefit mankind. The population growth occurred as a result of the more than 6,000 products in today’s society that are based on the oil derivatives manufactured from that black raw crude oil, the same products that did not exist before the 1800s. These are products that people need and use every day without even realizing that they come from the refining process. Without oil, we are back in the stone age.
- Renewables like wind and solar generate electricity that is NOT continuous, intermittent, and NOT dispatchable electricity. In addition, renewables CANNOT make any of the more than 6,000 products made from oil.
- Nuclear power generates continuous, uninterruptable, dispatchable electricity. In addition, like renewables, nuclear CANNOT make any of the more than 6,000 products made from oil. But it CAN provide reliable, clean electricity and heat used to produce these valuable products made from oil.
- Electricity came about AFTER the discovery of oil. ALL six methods for the generation of electricity from hydro, coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, and solar are ALL built with the products, components, and equipment that are made from the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil. Without oil, there would be no electricity!
- Everything that needs electricity to function, like iPhones, computers, data centers, and X-ray machines, are made with petrochemicals manufactured from crude oil. Without fossil fuels, there would be nothing that needs electricity!
Lessons from History: The Power of Energy Transformations
The first energy transformation — harnessing fire — gave humans the ability to cook food and survive harsher climates, catalyzing brain development and physical strength.
The second major energy transformation
Thousands of years later, after the discovery of oil, one of the last major energy transformations started in Great Britain in the 18th Century. It came to be known as the Industrial Revolution. Fueled by coal, oil, and gas, it shifted economies from agriculture to large-scale mechanized production, creating wealth, reducing poverty, and sparking unprecedented improvements in health, employment, and living standards.
This era, with the thousands of products made from oil, saw the rise of electricity, enabling vast advancements in industry and infrastructure. Crucially, fossil fuels provided reliable, affordable, and dispatchable products and electricity — qualities that remain vital today.
The Industrial Revolution transformed economies that had primarily been based on agriculture and handicrafts into economies based on large-scale mechanised production processes. It spread
throughout Europe and America, and across the world. Many other social and technical innovations helped and coincided with the transformation, including the development of electricity.
The impact of increased available of products and electricity on human productivity was unprecedented. The increase came from the enormous increase in energy available per person. When these processes were successfully implemented, the entire population benefitted from substantial increases in the standard of living, resulting in higher employment and poverty reduction.
The third opportunity, Nuclear Power
The world never really made the next giant leap in electricity generation transformation which is to nuclear power. This is another solar driven event but not from the earths sun. It is storage of energy power and heat into nuclear storage, such as uranium and other nuclear materials. Their life can be measured in millions of years and arises from changes and explosions in stars and star structures involving nova, supernova and collisions which form these nuclear materials. Their power and lives are virtually infinite.
They are used in nuclear power stations but their development falls far short of their potential. There is a current debate to develop this potential on a global basis and recent articles suggest that this could drive future economic growth of the world. A recent article suggests that “Developing countries are leading the movement toward nuclear generated electricity”. This article was co-authored by Ronald Stein, Dr. Robert Jeffrey and Olivia Vaughan. They point out that developing countries are spearheading the shift towards nuclear power in a world where reliable, dispatchable and sustainable electricity sources are crucial.
Wealthier nations focus on weather dependant wind turbines and solar panels for so-called renewable electricity. The choice of nuclear power generation ahead of unreliable renewables is driven by their need for dependable, low emissions electricity to meet their growing demand for industrial, mining and agricultural goods producing growth.
Despite its potential, nuclear power remains underutilized, particularly in developing economies. Yet, countries like China, Japan, Russia, and India are building nuclear power at scale, recognizing that nuclear provides the reliable, low-emission power needed to meet growing industrial and societal demands.
The Case Against Renewables
While wealthy nations invest heavily in wind and solar, these sources suffer from inherent weaknesses. Wind power is intermittent and highly variable, while solar energy is only available during the day and is weather-dependent. In South Africa, for example, wind is reliable only 35% of the time, and solar just 26%.
Moreover, renewables require extensive backup systems, often relying on fossil fuels, to ensure grid stability. This unpredictability drives up costs, making renewables significantly more expensive than coal or nuclear.
It seems incredible that there is such a powerful drive to turn the clock back and start using old electricity generation sources such as wind and solar which are known to be weak and unreliable.
There seems to be a belief that modern technology and back-up will transform these forms of energy into environmentally acceptable low-cost, reliable and dispatchable sources of electricity and heat. The fact is that where they have been introduced on a large scale their high costs, have been inflationary and have weakened major economies.
Examples can be found in the United Kingdom, Germany, California and Australia for instance. All these countries are finding the transformations to renewables to have had extremely damaging impacts to their key manufacturing mining and industrial companies.
The Real Costs of Electricity
Costs of renewables are substantially higher than Coal and Nuclear.
“Many international reports prove that such electricity supply is costly due to its variability, interruptablility, inefficiency and requirement of 100% backup” in order that it can distribute dispatchable electricity.
Charting a Pragmatic Energy Future for South Africa
South Africa’s electricity policy must prioritize reliable, cost-effective, and scalable solutions. Key considerations include:
1. Grid stability: Allocate the true costs of grid upgrades to each technology to avoid hidden subsidies.
2. Diversification: Balance unreliable electricity from renewables with dispatchable electricity sources like coal and nuclear.
3. Risk management: Account for the economic risks of supply variability and unmet demand.
4. Long-term planning: Focus on technologies that support industrial growth and export potential.
By leveraging its coal and nuclear resources, South Africa can ensure electricity security, drive economic development, and position itself as a global leader in advanced technologies.
Please share this information with teachers, students, and friends to encourage Energy Literacy conversations at the family dinner table. Click this Link to Sign up for Energy Literacy from Ronald Stein
Ronald Stein, P.E. is an engineer, columnist on energy literacy at America Out Loud NEWS, and advisor on energy literacy for the Heartland Institute and CFACT, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations.”
Dr Robert Jeffrey is an economist, business manager and energy expert. He has a Master’s degree in economics from Cambridge, a Master’s degree in business management and holds a PhD in Engineering Management. He was on the economic round table advising the South African Reserve Bank
Olivia Vaughan is a business strategist. She has a Bachelor of Commerce in Law and an MBA and operates across key sectors in the circular economy, sustainable systems and the built environment. She is co-founder of a Nuclear innovation company in South Africa, Stratek Global.
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