Minister Gwede Mantashe has a vision for South Africa’s future — one powered by trillions of cubic feet of gas extracted from our oceans and from beneath the Karoo.
On 14 December, just as South Africans were beginning their annual summer holiday slow down, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) published a Gas Master Plan “base case report” for public comment. South Africans were given until 31 January, this coming Monday, to provide comment.
The 100-page report paints a shiny picture of a gas-powered future reliant on our supposed vast offshore and onshore gas deposits, but is light on detail and barely touches on the risks.
According to the report, we could:
- Convert six of Eskom’s older coal power plants to run on gas,
- Convert trucks and taxis to run off gas instead of diesel,
- Build thousands of kilometres of new gas pipelines.
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