City of Cape Town Launches Energy Efficiency Initiative with Business

Businesses in and around Cape Town will pledge their commitment to energy efficiency on Wednesday 28 February at a breakfast hosted by Mayor Helen Zille at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands.

Over 100 companies have been invited to participate in this momentous event to launch an energy efficiency campaign in the industrial and commercial sector, in support of the City of Cape Town Energy and Climate Change Strategy.

The event is co-funded by the City of Cape Town, the Austrian Consulate General and Eskom and coordinated by Sustainable Energy Africa.

The Cape Town Partnership, Eskom and Nedbank, together with the City of Cape Town, will endeavour to make the mainstreaming of energy efficiency as simple as possible for maximum benefit. The Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) has set minimum Energy Efficiency targets for various sectors, with an overall real eduction in electricity demand of 15% by 2015. Companies will be supported in their pursuit of these energy efficiency targets with a toolkit and a strong support network.

The City of Cape Town recognises the important role it plays in implementing national legislation, and has developed short and long term measures in its Energy and Climate Change Strategy to assist companies in achieving these goals.

These include establishing a task team with local business to develop an energy efficiency action plan, which will highlight the benefits of an efficient consumption approach on an economic, social and environmental level.

The City is also leading by example and has embarked on a process to identify its buildings with the largest electricity consumption, in an attempt to identify measures to reduce electricity consumption. Within the next month the City will also embark on a stakeholder process towards the establishment of a solar water heater bylaw. In addition, guidelines that will support the development of "Green Buildings" with better energy efficiency during construction and operation are being prepared.

Business and industry are responsible for a total of 45% of national energy demand. Cape Town statistics show that the industrial and commercial sectors in the City use just under 30% of the City's total energy.

The Western Cape recently experienced a series of power shortages, which affected businesses across all sectors. These outages were due to the inability of the power sector to meet the growing demand for electricity. This demand will continue to grow, while new generating capacity will need to be built in time to meet the rising demand.

Business and industry can, however, contribute toward greater security in our energy supply, through the efficient use of energy derived from fossil fuels. This means that less energy will be used to achieve the same economic outputs, along with a reduction in energy overheads.

Sustainability and security of supply can also come out of diversifying the energy supply. Cities, industries and businesses should investigate the various options available, such as green electricity from the Darling Wind Farm, biofuels, solar water heating, where feasible, and LP Gas.

Our current sources of energy, fossil fuels, release substantial CO2 and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gasses contribute to climate change and the consequent devastating effects, such as extreme weather phenomena. South Africa and the Western Cape are already experiencing the economic and social impacts of a loss of biodiversity, floods, veld fires, water shortages and loss of agricultural crops. A more efficient pattern of energy use will enable us to reduce the future impacts of climate related environmental stress.

As part of a multi-national international agreement, South Africa ratified the Kyoto protocol in 2002. Although it does not commit South Africa to any quantified emissions targets in the first commitment period (2008-2012), the current rate of growth in emissions may oblige South Africa to commit in the period after 2012. Acting now will enable business to better cope with the changes in the environment due to climate change. The Government of South Africa is committed to mitigating climate change, along with ensuring a secure energy supply, and this means supporting energy efficiency.

Issued by:

Lisle Brown
Media Liaison Officer
Tel: 021 400 3065
Cell: 084 888 1901

Communication and Marketing
City of Cape Town
Tel: 021 400 2201
Fax: 021 957 0023

Media Queries:
Shirene Rosenberg
Manager: Resource Conservation
Environmental Resource Management Department
City of Cape Town
Tel: 021 487 2124
Cell: 084 668 2323