SA-TIED energy expert on SABC's The Bottom Line —the future of clean energy in South Africa
Channing Arndt, an expert in our SA-TIED programme and divisional Director of Environmental and Production Technology at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), appeared on SABC following a policy workshop in Pretoria on 28-29 August. The national broadcast channel asked Professor Arndt to appear on The Bottom Line to discuss recent research from the SA-TIED programme on South Africa’s prospects for a clean energy transition.
Channing Arndt is the work stream leader for the Climate change and energy transition as drivers of change stream of SA-TIED. He responded to concerns about a South African ‘coal addiction’ by assuring viewers that recent research confirms that the cost of coal-fired energy is no longer competitive with wind and solar technologies, and that the least-cost pathway for a clean energy future will be to replace coal-fired power with cleaner, cheaper alternatives as the existing coal-fired architecture reaches the end of its useful life.
“The least-cost solution is when coal power plants reach the end of their useful life, you replace them with wind and solar.” – Channing Arndt
Watch the segment: