3 Energy Transition in Africa: Context, Barriers and Strategies
99
obtain assigned units which they can transfer (when their emissions are
lower than their target) or acquire (when their emissions are higher than
their targets) to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
3.4.1.5 Use of Biofuel in the Transport Sector
Increased urbanization and economic growth in the continent will
prompt transport infrastructure development which will, in turn, lead to
rapid motorization and increased petro-dependency even with the proliferation of renewables because of the continent’s heavy reliance on fossil
fuels for its transport sector.
There is currently very little uptake of electric vehicles in Africa
primarily because of limited electricity access, high import taxes and the
absence of infrastructure (charging facilities).
97 As the continent works
on ensuring universal access, building charging points and developing
battery storage options, it can reduce its emissions from fossil powered
vehicles by fuel substitution in favour of biofuels produced from energy
crops.
The production of biofuels, however, has key sustainability issues with
great implications on the structure of agriculture, food security, biodiversity and climate change.
98 African countries will, therefore, need to
put in place carefully designed biofuel policies beforehand.
3.4.2 Improving Energy Security of Renewables
As seen in Sect. 3.3.3, renewable energy is not a cure-all for energy
security unless various strategies are employed to deal with the inherent
variability of renewable energy sources and their interactions with all
the components of an energy system. To this end, as deployment of
renewable energy increases, African countries will need to preclude the
domination of renewables in energy production and the probability of
97 Liu Xinying et al., ‘Environmental Impacts of Electric Vehicles in South Africa’ (2012) Vol
108 South Africa Journal of Science.
98 Jianliang Wang, ‘Sustainability Assessment of Bioenergy from a Global Perspective: A Review’
(2018) Vol 1 Sustainability.
99
obtain assigned units which they can transfer (when their emissions are
lower than their target) or acquire (when their emissions are higher than
their targets) to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
3.4.1.5 Use of Biofuel in the Transport Sector
Increased urbanization and economic growth in the continent will
prompt transport infrastructure development which will, in turn, lead to
rapid motorization and increased petro-dependency even with the proliferation of renewables because of the continent’s heavy reliance on fossil
fuels for its transport sector.
There is currently very little uptake of electric vehicles in Africa
primarily because of limited electricity access, high import taxes and the
absence of infrastructure (charging facilities).
97 As the continent works
on ensuring universal access, building charging points and developing
battery storage options, it can reduce its emissions from fossil powered
vehicles by fuel substitution in favour of biofuels produced from energy
crops.
The production of biofuels, however, has key sustainability issues with
great implications on the structure of agriculture, food security, biodiversity and climate change.
98 African countries will, therefore, need to
put in place carefully designed biofuel policies beforehand.
3.4.2 Improving Energy Security of Renewables
As seen in Sect. 3.3.3, renewable energy is not a cure-all for energy
security unless various strategies are employed to deal with the inherent
variability of renewable energy sources and their interactions with all
the components of an energy system. To this end, as deployment of
renewable energy increases, African countries will need to preclude the
domination of renewables in energy production and the probability of
97 Liu Xinying et al., ‘Environmental Impacts of Electric Vehicles in South Africa’ (2012) Vol
108 South Africa Journal of Science.
98 Jianliang Wang, ‘Sustainability Assessment of Bioenergy from a Global Perspective: A Review’
(2018) Vol 1 Sustainability.