Energy is not only vital for production; it is also crucial for economic growth, development and good living standards, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Many see the fact that a relatively big part of the population lacks access to energy as a key factor in our continent’s slow growth.
However, the environmental consequences of the heavy use of traditionally dirty fuels have also become undeniable. So, what is the optimal way from an economic and environmental view to use energy, considering the global limited resources, the protection of future generations and the economic impact of our energy choices?
Prof Roula Inglesi-Lotz, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Pretoria, has been looking at this issue from various angles. According to her the solution lies in research that takes into consideration not only the technological side of energy but also the socioeconomic aspects of it.
This is why her research covers a range of energy-related issues: problems of energy poverty, energy efficiency, use of renewable energies, pricing of energy, emission profiling, factors determining energy consumption, the impact of various energy types on the economy primarily in an African and South African context.
“By finding solutions, we can make a difference and improve the economic growth of countries, informing future policies and strategies. We can even change the everyday lives of people in South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the world!”
Prof Inglesi-Lotz’ research output is impressive. Together with colleagues from UP’s Department of Economics, she constructed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory for South Africa – the first of its kind in such detail according to international standards. This inventory makes it possible to monitor the air pollution in the country, compare it with the rest of the world and identify key sectors that can contribute towards a more environmental-friendly future.
She has also proposed a benchmark-and-trade system to improve energy efficiency, and not emissions. The paper shows that trading energy efficiency credits between different industry sectors can really have an impact on the country’s overall efficiency levels.
Recently, she showed that the use of renewable energies and their share in a country’s energy mix have a positive impact on its economic growth. These findings support the advantages of government policies promoting the use of renewable energy by establishing renewable energy markets not only to improve environmental conditions, but also from a macroeconomic point of view.
Prof Roula Inglezi Lotz
January 1, 2015
Professor Roula Inglesi-Lotz is a professor in the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of Pretoria (UP). She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece, before obtaining her MCom in Economics cum laude at UP. Her doctorate degree was awarded in 2011 by the Department of Economics, for which she proposed a benchmark-and-trade approach to improve electricity intensity in South Africa.
A Y1 National Research Foundation-rated academic, Prof Inglesi-Lotz is among the most prominent researchers in the field of economics in Africa, where she is in the top 10 of economics authors and consistently in the top three in South Africa, based on her research over the past 10 years. Over this period, she has published more than 80 academic papers in highly ranked international journals.
Her research focus on energy and environmental issues seeks answers to pressing concerns associated with the traditional ways of consuming and generating energy, as well as investigating new, alternative solutions for higher efficiency in the consumption of energy and renewable fuels for generating energy.
Prof Inglesi-Lotz is the editor of top international journals Energy Policy (JEPO) and Environmental Science and Pollution Research, and is a member of the editorial boards of the International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy and Economics of Energy and Environmental Policy.
She has demonstrated her leadership skills by founding the South African Association for Energy Economics (SAAEE) along with other energy experts, and was president of the association for two terms. The SAAEE is the only recognised affiliate of the International Association for Energy Economics for South Africa. She is also the elected vice-president of the international body for Membership and Affiliate Relations for 2021/22.
Prof Inglesi-Lotz has been a member of the South African Young Academy of Sciences (SAYAS) since 2017 where she served as co-chair in 2019/20. She was editor of the SAYAS PhD blog, giving a platform to South African youth to express their voice. Prof Inglesi-Lotz has also been a member of the Global Young Academy since 2018 and was elected co-chair, representing low- and middle-income countries for 2021/22.
The Department of Science and Technology awarded her the 2017 Women in Science prize in the Social Sciences and Humanities categories.
A recent highlight in her research work was a 2021 published paper, in which her research group stressed the importance of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) for the economic growth of South Africa. Based on this, the paper explored how the intermittence in electricity supply and increasing electricity tariffs since 2008 have affected the attraction of foreign investment in the country. Using econometric techniques, it was found that electricity supply is a positive contributor to inward FDI, ceteris paribus; and that electricity prices negatively contribute to inward FDI, ceteris paribus. These results magnify the current adverse conditions of the country’s electricity sector, showing that it doesn’t affect the economy only from a local point of view but also international trade and investment affairs.
The flexibility and smaller initial capital investment requirements of renewable energies promoted them as a solution. This transition to cleaner energies is a fact internationally but not all countries display equal speed or willingness to adopt new technologies. Institutional, regulatory and policy factors have played an essential role in how economic systems operate, and their effect on energy generation is present.
The decision of countries to move towards energy transition is often rooted in these institutional characteristics, and policymakers work within these frameworks to discuss and promote (or delay) just energy transition. Economies with better institutional quality do better due to the encouragement of innovation and efficient allocation of resources, among others. That is where her current research interest has led her. During her 2021 research leave, she examined various ways in which institutional quality acts as a factor of efficiency in the energy markets and as an overall levelling framework in which the energy markets operate.
In a recent study, Prof Inglesi-Lotz’s research group made a methodological contribution to the academic debate of renewable energies that simultaneously has policy implications. A recent paper in the International Journal of Energy Research was aimed at comprehending the role of the appropriate use of an indicator to represent renewable energies in academic studies and policymaking. The effect of an ambiguous choice of the proxy might produce various outcomes and thus create inconsistencies in the policy recommendations.
