South Africa has a great window of opportunity to accelerate progress towards Net Zero, if we act decisively and invest in educating our current and next generations to develop key technologies.
Just imagine if we took several cohorts through tertiary education, focused on developing the skills we will need to go carbon-neutral − from green hydrogen batteries that are vital so we can move to a cleaner energy economy, to solar panels that aren’t as manufacturing-intensive.
Or, what about more efficient hydropower? Electric vehicles that can go further than currently, even smarter cities, converting waste into energy, and optimising resource allocation. This list will grow with time and, as a country, we need to grow with it.
Here’s the vision: we have 25 years to achieve Net Zero. That’s ideally, because there’s a massive dropout rate between first grade and matric – and gives us 12 years of basic education.
This means we can then guide one generation through tertiary education courses focused on developing the technology we will need for sustainability. The next generation, by the time they finish matric, will be at the point where they are going from Grade 12 to study courses that will propel them into exciting and cutting-edge careers.
Our next two generations must grow and adapt alongside the AI evolution.
And that’s without counting the students who are already busy with studies that will empower them to push South Africa closer to achieving Net Zero – a target to which it is already committed.
Won’t this be an absolutely amazing rabbit to pull out of a hat?
Yet, we must act now to ensure we can pull off this magic trick. I’ve already written about the fact that we are likely to miss the deadline.
Global consultancy BCG has warned that we’ll lose more than a million direct jobs, 50% of our export value – more than R2.6 trillion, which is a rather large number of zeros – as well as put 15% of our gross domestic product at risk if we don’t reduce our carbon emissions.
That’s a shocking thought. In fact, it’s catastrophic.
Yet, we do have the foundation to make a transition to a carbon-neutral environment work. South Africa has expertise in the Fischer-Tropsch process, a chemical reaction that makes liquid hydrocarbon, which is a cleaner burning fuel source than carbon.
We also have plenty of platinum thanks to the Merensky Reef, with the precious metal being an essential element in hydrogen applications.
Already, we are seeing strides in several key areas. For example, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research has an advanced battery research centre. There, researchers are developing new material-based technologies which make up the ingredients of battery cells.
There is a Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies at Stellenbosch University, which is exploring R&D, and deployment of methodologies, technologies and systems within the Southern African context and beyond when it comes to sustainable energy.
Close to home is the work being done at iTversity Belgium Campus. Because it has partnered with UiPath, a global leader in agentic automation, it can ensure students are at the forefront of new tech; ready to contribute to digital transformation initiatives across various industries, especially in artificial intelligence (AI).
Let’s act with speed and ensure we are encouraging youngsters to be familiar with all sorts of technology right from when they first enter school. And I’m not talking about playing Candy Crush.
Our youngsters need to be properly familiar with tools such as AI. As much as I am tired of it being a buzzword despite it being such new technology, and it’s mostly known for apps such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Manus, Perplexity and Claude, it’s something that will become more and more relevant.
And AI will also evolve dramatically in the coming years. It will be unrecognisable as the innovation that we now know. Our next two generations must grow and adapt alongside the evolution. (Hopefully, they will avoid inheriting awkward generational labels. We already have Generation Beta…)
Let us raise a generation that will propel us into the next stage of renewable energy. Let’s call them the Net Zero Generation.
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