South African Cities Green Transport Programme
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES GREEN TRANSPORT PROGRAMME SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES GREEN TRANSPORT PROGRAMME ACCELERATING THE TRANSITION TO GREEN TRANSPORT MUHAMMED SULEMAN, MATTHEW GAYLARD, SANDISWA TSHAKA, CAREL SNYMAN 1 DECEMBER 2015 1 SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES GREEN TRANSPORT PROGRAMME ACCELERATING THE TRANSITION TO GREEN TRANSPORT: SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES GREEN TRANSPORT PROGRAMME 2 SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES GREEN TRANSPORT PROGRAMME This Research Report was prepared under the Research Funding Programme, ‘Research and Policy Development to Advance a Green Economy in South Africa' By: 3 SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES GREEN TRANSPORT PROGRAMME GREEN FUND RESEARCH AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT TO ADVANCE A GREEN ECONOMY IN SOUTH AFRICA GREEN ECONOMY RESEACH REPORTS The Government of South Africa, through the Department of Environmental Affairs, has set up the Green Fund to support the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and pro-employment development path. The Green Fund supports green economy initiatives, including research, which could advance South Africa’s green economy transition. In February 2013, the Green Fund released a request for proposals (RFP), ' Research and Policy Development to Advance a Green Economy in South Africa’, inviting interested parties with relevant green economy research projects to apply for research funding support. The RFP sought to strengthen the science-policy interface on the green economy by providing an opportunity for researchers in the public and private sectors to conduct research which would support green economy policy and practice in South Africa. Sixteen research and policy development grants were awarded in 2013. This peer-reviewed research report series presents the findings and policy messages emerging from the research projects. The Green Economy Research Reports do not represent the official view of the Green Fund, Department of Environmental Affairs or the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author/s. Comments on Green Economy Research Reports are welcomed, and may be sent to: Green Fund, Development Bank of Southern Africa, 1258 Lever Road, Headway Hill and Midland 1685 or by email to [email protected]. Green Economy Research Reports are published on: www.sagreenfund.org.za/research Please cite this report as: M Suleman, M Gaylard, S Tshaka and C Snyman (2015). Accelerating the Transition to Green Transport: Towards a South African Cities Network Green Transport Programme. Green Economy Research Report No. 1, Green Fund, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Midrand 4 SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES GREEN TRANSPORT PROGRAMME 1. Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 RESEARCH TEAM ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................................ 11 2. BACKGROUND TO RESEARCH ....................................................................................................................................................... 11 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................................................... 12 4. LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................................................................................... 12 4.1 Green Transport in South Africa .......................................................................................................................................... 12 4.2 Electric Vehicle Technologies ............................................................................................................................................. 13 4.3 CNG and Biogas Technologies ........................................................................................................................................... 14 4.4 Biofuels ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 4.5 Driver training and vehicle maintenance ......................................................................................................................... 17 5. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................................................................................. 17 6. CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS................................................................................................................................................. 19 6.1 Demonstration projects ........................................................................................................................................................ 20 6.1.1 Conversion of a golf cart to run on solar energy ........................................................................................................ 20 6.1.2 Conversion of a municipal truck to a biogas-diesel fuel system .............................................................................. 21 6.1.3 Installation of a mobile solar charging station ............................................................................................................. 21 a. The electricity grid ...................................................................................................................................................................... 23 b. The battery bank ........................................................................................................................................................................ 23 c. A combination of the above ................................................................................................................................................... 24 7. RESULTS .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 25 7.1 Regulatory and Policy Environment ................................................................................................................................... 25 7.2 Analysis of Green Transport Options for Municipal Bus Fleets........................................................................................ 29 7.3 Green Minibus Taxi Conversions ......................................................................................................................................... 33 7.4 Green Transport Targets for Cities ....................................................................................................................................... 34 8. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................................................................. 36 8.1 General Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................................. 36 8.2 Key Policy Messages ............................................................................................................................................................. 37 8.3 Recommendations for Further Action ............................................................................................................................... 37 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 40 5 SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES GREEN TRANSPORT PROGRAMME EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Greening transport infrastructure and services in cities is a complex enterprise. It requires strategic vision, multi- disciplinary skills and experience in integrated transport planning. A key imperative for South African cities is to move away from privately owned cars towards mass public transport, cycling and walking. This will reduce traffic congestion and road maintenance costs, improve accessibility, increase spatial efficiency and achieve better public health outcomes through improved air quality. At the same time, this modal shift will reduce GHG emissions associated with transport. Given the need for these modal shifts, an investigation was carried out into the options for further ‘greening’ the transport sector by switching to green vehicle technologies and alternate fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG). The options were considered in terms of costs, environmental performance, policy and regulatory environment, with particular reference to municipal bus fleets and the minibus taxi (MBT) industry. The research suggests that the lifecycle costs for procuring and operating green bus fleets using either biofuels, CNG, biogas or electric