The Water, Land, and Carbon Intensity of Electricity Production: The Case of South Africa

Electricity production has a significant impact on the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus sectors as it requires substantial amounts of water and land, whilst also being a primary polluter of these resources. In addition, electricity production is a key contributor to global CO2 emissions.  With electricity production predicted to increase by over 50% by 2050, the impact of electricity production on water and land resources, as well as the environment, will need to be significantly reduced This is particularly important in countries facing water, energy, and food scarcity and insecurity such as South Africa. This paper therefore investigates the impact of electricity production on the WEF nexus sectors and environment in South Africa. To do this, this paper conducts a lifecycle assessment of the water footprint (WF), land footprint (LF), and carbon footprint (CF) of electricity production in South Africa, by electricity source, and under key scenarios. The results from the IRP 2030 scenario showed that despite a 63% increase in electricity production targeted from 2018-2030 in South Africa, the water, land, and carbon footprints of electricity production would decrease by 29%, 9%, and 5.5% respectively. Compared to the BAU 2030 scenario, it was shown that the water, land, and carbon footprints would be 55.5%, 42.6%, and 41.5% lower in the IRP 2030 scenario, respectively. Overall, the results show that to reduce the impact of electricity production on the WEF nexus sectors and the environment, integrated resource planning, switching away from fossil fuels, particularly coal, and promoting the use of non-hydro and non-biomass renewables is required.