Saliem Fakir
Fakir is interim executive director of the African Climate Foundation – saliem@africanclimatefoundation.org
What should we make of the economics of US shale gas industry?
9th May 2014 There is heightened activity on the shale-gas front. Government is pushing ahead with hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and the Department of... →
The impact of energy prices on food inflation
11th April 2014 On the surface, the relation between high electricity and oil prices and food inflation can be perceived as linear rather than dynamic. There is a... →
The good and the bad in the latest IRP
21st March 2014 The latest version of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) has some interesting changes, which could have far-reaching consequences for South... →
Electricity price hikes and their impact on mining
21st February 2014 The recent rise in electricity prices is eating away at everybody’s pockets. While energy-intensive users are the largest consumers of electricity,... →
Thoughts on Progressive Economics: Can We Find the Space for an Alternative Economic Tradition?
24th January 2014 Economic crises always present opportunities to rethink the conventional economic model whatever hue it may take. Some of these debates are raging... →
Enviro externalities and how to deal with them
24th January 2014 All environmental externalities emanate from the economy and they also reflect the evolution and moment at which societal values are. In reality,... →
Time is ripe for large-scale solar photovoltaic
6th December 2013 While the cost of electricity steadily rises and the demand for energy increases, South Africa, a country boasting abundant sunlight, continues to... →
MDG 7 review an opportunity for realignment
8th November 2013 The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are up for review and, by 2015, a new MDG framework has to be put in place, and sustainability issues are... →
The future of central grids
4th October 2013 Is it possible that we can have a new world in which the central grid is outdated and a more diffused and dispersed system takes its place? Is this... →
Coal 3: The Choke Point in South Africa's Energy System
3rd October 2013 You would think we would’ve learnt a lesson or two from total dependence on coal. Ninety percent of South Africa’s electricity comes from coal in... →
National planning and the role of markets
6th September 2013 The National Development Plan (NDP) is receiving vitriol from both the left and liberals these days. The left sees the NDP as being too market... →
Oil abounds globally, but SA faces uncertainty
2nd August 2013 Each day, more oil is discovered and the earth seems to spew more of the stuff, mocking the peak oil pundits and adding to the anxieties of climate... →
Carbon tax – the implications for South Africa
5th July 2013 In South Africa, there is considerable ambiguity and debate about the implications of tax distortions in the economy and the tax interaction... →
Carbon tax – we must be prepared for what others may throw at us
7th June 2013 Minds become focused when things get real rather than abstract. This is what is beginning to happen since the National Treasury released its new... →
Marrying the carbon budget idea with a carbon tax
10th May 2013 The Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS) envisage a purposive transition during which there are insignificant barriers, there is no competition... →
South Africa's IRP2010 blueprint is outdated
12th April 2013 Since the first Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) was drafted in 2010, the world has changed: Fukushima happened, more gas has been confirmed off the... →
Green growth or deep green economy?
8th March 2013 Green growth or deep green economy? The green economy debate has been in South Africa for at least 5 years. The green economy also has other names:... →
Of oil refineries, nuclear plants and the planning fallacy
8th February 2013 The great project Mthombo (new large refinery capacity) and the proposed 9.6 GW nuclear fleet is still on the cards. Both do not only describe the... →
The challenge of fossil fuel binding constraints
18th January 2013 Despite the failure of the recent round of the Doha climate change talks, the national project on a low-carbon transition requires continued impetus. →
LTMS and the challenge of long-term technology planning
7th December 2012 Many moons ago, South Africa did pioneering work on how best we can meet our international climate mitigation obligations. →
Will the planet be saved?
20th January 2012 Fourteen days of deliberations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change seventeeth Conference of the Parties (COP 17)... →
