SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.110 issue11-12An overview of the electricity externality analysis in South Africa within the international contextAntibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from milk in the Mafikeng Area, North West province, South Africa author indexsubject indexarticles search
Home Pagealphabetic serial listing  

Services on Demand

Article

Indicators

Related links

  • On index processCited by Google
  • On index processSimilars in Google

Share


South African Journal of Science

On-line version ISSN 1996-7489
Print version ISSN 0038-2353

Abstract

MUGIDO, Worship et al. Determining the feasibility of harvesting invasive alien plant species for energy. S. Afr. j. sci. [online]. 2014, vol.110, n.11-12, pp.01-06. ISSN 1996-7489.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/sajs.2014/20130397.

Woody invasive alien plants (IAPs) are a threat to South Africa's water resources, biodiversity and land productivity. The impacts of IAPs were the main reason for the South African government to embark on a natural resource management public works programme called Working for Water (WfW), which was aimed at controlling IAPs in a cost-effective yet labour-intensive way. At the same time, the high biomass of these species presents opportunities for synergies between the clearing of IAPs and the generation of biomass-based energy. The purpose of this study was to determine the cost of harvesting and extracting, chipping, and transporting the biomass, and also to determine the financial and economic feasibility of such an exercise from a commercial perspective. Sampling of the biomass was done at 31 representative sites within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. The cost of the operation was carefully monitored, documented and reported at each stage, and compared to the cost of replacing the thermal coal currently used by industry within this municipality. The project proved to be financially viable, but only when the energy entrepreneur forms a partnership with the WfW programme, and then only under specific conditions. The project has, however, very high socio-economic returns with respect to a reduction in environmental externalities and job creation.

Keywords : woody biomass; invasive alien plants; biomass energy; externalities; financial cost; economic feasibility.

        · text in English     · English ( pdf )

 

Creative Commons License All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License