{"id":477800,"date":"2026-10-09T06:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=477800"},"modified":"2026-10-09T06:05:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:05:22","slug":"build-power-stations-to-protect-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=477800","title":{"rendered":"Build power stations to protect the environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Two
Electrician Workers Shaking Hands Near High Voltage Circuit Line Tower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Kelvin Kemm<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the Western world is obsessed with reducing carbon dioxide emissions. This sentiment typically translates into an obsession with cutting back on industry which produces CO2<\/sub>, such as fossil-fuelled power stations, steel foundries, and so on. So, it does not immediately strike one as a good idea to aim to cut down CO2<\/sub> emissions by building coal-fired power stations in Africa. But it definitely would curtail CO2<\/sub> emissions a great deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, there are 600 million people in Africa who do not have access to electricity. But these people still cook meals for the family and need to keep warm in winter. How do they complete these very human tasks? They light fires. What do they use for fuel? They collect fuel from the immediate surroundings. That fuel consists of materials such as wood and dung. The dung they collect from their cattle, or maybe they get some from wild animals in the neighbourhood. The wood they get from the natural environment. They go out into the surrounding bush and collect dead trees and branches. They also chop trees down. This is hard work, I know that from personal experience because I have collected bush-wood a number of times. On camping trips and day excursions out in the bush, us South Africans quite frequently collect the natural dry dead wood to make a fire to cook lunch or dinner. It is a favourite pastime to do a BBQ, or as we call it, a braai<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For tribal people living deep in a rural area, not connected to electricity, having a braai lunch or dinner is not fun, but rather survival. Collecting the wood is considered women\u2019s work, and it is not unusual to see African women walking long distances with large collections of wood on their heads. It is amazing the loads that they can carry balanced on their heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burning wood and dung creates smoke, plus the gases emanating from all the impurities in the wood and dung, plus loads of CO2<\/sub>. So just imagine millions of fires burning every day. Imagine also how quickly one could cut the CO2<\/sub> emissions, if all these people were connected to electricity. That would be great. It has to happen in due course. The electricity could be produced using coal-fired power stations, burning coal cleanly with great modern efficiency. Such power stations are known as HELE technology. The HELE is; High Efficiency Low Emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As illogical as it may sound, the construction of HELE coal-fired power stations would be good for the environment and for human health, if built in large numbers in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the no-coal zealots would never hear of such a thing. They are not interested in doing the right thing for the environment, they are interested in their will being the dominant force. They are playing a political game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while ago I met a Swiss extreme-green who was in South Africa as part of a group of greens who travelled here to \u2018teach Africans how to be responsible citizens of the planet.\u2019 During a coffee break discussion with him he said that Switzerland should cut its electricity consumption by 20%, because Swiss people could afford to live a less extravagant lifestyle. He was also of the opinion that Africa should be limited to a 10% increase in electricity consumption. By 10% he meant ever<\/em>, not per annum<\/em>. He then produced pictures and waxed lyrical about how Africans should be an example to the world, on how to live \u2018in harmony with nature.\u2019 The pictures he produced showed an African woman walking from the river with a bucket of water on her head. Another showed an African subsistence farmer ploughing with a wooden plough, drawn by one ox. The Swiss greenie enthusiastically explained to me how they were living in harmony with nature<\/em>, leaving a small footprint behind\u2026 as if the concept were new to me. I replied that I would rather see the farmer get a tractor and a steel plough. The greenie just about had a fit, and pointed out that not only does a tractor produce CO2<\/sub> it would also lead to leaks of oil and fuel into the ground\u2026bad for ants, worms, etc. Furthermore, the tractor would cause fuel tankers to have to deliver fuel, he earnestly explained, leading to more CO2<\/sub> emissions, etc. I also got the lecture on how bad it would be to pump water to the village\u2026 that would require pumps and lubricants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I marvelled at the mentality of the Swiss fellow who really seemed to think that he could convince me that it would be helping mankind and the planet by blocking electricity and fuel into African countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, I don\u2019t for one moment expect the large-scale building of HELE coal-fired power stations in African countries to actually take place, even if the countries had coal, which they don\u2019t. But certainly, what can be done is the large-scale electrification of African countries by using nuclear power, particularly Small Modular Reactors. From an environmental conservation point of view, SMRs not only have a very small physical land area footprint, but they also use so little fuel that there\u2019s no large-scale fuel delivery footprint. An SMR can have fuel deliveries three or four times a year, using a truck modified to carry the fuel. There\u2019s no need for a fuel conveyor belt or railway, as required to deliver fossil fuel continuously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When advocating environmental solutions for the world, it really is necessary to think carefully about the real circumstances of the various people concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in Africa it does not go down at all well when people from European countries arrive and sanctimoniously preach to us on how we should be \u2018saving the planet\u2019 their way because they say so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most of the Western world is obsessed with reducing carbon dioxide emissions. This sentiment typically translates into an obsession with cutting back on industry which produces CO2, such as fossil-fuelled power stations, steel foundries, and so on. So, it does not immediately strike one as a good idea to aim to cut down CO2 emissions by building coal-fired power stations in Africa. But it definitely would curtail CO2 emissions a great deal.<\/p>\n

