Cape Residents Say No to New Nuclear Power Plant

This IOL report tells how residents of Bantamsklip staged a protest march in Hermanus on Saturday, 19th December, opposing Eskom's plans to build "...two 4 000MW nuclear power plants at this site which is a registered South African Natural Heritage Site and contains vegetation that occurs nowhere else in the world."

UN Climate Change Conference Outcome

A political 'deal' brokered at Copenhagen over the weekend has been dubbed the Copenhagen Accord. The Accord is not legally binding but "'recognises' the scientific case for keeping temperature rises to no more than 2C but does not contain commitments to emissions reductions to achieve that goal." "The deal was brokered between China, South Africa, India, Brazil and the US, but late last night it was unclear whether it would be adopted by all 192 countries in the full plenary session. The deal aims to provide $30bn a year for poor countries to adapt to climate change from next year to 2012, and $100bn a year by 2020." "The agreement also set up a forestry deal which is hoped would significantly reduce deforestation in return for cash. It lacked the kind of independent verification of emission reductions by developing countries that the US and others demanded." Source: Guardian UK This BBC news article offers a brief overview of the deal. Also have a look at this BBC Q&A about COP15/climate change. Now it appears that hopes are being pinned on a follow-up meeting in Mexico planned to take place in about a year's time. Interestingly, this article dated 27 November 2009 accurately spells out the outcome of Cop15. Does the outcome surprise you at all?

"Greening" your Xmas (& New Year!)

Also rushing around with last minute shopping? Have a look at this Urban Sprout article which gives some 'green' gift ideas. All we will add to this is: 1. Reduce the amount of junk you buy - who really wants all that gimicky stuff? Make your gifts meaningful - they don't necessarily have to be shop-bought! - e.g. what about giving fresh organic produce which you have grown in your garden? 2. PLEASE, try and buy local! Stay away from the "Made in China"s for a change! One of the most important things we as consumers can do is support local business and sustainable industries - remember, it is good for our ecomony and jobs! So, while you're out there shopping - check your labels... do some investigating and while you're at it, teach your children! and make this a new habit to take with you into the new year! 3. One other thing, don't buy gift wrapping paper! Re-use gift bags, newspaper, cardboard boxes, etc - add your own personal touch - maybe a sprig of fresh rosemary or lavender - be creative! 4. As for greeting cards, if you don't make your own, buy some from someone like Joseph Diliza - check out all the great things he makes here on his blog. [Joseph employs women in his township to help him with making items out of recycled waste and to make paper/paper products using alien reeds growing along side the rivers around Khayelitsha and Crossroads.] Oh, one more thing, 5. I found a great little shop called "In a Nutshell" at N1 City Mall and CapeGate. They sell the most wonderful locally made jams and other speciality foods. They don't yet have a website, but please do visit one of their shops (if you are in the area). 6. Capetonians, check out Capetown's Green Map for more ideas of where to buy 'green' in Cape Town. Happy 'conscious' shopping!

Standard Bank Buys Carbon Emission Reductions from China

This Engineering News article tells us that "In terms of the agreement, Standard Bank will purchase the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reductions generated by Guodian Power's three newly-built hydropower plants located in north-eastern China." What do you think about this?

Cop15 Update

Here is the latest BBC News report on what has been happening at Copenhagen. Also, this recent Cop15 article tells how Bolivia's President is calling for the Capitalist system to be changed.

News in a Rush

SA is gearing up to produce batteries for electric vehicles - Engineering News

Eskom's proposed rate of return to come under scrutiny during NERSA's January hearings - Engineering News

Clean energy could be third-largest industrial sector by 2020 - report - Engineering News. This article informs us: "The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) this week released a report predicting that by 2020 the clean energy technology industry would be worth €1,6-trillion a year - ranking behind automobiles and electronics as the third-largest industrial sector." and quotes WWF's Donald Pols saying “Forgoing these opportunities for the sake of propping up an aging, polluting fossil fuel sector for as long as its lobbying power remains significant is acting for vested interests not the national interest,”. Also see this Engineering News article: Renewable Energy could be an engine of growth for Africa.

Soros Proposes $100bn fund to unlock climate talks - Engineering News

Focused use of ICT could eliminate 5,8bn t of emissions by 2020 - Engineering News - This article tells how: "Information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology research and analysis company, International Data Corporation (IDC) on Thursday released a report on the role information communication technologies (ICTs) could play to eliminate almost 5,8-billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2020."

Growing vs Buying Food - The Economics of Fermentation

Planting Season recently forwarded a BRILLIANT article to me which I must share with all of you. It is a bit long, but very well worth the read. You can find it here, on Wild Fermentation. It was written by Charles Eisenstein - Originally appreared in Wise Traditions Magazine.

Imagine!

This Urban Sprout article is well worth the read, providing some exciting examples of global 'green' projects that are successfully operating around the world. It highlights what room South Africa has to do similar projects and asks the question, 'Why aren't we!?'

Scientist Stumble Upon "Self Cleaning Solar" Discovery

Read more here, on Discovery News.

Latest from Copenhagen

This Mail & Guardian report is worth the read. It also gives a brief description of some of the leading 'dealmakers'.

