Energy Independence in the "Global South"
Figure 1: Public municipal power in the US electrical grid [1]. This table shows that 15% of sales in electrical systems are publicly owned. Rural electrical co-ops have 10% of sales.
Independence in energy has become a large topic for countries across the world. Municipalization in the United States has become more common over the years. In [1], it states that "Municipalization is the legal process by which a community assumes the control ... purchasing and/or generation, usually from an investor-owned utility." While in the U.S. it is most common for municipalization to occur with electrical utilities, it can be done with natural gas, water systems, etc. The push for municipalization with electrical grids is due to the hope of moving away from coal. However, there is still a long way to go before the country focuses more on municipalization because of the fear that private investors have instated of public power plants [1]. The United States will continue to work towards energy independence. There is a completely different aspect to energy independence in the Global South that will be focused on in this section.
Contextual Engineering
It is common to think why new technology and machines are not simply sent to "Global South" countries to help them advance the same way that countries like the United States or the United Kingdom have. Of course, new technology can be sent to third-world countries. However, how will it be used there? Without the proper training, knowledge, and equipment for the technology, this leaves machines useless. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Contextual Engineering Research Group is working towards making it possible for machines to be sent to the Global South and utilized there. [2] Contextual engineering is stated to be "The Creative Application of Science, Mathematical Methods, Societal Understanding and Indigenous Knowledge to Address a Physical Need that Serves the User of the Innovation While Recognizing the Influence of Stakeholder Motivations and Objectives." Contextual engineering does not only focus on making technology available and useful for the world, but it also focuses on making sure to have an understanding of the world [2].
Figure 2: UIUC Contextual Engineering Research Group Logo
[2] UIUC Contextual Engineering Research Group studies and explores different engineering technologies that are being used around the world. The group works with modern cities to enhance engineering capabilities and knowledge about certain technology. However, the group also works with rural locations as well. They figure out solutions to multiple different problems that relate to basic needs such as water, electricity, and roads. The group also works with finding out solutions to technical design work and everyday problems.
Figure 3: Photograph found in [2]. Photographer not stated.
Contextual engineering is the push that is needed for the Global South to become energy independent. Once technical issues are overcome and proper training is given on machines, the Global South can work on its own and not rely on other countries.
Africa
This section will focus on how countries in Africa are working towards their goal of energy independence and renewable energy. The countries that will be focused on are Nigeria and South Africa
Figure 4: Nigerian and South African flags
Figure 5: Solar Power Plant based in South Africa [5]
Nigeria: Energy Independence with Hybrid Energy Systems
Nigeria's plan for energy independence is to begin by focusing on sustainable and renewable energy that can be accessed by everyone in the country rather than a certain percentage in modernized cities. There is a large source of renewable energy that Nigeria can utilize for its electrical power grid. This includes solar, wind, and biomass energy.
One of the main problems with Nigeria's electrical grid is that only a certain amount of the population is connected to the grid. In [3], a contextual assessment of renewable energy in Nigeria, it states that less than 50% of Nigeria's population is connected to the electrical power system. This is leaving more than half of the country without reliable energy. However, this does not mean that power is constantly provided for the population that is connected. There are constant problems and vandalism that occur to the gas pipelines that only allow for two hours of electricity per day for some households and businesses. Obviously, this is something that should not be occurring with how much people rely on electricity and power. It is hard to imagine a day where electricity is only available for a limited amount of time. Only about 20% of the rural population of Nigeria is connected to the grid and has access to power [3]. This leaves 80% of the population in rural areas of Nigeria without reliable power from the country. Due to this, the population results in buying diesel generators. [3] mentions that "Nigeria is reported to be the world's largest importer of diesel generators." The country cannot have its own source of energy so the population results in buying from other countries and relying on their machines to power the country.
Figure 6: Factors that are affecting the power generation in Nigeria [3]
Figure 6 shows the major causes of what is affecting the lack of power generation in Nigeria. Three large factors are maintenance planning (dark green), manpower training/education (dark blue), and limited automation (brown). These factors have a high impact rate on the scale and this is due to the population not knowing how to operate certain machines. The education for the technology is not given and that results in poor maintenance planning and limited automation due to not being able to fix certain problems.
