Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and renewable energy | Daily Maverick

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and renewable energy | Daily Maverick

Geoff Davies at the Daily Maverick presents the case for South African government to invest in renewable and clean energy. It appears though that there might be other motives to go for a ridiculously expensive nuclear power station.

It is highly unfortunate that our political leaders are so poorly informed about energy developments – or are they so well informed about the financial benefits to be gained through the procurement of nuclear energy that they support nuclear energy at all costs?

Obviously it would be preferable in so many ways if investment was made in renewable energy, especially solar instead of nuclear. Just three days ago Time ran an article: The Solar Power Industry Keeps Adding Jobs. 

The number of jobs in the U.S. solar industry grew by 25% last year as the energy sector continued its march away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, according to a new report. More than 260,000 people now work in the solar industry, according to the report, published by the non-profit Solar Foundation. The workforce employed in the industry has increased 17-fold since 2010. The figures in the report are consistent with numbers from the Department of Energy. 

It clearly seems that not only will solar be cheaper than nuclear, it is potentially a source of badly needed new jobs. I'm not sure how many new jobs a nuclear power station will create, I'd presume though that any jobs that are created will mostly be in the vicinity of wherever the power station will be situated. With solar power the investment can be spread out across the country. All the solar panels don't have to be in one place. Maybe areas with high unemployment could be targeted as places to build and install solar farms in. That's another thing, presumably much of the nuclear power plant will be manufactured overseas. Factories to build solar panels can easily be built locally. Wouldn't it be better to invest money in local manufacturers and local jobs?