A while ago I met a Swiss extreme-green who was in South Africa as part of a group of greens who travelled here to \u2018teach Africans how to be responsible citizens of the planet.\u2019 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":477801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"Explore how building coal-fired power stations in Africa could reduce CO2 emissions and provide electricity to millions lacking access.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Building Power Stations in Africa: A Path to Sustainability","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691820276,691846186,691829997,691846183,691846182,691846180,691846181,691846185,691825654,691835515,691846184],"class_list":["post-477800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-africa","tag-saving-the-planet-3","tag-carbon-dioxide-co","tag-extreme-green","tag-hele-coal-fired-power-stations","tag-hele-technology","tag-high-efficiency-low-emissions-hele-2","tag-no-coal-zealots","tag-republic-of-south-africa","tag-smrs-small-modular-reactors","tag-swiss-greenie","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-20is","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":255580,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=255580","url_meta":{"origin":477800,"position":0},"title":"The Practical Impossibility of Large-Scale Carbon Capture and Storage","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/02\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Environmental Protection Agency is\u00a0working\u00a0on a new rule that would set stringent limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from US power plants.","rel":"","context":"In \"CCS\"","block_context":{"text":"CCS","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=ccs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0GettyImages-1162106125-c123f3ddc29c4f738b91c08cbaa751fd.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0GettyImages-1162106125-c123f3ddc29c4f738b91c08cbaa751fd.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0GettyImages-1162106125-c123f3ddc29c4f738b91c08cbaa751fd.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0GettyImages-1162106125-c123f3ddc29c4f738b91c08cbaa751fd.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0GettyImages-1162106125-c123f3ddc29c4f738b91c08cbaa751fd.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":258816,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=258816","url_meta":{"origin":477800,"position":1},"title":"After court blocks renewables push, US promotes carbon capture &\u00a0hydrogen","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/23\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Environmental Protection Agency will set limits on power plants\u2019 emissions, forcing them to \u2018clean up\u2019 (as they erroneously describe it) or shut down. But carbon capture is energy-intensive and expensive, so the idea doesn\u2019t really work \u2013 hence the very low or often non-existent level of adoption even in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"CO2\"","block_context":{"text":"CO2","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0diagram-showing-process-of-photosynthesis-in-plant-free-vector.jpg?fit=1200%2C1149&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0diagram-showing-process-of-photosynthesis-in-plant-free-vector.jpg?fit=1200%2C1149&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0diagram-showing-process-of-photosynthesis-in-plant-free-vector.jpg?fit=1200%2C1149&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0diagram-showing-process-of-photosynthesis-in-plant-free-vector.jpg?fit=1200%2C1149&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0diagram-showing-process-of-photosynthesis-in-plant-free-vector.jpg?fit=1200%2C1149&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":258050,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=258050","url_meta":{"origin":477800,"position":2},"title":"Bloomberg News: \u2018South Africa Beats Climate Goal as Blackouts Slash Emissions\u2019 \u2013 \u2018Unintentional\u2026power plant breakdowns are reducing industrial activity\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/19\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"From Climate Depot Bloomberg:\u00a0South Africa is ahead of its target for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases. ... Regular breakdowns of the coal-fired power plants that supply more than 80% of South Africa\u2019s electricity mean that less carbon dioxide is being pumped into the atmosphere and\u00a0daily rotational cuts\u00a0of more than 10\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"coal\"","block_context":{"text":"coal","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=coal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/image-275.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":254553,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=254553","url_meta":{"origin":477800,"position":3},"title":"EPA to Propose First Controls on CO2 Emissions From Power Plants \u2013 \u2018Will be 1st time fed gov\u2019t has limited CO2 from existing power plants\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/25\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Mr. Biden has said that he is willing to use his executive authority to act on global warming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0EPA-Biden-control.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0EPA-Biden-control.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0EPA-Biden-control.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0EPA-Biden-control.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0EPA-Biden-control.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":265354,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=265354","url_meta":{"origin":477800,"position":4},"title":"Irony Alert: Why Offshore Wind Power Increases Carbon Dioxide Gas\u00a0Emissions","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Wind power is delivered chaotically, it\u2019s costly and critically depends on the weather. So, the only purported justification is said to be a reduction of carbon dioxide gas emissions in the electricity generation sector. Putting aside whether there\u2019s any need to do so, STT is happy to attack the myth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"CO2\"","block_context":{"text":"CO2","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01920x1080-_0000_offshore-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01920x1080-_0000_offshore-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01920x1080-_0000_offshore-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01920x1080-_0000_offshore-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01920x1080-_0000_offshore-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":251216,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=251216","url_meta":{"origin":477800,"position":5},"title":"The contradictory Green policies to limit CO2\u00a0emissions","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"An excellent way to undermine Western economies is to render their power generation unreliable and expensive.\u00a0 That objective of Green thinking is progressively being achieved by Government policy throughout the Western world but without any popular voter mandate.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-2050-1536x896-1.webp?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-2050-1536x896-1.webp?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-2050-1536x896-1.webp?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-2050-1536x896-1.webp?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-2050-1536x896-1.webp?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/0-Africa-power-grid-workers-shaking-scaled-1.jpg?fit=2560%2C1350&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=477800"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":477806,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477800\/revisions\/477806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/477801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=477800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=477800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=477800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}