Saliem Fakir - Low Carbon Future
Living wages, living allowances and the platinum strike
By: Saliem Fakir 18th July 2014 Debates on living wages or minimum wages are not unique to South Africa. You will find similar debates in France, the UK and the US following a... →
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... →