Prof Inglesi-Lotz and her group analysed econometrically the impact of using aggregate, per capita and share forms for a global sample and various group countries, concluding that their effects on emissions dramatically change across the choice between the share of renewable to the total energy supply mix of a country and the volume of renewable energy used. More interestingly, the size of the effect of carbon emissions and its direction changes across indicators. Overall, the choice of renewable energy indicator is of great importance in putting forward reliable and consistent policy suggestions.
South Africa’s load-shedding has inspired Prof Inglesi-Lotz’s research. It is an exciting story, but for most South Africans, the beginning of power cuts and load-shedding waves was the start of a sad journey for the country. The first wave of power interruptions took place when Prof Inglesi-Lotz was a master’s student working on her thesis on economic growth and technological progress. Whenever there was a power cut and she was absent-minded, she would lose all the work she had done. (In 2008, generators and batteries were not widely used). That period was followed by electricity tariff restructuring discussions and their impact on the economy.
“My academic curiosity was triggered, maybe for the first time,” she says. “I started reading and researching the historical reasons why the South African electricity and broader energy sector was in such a state. That all led to my doctorate thesis that aimed to propose a solution to improving electricity intensity in South Africa by thoroughly examining the sector’s performance and position internationally. My research since then continued to deal with the nexus of the energy-economy-environment for South Africa. Real societal problems inspire me, and the current energy and climate change issues are more than relevant.”
As for academic role models, Prof Inglesi-Lotz says she does not believe in one single role model because she firmly believes in the uniqueness and individuality of an academic's career path. “I have taken advice by example and had discussions with many people in my career.’
For Prof Inglesi-Lotz, her master’s supervisor, Prof Renee van Eyden, was a prime example of what it means to have a good work ethic and is someone who has great empathy for her colleagues and students. “She is a rarity in a world where competitiveness and egos are the norm,” Prof Inglesi-Lotz says. Her PhD supervisor, Prof James Blignaut, taught her a lot from an academic content perspective but most importantly, he sowed the seeds of scholarly curiosity and mentorship. “He has always shown me how to think and act as an academic.”
Prof Steve Koch was responsible for the postgraduate programme when she first arrived in South Africa for her master’s degree, and she has regarded him as a mentor since. “Our discussions motivated me to think more deeply about the more significant questions around us.”
She says she has got something from all the other individuals that she has met in her career thus far. “I have learned that an individual can offer aspects to admire and learn from, regardless of their status or position. I am learning from my colleagues, students and mentees, based on how they deal with their academic, professional and everyday challenges. To do so, one needs to be open-minded and observant, and to constantly look for the invisible role models, the ones that don’t know that they are role models.”
Prof Inglesi-Lotz’s research is aimed at policy design and implementation. Literature has shown that developing countries lag behind in economic development and environmental sustainability due to the quality of their institutions, particularly in terms of policy design and implementation. Her observation has taught her that the main challenge is a constant disconnect and misalignment between academia/research and policymakers. That disconnect has led to a significant lack of evidence-informed policies that directly impact society and livelihoods. Coupled with that, the policies are short-sighted, aiming to satisfy voters without a long-term vision.
Notably, in the field of energy and electricity, these issues have manifested in the instability of the electricity market in South Africa, with continuous power cuts and pricing issues. Prof Inglesi-Lotz hopes that her research will inform, action and collect evidence for theories, and that it will contribute to developing knowledge. She emphasises that its ultimate purpose must be to make the world a better place – “not science for the sake of science, but science for society.”
To school learners or undergraduates who are interested in her field, Prof Inglesi-Lotz says the field of energy economics is multidisciplinary by nature. The skills package brought to the table by each discipline should be well founded so that all disciplines together may provide the most appropriate solutions for future sustainability. “In-depth knowledge, specialisation and expertise are non-negotiable requirements,” she says.
She advises school learners and undergraduate students who are intrigued by energy, environmental and climate change issues to dig a bit deeper and explore the foundations of the scientific systems they are looking at and how everything is connected. “I strongly suggest they read Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth,” Prof Inglesi-Lotz says. “It shows how our objective (or not so objective) view of statistics and information is crucial in our understanding of the world and, more importantly, how we react to the world changing around us. Another exciting book to read is Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things are Better Than You Think by Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Hans Rosling and Ola Rosling.
Finally, her advice to new researchers who are exploring their options is to think widely, and to look for topics that excite them, that the world needs and that they are good at. Combining these three will motivate them in their studies, research and career. When it comes to energy and environmental economics, especially in emerging economies and South Africa particularly, they will encounter two significant challenges, she says: the availability, reliability and frequency of data, and the interference of politics into the efficient functioning of economic principles in energy markets. These challenges also provide the most unique opportunities for researchers in the field, as the scope for impactful research is vast.
Prof Inglesi-Lotz loves reading. “My husband teases me that because I love reading, academia was always an appealing profession for me. I made my hobby my career. Where else can you get a salary to read? In my case, I read everything and anything, from academic content and fiction to personal development books and biographies. I find reading relaxing; it can open up one's horizons and perspectives like nothing else.”
Prof Inglesi-Lotz says that as a working mother and wife, free time is a luxury that she treasures. “Spending quality time with my two boys during the week whenever our schedules allow us is always special. We like visiting different coffee spots in Pretoria, enjoy watching movies together and playing board games. I also love oriental dancing – I have been part of an oriental dance studio for a few years, and that is my way of relieving the stress of the week and finding my balance again.”
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