By Mosa Mabuza
South Africa, as a leading industrialised country in Africa, is reported to be the largest carbon emitter on the continent, with these emissions largely stemming from coal.
South Africa generates more than two-thirds of its energy requirements from coal, and coal contributes significantly to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Coal accounted for at least R200 billion to South Africa’s GDP, whilst creating direct employment of more than 100 000 people in the 24/25 financial year. Coal has been the main source of energy from the time it was commercially mined near Molteno, Eastern Cape, in 1864.
Since then, coal has been the backbone of South Africa’s manufacturing and mining industry, fuelling the creation of industrial giants such as Iscor (now ArcelorMittal), Eskom and Sasol, and mining conglomerates like Anglo American and De Beers.
The discovery of coal is linked to the country’s geology, which hosts significant reserves and resources in excess of 60 billion tons, making South Africa one of the largest coal producers in the world.
The South African government has committed to transition to a low-carbon economic development trajectory, which includes decreasing the dependence on coal and adopting an aggressive climate change mitigation process. South Africa will also accelerate the development of a diverse basket of energy options, including renewables and nuclear sources.
However, this transition cannot happen overnight.
Indeed, it will take several years to fully implement, and during this period, South Africa will still rely on coal for baseload energy supply. This presents an interesting conundrum: while South Africa continues to depend on coal for energy generation, it also needs to meet its climate change mitigation targets.
Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) technologies provide an innovative solution to bridge this gap. CCUS works by capturing anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at their source. Depending on the nature of these emissions, the captured gas can be utilised in various industrial, agricultural, and chemical applications, such as the production of fertilisers and plastics.
The remaining CO2 can be transported and safely stored in suitable geological reservoirs. Once stored, the captured carbon is converted into stable minerals, securely sequestering it from the atmosphere.
The Council for Geoscience has conducted extensive research to identify suitable geological storage sites for CO2 in South Africa.
Early studies suggest that South Africa, both onshore and offshore, holds significant potential for storage. Preliminary findings indicate that these reservoirs could store South Africa’s annual carbon emissions for the next 200 years and more.
Furthermore, these technologies have the potential to enable the development of a carbon market in South Africa. Trading on the global carbon market grew to $1 trillion in the previous financial year.
These studies show that CCUS technologies provide an ideal opportunity to reimagine South Africa’s just transition and its trajectory towards a low-carbon economy. The country is at the advanced stages of piloting CCUS development, but the absence of pilot studies has delayed the completion of viability, economic, and financial assessments.
Successful piloting is essential for developing the policy and regulatory framework needed to ensure that CCUS technologies are sustainably implemented in South Africa and other regions with similar geology.
Moreover, this is desperately needed to support the development of any commercialisation of this technology.
The Council for Geoscience is now focusing on developing South Africa’s first CCUS pilot project and support South Africa’s just transition efforts.
A suitable site has been identified near the town of Leandra, in the Govan Mbeki Municipality in the Mpumalanga Province. The site is ideally situated near major anthropogenic carbon emitters, including those linked to coal-fired power generation, petrochemicals, agriculture, and industry.
Moreover, the site is located near active coal mining regions.
These factors present an ideal opportunity to study the effects of CCUS piloting in a natural environment that is closely tied to hard-to-abate sectors.
In preparation for the CCUS pilot, the Council for Geoscience has successfully completed geological, hydrogeological, and environmental baseline assessments.
These studies have yielded promising results that strongly support the potential viability of commercial-scale CCUS technologies in the province. Alongside these environmental baseline studies, extensive advocacy efforts helped secure formal environmental authorisation for the CCUS pilot project.
The nature of the storage reservoir is technically challenging and will rely on fundamental geosciences. Geological studies suggest that the reservoir beneath the proposed pilot site has the necessary geology to safely and permanently store commercial-scale volumes of CO2.
This includes a specific saline reservoir and highly reactive basic silicate minerals, which is particularly suitable as it ensures that the captured CO2 is converted into stable minerals over time, allowing for permanent storage.
The complexity of this reservoir requires innovative exploration techniques, including sensitive geophysical imaging, engineering, and specialised well development. These engineering requirements highlight that this will be a first-of-its-kind study and engineering endeavour for Africa.
South Africa must accelerate the development of this pilot project to enable innovation, technological stewardship, and socio-economic development within the framework of a low-carbon economy.
The Council for Geoscience aims to initiate the construction of the pilot site within the next 12-months. Collaboration is essential. This includes increasing public advocacy and fostering discourse within the scientific community. For more information, please visit www.geoscience.org.za
Mosa Mabuza is the CEO of the Council for Geoscience.