South Africa’s waste-to-energy sector in dire need of sustained policy

Day one of the Africa Water, Waste and Green Energy Conference kicked off on 21 July 2022, opening with a strong message about the importance of proactivity and sustained energy policy in the fight to accelerate the waste-to-energy sector.

Presenting this opening message was Muzi Wiseman Mkhize, a full-time NERSA (National Energy Regulator of South Africa) member.

Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from plant-based material, such as biomass, rather than the slow and natural process of forming fossil fuels. Biogas is a type of biofuel that is naturally produced from the decomposition of organic waste, such as municipal wastewater and solid waste, industrial wastewater and agricultural waste.

As countries strive to achieve net-zero emissions, biofuels are growing in popularity as an established alternative to fossil fuels.

South Africa’s bioenergy outlook

Waste to Energy describes various technologies that convert non-recyclable waste into usable forms of energy, including heat, fuels and electricity. In Africa, waste represents a significantly underutilised set of feedstocks, renewable fuel and product generation that Mkhize says could potentially have a high impact on the domestic production of biofuels, bioproduct precursors, heat and electricity.

According to Straits Research, the global bioenergy market was worth $116.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $229bn by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 7.7%. Biofuels demand must also double or expand by 40% to meet the International Energy Agency’s 2050 goals. However, Africa only produces 0.03% of its electricity from biomass.

According to Mkhize, biogas has the potential to displace 2350MW of grid electricity in South Africa. Still, waste management and waste-to-energy remain a challenge in developing countries, with South Africa ranking on the lower end of the 26 IEA Bioenergy countries for biofuels, biogas and liquid biofuels.

There are around 500 biogas digesters in South Africa, 300 of which are small-scale household digesters. The Kwa-Zulu Natal province produces the majority of South Africa’s small-scale biogas, producing 67% of the country’s share. The Limpopo province is the second biggest producer of small-scale biogas, comprising 22% of the country’s share.

Challenges inhibiting biofuel production

Southern Africa has been identified as a region with high potential for supplying biofuel, due to its favourable climate and availability of arable land and water, but South Africa still faces operational and economic challenges in terms of biomass waste-to-energy production, including its constrained municipal budgets.

Bioenergy production is also negatively impacted by feedstock unavailability and feedstock acquisition cost. This is due to scattered biomass resources leading to centralised biomass projects which are occupied close to the source. The South African bioenergy sector also faces issues of equipment and core technology shortage as well as inefficient conversion facilities.

“Technical barriers result from the lack of standards on bioenergy systems and equipment, especially where the energy sources are so diverse. Appropriate pretreatment is required to prevent biodegradation and loss of heating value, which not only increases the production cost but also the equipment’s investment,” said Mkhize.

From the regulatory perspective, Mkhize explained that biogas producers are often deterred by the authorisation, registration and licensing process or lack the financial resources for digester maintenance.

“Because of decentralised capital, poor profitability, frequent fluctuations of international crude oil prices and high market risk, investors seldom took an initiative part in the biomass power generation industry.”

The importance of regulatory policy

To overcome the challenges in the energy industry, Mkhize recommended that the private and public sectors come together to develop dedicated waste-to-energy programmes and dispel bioenergy misconceptions. Just as important is the implementation of sustained energy policy and proactivity among regulators and policymakers.

“The problem is that we’re addicted to reacting to crises once they become crises of extreme proportions,” said Mkhize. “We need to have a sustained view and not be driven by the ups and downs of the market.”

Without proper law enforcement, everything is undermined, says Mkhize. This is why policymakers need to work with regulators to evaluate all counterarguments regarding bioenergy policy and develop integrated and complete law enforcement.

“The management of waste is actually appalling,” said Mkhize. “But we are having an energy crisis and we need to use whatever we can.”

This article was first published on ESI Africa.