Saliem Fakir - Low Carbon Future
Electricity generation and future prices
By: Saliem Fakir 4th July 2014 Living with an electricity monopoly mandated to provide basic services is always a double-edged sword. If it is well run and efficient, it can be a... →
Four reasons why nuclear is dead beat 
By: Saliem Fakir 30th May 2014 I attended a recent Academy of Science of South Africa (Assaf) conference on nuclear power in Pretoria. It brought to fore the mountain of... →
What should we make of the economics of US shale gas industry?
By: Saliem Fakir 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
By: Saliem Fakir 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
By: Saliem Fakir 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
By: Saliem Fakir 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,... →
Enviro externalities and how to deal with them
By: Saliem Fakir 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
By: Saliem Fakir 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
By: Saliem Fakir 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
By: Saliem Fakir 4th October 2013 Is it possible that we can have a new world in which the central grid is outdated and a more diffused and dispersed system takes its place?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... →
