The enforcement of South Africa’s carbon tax is adding to the focus by mines and industry on greenhouse gas emissions, raising the interest in the potential for converting methane into energy.
According to Vis Reddy, chairman of SRK Consulting in South Africa, the company’s established expertise in air quality management has broadened to integrate with its climate change focus.
“Traditionally, air quality management was part of environmental impact assessments – and this remains an important compliance aspect for our clients,” said Reddy. “The field of air quality and emissions today, however, links directly to climate change concerns and even energy security imperatives.”
He pointed to the example of methane emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas that has 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, in trapping heat within the earth’s atmosphere. As companies look to improve their sustainability ratings, many are considering generating energy from the methane they produce. This is now more easily achieved, as they can take advantage of South Africa’s recently relaxed private power generation regulations.
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