Rob Jeffrey is a South African energy expert. He started a PhD aged 75 on a subject that is super critical to South Africa. His doctorate is titled, ‘Assessing the actual costs of alternative electricity-generating technologies in South Africa in line with its economic development requirements’.
The following quotes are from this article.
“After a long career, Jeffrey retired in 2016 as the managing director of Econometrix, an economic consultancy. His work on the economy, energy and business has convinced him that South Africa should have three main objectives: a reduction in poverty, an increase in employment and a reduction in inequality.…………Jeffrey believes this can be achieved by improving the economic growth of the country through increasing the amount of electricity for mining, manufacturing and other sectors……….
“High efficiency and low-emission coal-fired power stations and nuclear power stations are the best and most efficient sources of generating electricity for base load because they are more reliable, efficient and have a far lower cost.
“Coal and nuclear are the best sources of energy that can be produced most of the time. At the moment, they are not being produced efficiently, [so] you need to upgrade coal plants.
“Some of the major power economies such as India, China and Indonesia have their attention on coal and nuclear, based on what we call base load power, that is, power required on a permanent basis.
“Renewables are not able to do that. Solar may not be there at night. You need 100% backup, I’m afraid. What is needed are high-efficiency, low-emission coal plants. They are the ones that must be used in the future.”
In the following interview with South African Nuclear Civil Engineer, Hugo Kruger, Rob Jeffrey expands on his knowledge and discusses many issues relating to power generation, Eskom and the value of Energy Sovereignty for any nation.
Source: Hugo Kruger
Meet Dr. Rob Jeffrey
9 August 2023
Dr. Rob Jeffrey is an economist and energy expert who finished his PDH thesis at the age of 80, titled “ASSESSING THE ACTUAL COST OF ALTERNATIVE ELECTRICITY GENERATING TECHNOLOGIES IN SOUTH AFRICA IN LINE WITH ITS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS” https://archive.org/details/thesis-rl…