Nigeria cannot continue relying on diesel generators to power its homes and businesses. Fossil fuels should not be the main source of energy any longer. The environment minister of Nigeria is quoted in [4] stating "the days of fossil fuels were numbered amid worries about climate change." While fossil fuels might be enough right now, there is a fear of what happens when it runs out and there is nothing to replace it? Nigeria and countries in Africa must think ahead in focusing on renewable energy. There cannot be the constant hope of oil barrels to raise in price and for it to last for decades.
While a large part of Nigeria's population relies on diesel generators to have power it does not mean that there are no efforts being made to change to renewable energy. There are multiple telecommunication companies that are working towards hybrid energy systems to hopefully reduce the need for diesel-powered energy [3]. MTN Nigeria is one of the telecommunication companies and has multiple infrastructures that will utilize hybrid machines powered by solar power, batteries, and diesel fuel. Solar power in Nigeria, and throughout all of Africa, is a perfect candidate for becoming energy independent. Nigeria does not only want to focus on one renewable energy and it is a smart idea. There will be hybrid technology that will power the electric power grid. If the country were to only focus on one energy to provide power to the population, like solar power, what happens when the technology fails and needs to be repaired? The hybrid technology of solar, wind, and diesel power will most likely prevent major shutdowns from happening since there are multiple ways of powering the grid.
There is still a long way to go with having most of the population on the electric power grid, but Nigeria is moving towards an amazing goal with energy independence. Once the proper technology is made and training is given to the workers, Nigeria can work on powering the whole country with hybrid technology. This is where contextual engineering comes into play. Engineers can collaborate with the workers to teach them how to work with the machines properly. Machines can also be made to send to Nigeria that will match the environmental concerns. This will result in maintenance planning and manpower training/education from Figure 6 having less impact affecting power generation in Nigeria. Knowledge of hybrid machines can also be taught in schools as subjects to students that want to go into engineering or anything to do with energy. This way Nigeria will have generations of Nigerian engineers and workers focusing on energy independence in their country.
South Africa: Renewable Energy Projects
One of South Africa's renewable energy and energy independence projects is solar panels. In [5] it states that once completed The Redstone project is estimated to be one of the largest solar power projects in South Africa. This project will be a large factor in South Africa becoming energy independent in the future as it will be able to power about 200,000 households 24 hours a day.
The Redstone Project will not start being built until the third quarter of 2023. However, this does not mean that the country will be sitting idle until then. It is a perfect opportunity to hire workers and engineers to teach them how to operate and handle the maintenance of solar panels.
Figure 7: [6] Workers cleaning solar panels in South Africa. Photographer credits: SolarReserve
Workers will be needed to uphold this major project and it is the perfect opportunity for contextual engineering to be applied. Engineers that work with solar panels and energy could be able to teach workers how to properly take care of the solar panels. There can be lessons on how to install and remove solar panels properly if needed. By teaching what is needed to maintain solar panels to workers makes technology available for anyone in the world as stated in [2]'s definition of contextual engineering.
However, contextual engineering also has a humanitarian and entrepreneur side to it as well. There is a South African business that teaches entrepreneurs on how to achieve their goals with renewable energy. The South African Renewable Energy Business Incubator (SAREBI) is mentioned in [6], the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in South Africa article. SAREBI does not only focus on solar renewable energy, it can help entrepreneurs in wind farms as well as anything else related to renewable energy. This business helps local and residential projects to allow start-ups for dreams of working with renewable energy in South Africa. SAREBI offers workshops and partnering with experts to allow entrepreneurs to really get a feel of how to industry works. The business is a perfect way for South Africa to be energy independent as it is teaching people in South Africa how to work with solar panels, wind farms, etc. This is an amazing step towards renewable energy being a main source for the power grip and an even bigger step towards energy independence. A business in South Africa is helping entrepreneurs and businesses based in South Africa.
Both Nigeria and South Africa are moving towards being energy independent with renewable energy. Of course, these are not the only countries in Africa that are working towards independence in energy. In [4], there are mentions of multiple different countries. Ethiopia has large dam projects that will "quadruple the country's electricity generating capacity". Uganda is hoping to extract large amounts of oil and use it to help within the continent rather than exporting it. Rfi [4] also states that "We have solar irradiations which are much higher than anywhere in Europe." This high solar irradiation means that the solar power potential in Africa is high, meaning energy from inside of the continent powering the continent rather than importing diesel generators to power households as mentioned in [3]. This is the right direction towards using renewable energy and being energy independent in the Global South.