S-Af: The end of oil is nigh

Simon Ratcliffe, chair of Aspo in South Africa says resource depletion applies in the first case to oil but that fuel sources such as coal and uranium face the same depletion prospects in the coming decades.

Globally, coal is projected to deplete after 2025 and uranium after 2013, he says.
The infrastructural costs of developing new energy sources will also continue to rise, says Ratcliffe. As such South Africa should be switching now to use sustainable, renewable sources of energy. These could include solar and hydroelectric power, the latter from Cahora Bassa in Mozambique and the giant Inga project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ratcliffe says that in the past two years he has begun to adjust his own lifestyle to adjust to the changes that resource depletion is going to bring our way.

“I have been introducing a steady set of measures such as insulating our home. I had a nice car, which I have sold. I now share a car with my wife, use public transport and if needs be, hire a car for a few days when necessary. Our household has dramatically reduced the amount of fuel we use.”

Mail & Guardian