Harro von Blottnitz

Status of life cycle assessment and engineering research in South Africa

In view of the upcoming 2002 World Summit in Johannesburg, sustainable development is a topic of high priority in South Africa. Although the South African competency in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) has grown to some extent over the last ten years, South African industry and government have been slow to realise the benefit of LCAs and LCE as tools to support cleaner production and sustainable development. However, the local application of these tools, as well as considerations during their use, differs from practices in developed countries. The applications of LCAs and LCE, the type of organisations involved and the limitations and common problems associated with these tools in South Africa are discussed.

Biofuel Policy in South Africa: A Critical Analysis

In 2007 the South African government released the country’s National Biofuels Industrial Strategy targeting a biofuels market penetration of 2% of liquid road transport fuels by 2013. Contrary to the international situation, the main driver for the development of a biofuels industry in South Africa is neither the economic threat of increasing oil prices nor mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, but the need to create a link between the country’s first and second economies. Specifically, the government hopes to stimulate economic development and to alleviate poverty through the promotion of farming in areas previously neglected by the apartheid system. Before the release of this strategy, commercial sugar producers and maize farmers represented the majority of the parties looking to drive the South African biofuels industry. But, 2 years after its release none of the ventures by these stakeholders have been able to take off, mainly due to the Strategy’s restrictions on the type and source of feedstock as well as on the type of farmers whose participation in the industry would be subsidised. This chapter presents a critical scientific-based analysis of the implications and results of South Africa’s National Biofuels Industrial Strategy. Firstly, an update is presented on the state of the biofuels industry in the country, highlighting the current production statistics and the major investment activities, and how these were affected by the release of the Strategy. Then the ambiguities in the Strategy are outlined and critically analysed with reference to the current state of the biofuels industry in the country. The chapter concludes with lessons leant from the South African experience by those African countries which are yet to develop their respective biofuel policies.

A material flow analysis of wood and paper in Cape Town: is there potential to redirect flows in formal and informal sectors to foster use as a renewable resource?

The City of Cape Town has recently drafted an energy strategy and an integrated waste management plan. The creative implementation of these strategies requires knowledge of potential sources of energy and flows of waste. Inventories of requisite data are sparse. Wood and paper are interesting cases in point, as they are significant contributors to waste and potential energy carriers. A better knowledge of all related flows is obtained by means of a Material Flow Analysis (MFA). Data have been gathered for the fuel wood sector, the manufacturing, construction and demolition sector, the pulp and paper market, the municipal solid waste sector and the wastewater sector. Analysis shows that ∼70% of the renewable energy target of the City (10% of energy demand to be covered by renewables by 2020) could be met via the redirection of woody material flows within the Cape Metropolitan Area and the utilisation of innovative transformation technology.

Sustainability Science for Meeting Africa’s Challenges: Setting the Stage

Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) is experiencing striking antitheses. Despite the long-term efforts to alleviate poverty, poverty still remains endemic in several of its regions (UNDP 2014). Currently, SSA contains a large fraction of the world’s poor and while poverty rates have declined drastically over time, it may take a substantial amount of time before chronic and multi-dimensional poverty is eradicated (World Bank 2016; UNDP 2014). This is particularly troubling as Africa is in fact blessed with abundant natural resources that could potentially assist its development. In reality, however, these resources are not always evenly distributed among segments of society or can have tremendous negative environmental impacts if mismanaged. For example, while large tracts of land are allocated across Africa for large-scale agricultural production to spur economic development (Schoneveld 2014), the continent registers some of the highest levels of under-nutrition and food insecurity globally (EIU 2015). At the same time some agricultural practices in SSA have been blamed for causing extensive land use change and environmental degradation (Reynolds et al. 2015). While, growth in the agricultural sector is challenged by an uncertain policy environment, poor infrastructural development and increasing post-harvest losses, among others (OECD/FAO 2016), enhancing the actual sustainability of the agricultural sector is a much more difficult puzzle to solve. Mining is another example of how the rich natural resource base of the continent does not always translate into positive sustainability outcomes. For example while mining has catalyzed economic development in some areas (UNECA 2011, 2013), it has often been detrimental to the natural environment (Edwards et al. 2013) and local communities (Hilson 2009). Several scholars have pointed that the paradigm of building development (let alone a sustainable development) based on resource extraction could, in fact, be misleading as attested by the signs of possible resource curse in some SSA countries (Badeeb et al. 2017). At the same time SSA host some pristine and highly biodiverse ecosystems, including eight of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots (Mittermeier et al. 2011). While the extent of protected areas has been increasing in SSA in the past decades (UNEP-WCMC 2016), protected and nonprotected areas are facing significant pressure as they cater for multiple human needs ranging from fuelwood to wild food and medicinal plants (Tranquilli et al. 2014; Brashares et al. 2011; UNEP 2010; Beresford et al. 2013; Laurance et al. 2012). In fact most African countries have little progress in meeting the Aichi Biodiversity Targets ratified during the 10th Conference of the Parties of the & Alexandros Gasparatos gasparatos@ir3s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Sustainability science for meeting Africa’s challenges

Africa is currently experiencing striking antitheses. Despite long-term efforts to alleviate poverty, poverty still remain endemic and multi-dimensional in several of its regions (UNDP 2014). Africa is, in fact, blessed with abundant natural resources that could assist its development (UNECA 2011, 2013). However, in reality, these resources are not always evenly distributed among the different segments of society (UNECA 2011), or can have tremendous negative environmental impacts if mismanaged (Evans et al. 2013). For example, while large tracts of land is allocated across Africa for large-scale agricultural production as a means of economic development (Schoneveld 2014), the continent registers some of the highest levels of under-nutrition and food insecurity globally (EIU 2015). At the same time, Africa’s biodiversity and largely pristine ecosystems cater for multiple human needs (Brashares et al. 2014; UNEP 2010), thus facing increasing pressure, especially outside of protected areas (Laurance et al. 2012; Beresford et al. 2013). The dual realities of a rapidly increasing population and global environmental change are expected to put further strain into the natural resource base of the continent. In fact, across Africa, there is a rapid urbanization (with unique patterns), low access of urban populations to basic amenities/materials (e.g., nutritional food, modern fuels), and increasing vulnerability of these population to environmental change (World Bank 2013). The combination of the above might take a significant toll on public health, and stifle development opportunities well into the future (UNHabitat 2015). These are only some of the multifaceted and intertwined sustainability challenges that Africa is currently facing, and will be facing for the decades to come. There is an urgent need to solve these challenges in a socially inclusive and environmentally friendly manner if a transition to a green economy is to be realized in the continent (UNEP 2015). Sustainability science has an interand transdisciplinary focus, a solution-oriented approach and an ability to link the social and ecological systems (Kates 2011; Komiyama and Takeuchi 2006). It is, thus, well positioned to lead the research agenda and to offer key insights to address these challenges in the African context. However, African voices and perspectives need to be more meaningfully integrated in current sustainability science practices, if these challenges are to be tackled effectively (Chilisa 2012).