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Energy Security in South America and Southern Africa: Synthesis Report / Sheila Kiratu, IISD, 2011, 16 p.http://www.iisd.org/tkn/pdf/energy_security_south_america_africa.pdfThis briefing stems from a project that focused on electricity supply  and the extent to which it’s traded within Southern Africa and South  America. Within this the current and projected regional energy  production mixes were established and since concerns over climate change  are finding their way into many aspects of economic growth and  development the project also explored the role that the regional ‘anchor  states’ (South Africa and Brazil respectively) are likely to play in  securing the future balance in light of climate change and related  mitigation imperatives. (© IISD)Key Findings:The authors involved in this project have summarized the obstacles to  establishing and meeting mitigation imperatives in South Africa and  South America as rigid technological pathways and antiquated  institutional and policy frameworks.Technology has always been a major factor in determining the choice  of sources of energy. This is because energy investments tend to lock a  country into technology pathways that become extremely expensive and  difficult to change. Thus, making large-scale changes to the technology  base of such systems, for example by introducing radically different  elements such as solar and wind technology, cannot be achieved without  looking at all dimensions of a particular system.Institutional and policy frameworks affect the way the demand and  supply drivers interact with one another. The main reason for this is  that electricity systems are deeply entrenched in terms of the economic  institutions associated with them, the regulatory rules and structures,  technical standards and even the skills of the people who manage and run  these systems. (© IISD)Key Recommendations:Since the cost of exploiting sources of electricity is determined by  the available technologies, clear government policy and even financial  support is necessary to steer and propel the uptake of new and maybe  cleaner technologies by power producers.Immense opportunities exist in neighbouring countries for improving  both regions energy profile by enhancing the electricity supply mix and  adopting energy mixes that include renewable energy, in Southern  Africa’s case, and coordinating energy planning and service provision in  South America.If national geographic distribution of energy resources can be  overcome, regional energy integration offers a better alternative to  national reliance because it would allow access to energy resources at  low opportunity costs from neighbouring countries. (© IISD)