Resource stress cause of lethal nationalism

Solar panels are installed in a building by Strauss Energy Limited workers on July 22, 2016. Solar is the most democratic power generation form, more so in Africa. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Proper policies on creatively harnessing the energy constant that is the sun can narrow the energy gap and, perhaps, stem the emigration.

The history of the world, from the deepest of time, is the history of energy.

From the Big Bang through the Paleozoic and Mesozoic era to the current hydrocarbon-based economy, the world has seen exchange of energy from one form to another, and through it all, the largest nuclear reactor in our planetary system, the sun, has been a constant.

The world is resource-starved and the scarcity is causing resource stress, forcing countries to look inward.

The globalisation of the mid 1980s, which saw unprecedented freer movement of labour, capital, investments, ideas and culture, is transitioning to nationalism with not only tariff-based borders, but also a move to physical boundaries, more like Medieval walls and castles.

The United States, hitherto the biggest proponent of globalisation, is at the forefront of nationalism with blanket campaign statements such as ‘Make America Great Again” the code for stricter, almost gulag-inducing, immigration policies.

VOLATILE WORLD

The United Kingdom, for which at its peak ‘the sun never set on the Empire’, is embroiled in the Brexit imbroglio with a stark possibility of being reduced to a shell island of economic isolation.

The same with Asia where nuclear powers Pakistan and India are in an animated suspension as regards the Kashmir frozen war.

South America’s biggest carbon-based economy, Venezuela, is not sitting pretty. Let’s not even go to the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula.

In Africa, where immigration is mostly economic and political, we see black-on-black violence that would make Black Lives Matter activists hang their heads in shame.

However you look at the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, people are viewing one another through their origins.

Ubuntu is being superseded by Jerry Maguire’s ‘show me the money’ brazen greed, envy, pride and gluttony as manifested in corruption and the rich-poor inequality.

SOLAR POWER

The risky movement of Africans to Europe, this time willingly and not due to slavery, proves that inasmuch as energy and matter is constant, there are places where it is effectively and efficiently harnessed.

That explains why Eritreans, Somalis, Ethiopians, Zambians, Nigerians and other sub-Saharan citizens are prepared to take a one-way ticket to Europe or South Africa.

South Africa takes the lead in harnessing energy. Long hailed as Africa’s largest solar energy market with 2,559MW of installed solar PV, it has 28 times more solar generation capacity than Kenya’s installed capacity of 93MW.

The total energy production of South Africa energy mix is 51,309MW — 22 times of Kenya’s 2,336MW.

In per capita terms, there is 888.8 Watts/day for each of the 57.73 million South Africans against 46.67 Watts/day for each of the 48 million Kenyans.

PRODUCTION

A Solar-Plaza International BV analysis shows that by 2030, South Africa could have 7,958MW of solar PV (photovoltaic) capacities, 10 per cent of its installed power generation mix against Kenya’s less than one per cent.

It’s clear why movement is from low- to high-energy economies - industry, quality of life, and jobs do better there since production cost is cheaper.

Solar is the most democratic power generation form, more so in Africa. Generally, the Horn of Africa has above-average solar irradiance.

Proper policies on creatively harnessing the energy constant that is the sun can narrow the energy gap and, perhaps, stem the emigration.

Ms Hassan is the Kisumu branch manager for Solarnow Kenya, a renewable energy company. [email protected]