Energy resources and utilization in South Africa

South Africa presents the development planner with a challenging problem of energy planning, because the country's large indigenous deposits of fuels (coal, uranium) combined with a demand for imported energy (petroleum products). Coal is South Africa's basic primary energy source and is transformed into a variety of locally used secondary forms, among which thermal electricity and liquid fuels are vitally important. Prospecting for hydrocarbons on the Agulhas Bank off the southern Cape coast has, on the other hand, not been succesful. Both coal and uranium promise to become important export commodities, while the percentage share of imported petroleum products is expected to decrease towards 2000. There is nevertheless an urgent need for an energy policy which will optimise utilization.