South Africa: Environmental Liability in the Context of Historical Pollution

A recent International Law Office article highlighted the "ongoing debate on whether the [South Africa's] National Environmental Management Act extends to liability for historical environmental pollution or degradation that pre-dates the act. The High Court recently held that the provisions are not retrospective and, accordingly, the obligation to take corrective measures does not apply where pollution and degradation were caused or began before the date of commencement of the act." Source: International Law Office

Latest Electric Car to Keep "skin young-looking"

This Engineering News article reports on a partnership formed between a skin care company and Renault to develop a new electric concept car which “boasts the finest in air filtration and purification technology to fully protect the health of passengers and keep their skin young-looking”.

News in a Rush

ESKOM
After Eskom "lowered its request for a tariff increase to 35% a year from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013, down from 45% a year.", it has now been announced that NERSA has extended the deadline for comments to 14 December 2009. Source: Engineering News.

Government at fault for inertia aroud power crisis structures (Engineering News)

Cosatu threaten to strike over Eskom Price Hike (Engineering News)

Eskom Tariff Hike will Dent Growth and Job Creation (Engineering News)

Eskom's plans to 'improve efficiency' at 3 coal fired power plants to extend service life. - Read more here, on Engineering News

COP15

Legal expert says draft climate proposal not unusual as 'leaked text' sparks anger (Engineering News)

Poor demand more from rich to unlock climate talks (Engineering News)

SA announces emissions target as climate talks start [Engineering News] The article states: "South Africa will undertake mitigation actions which will result in a deviation below the current emissions baseline of around 34% by 2020 and by around 42% by 2025. This level of effort enables the country's emissions to peak between 2020 and 2025, plateau for about a decade and decline in absolute terms thereafter, said the Presidency in a statement.

This undertaking would be conditional upon a fair agreement at the Copenhagen climate change talks and finance, technology and capacity building assistance from the developed nations to developing countries."

World Press Urges Action on Climate Change [Engineering News]

Accountants call for global standard on climate reporting (Engineering News)

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Clear Regulations needed to help SA unlock vast wind power potential (Engineering News) The article states: "A recent technical study undertaken to estimate the scale of the country’s wind resource showed that South Africa has enough economically viable wind energy sites to generate 184-Terawatt hours (TWh) of indigenous, sustainable energy."..."This study, once again, proves that we have a significant wind resource in the country. In order to deliver on our long-term energy future we need to take immediate action." ..."“There’s nothing new to this. There’s already 150 GW of wind energy installed around the globe and its growing by 30 GW a year, employing over 400 000 people worldwide. This is a highly reliable, competitive and scalable form of power generation with zero long-term fuel risks and highly predictable long-term power generation capabilities,”"

German Backed Solar Water Heater Training Facility Launched in Soweto [Engineering News]

Social Partners will have say on Future Energy Mix [Engineering News] Interestingly, this article mentions "...the council argued that the creation of a "nonconflicted" independent system and market operator (ISMO) should be prioritised. The ISMO would be the agency mandated to contract with independent power producers (IPPs), rather than Eskom, which was currently the designated single buyer of IPP power."

Lab Grown Meat

What are your thoughts on the recent news that scientists are 'growing' meat in the lab!? Click here to read more and to see some of the comments posted so far on Treehugger's website.

Cop15 Has Arrived

Negotiations are set to begin today at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The people representing South Africa at the Conference are: 1. Our President, Jacob Zuma, 2. Ministers of Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica, 3. International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and 4. senior representatives of the South African government. This Engineering News article gives a summary of what is expected and also provides the WWF's view on "ten elements that needed to be dealt with in the final outcome of the Copenhagen process and that must be covered by a clear decision on the Copenhagen Climate Deal."

Loads of News!

CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM PROJECT LAUNCHED IN CAPE TOWN [Engineering News]
2000 Low income houses are to benefit from this project. The Kuyasa Project (not a new name), is receiving R25m to use towards interventions such as "the installation of solar energy heaters, the retrofitting of compact fluorescent light bulbs, and the introduction of ceiling insulation."


DEDICATED ENVIRONMENTAL COURTS TO BE ESTABLISHED SOONER THAN ORIGINALLY PLANNED
This Engineering News article provides stats regarding the increased amount of environmental cases and the poor conviction rate. It is hoped that the new dedicated environmental courts (now to be established within the "next 6 months") will help to mitigate the situation.

SA CLEAN ENERGY PROJECTS RECEIVE $500M GLOBAL BACKING [Engineering News]
This article states that: "The South Africa plan includes using CTF financing for:
- The reduction of the high capital cost associated with the construction and operation of Eskom's proposed 100-MW concentrated solar power project, planned for Upington in the Northern Cape.
- The development of the first utility-scale wind power plant, consisting of a 100-MW Eskom wind farm in the Western Cape Province Wind Energy Facility.
- Pioneering private sector wind projects of a further 100 MW and creating a robust pipeline of large-scale wind projects.
- Supporting municipalities and the private sector in the deployment of solar water heaters (SWHs), with a target of achieving 50% of the South African government goal of converting one-million households from electric geysers to SWHs over five years.
- Scaling up energy efficiency investments by catalysing the expansion of bank lending to the commercial and industrial sectors through lines of credit to commercial banks and addressing barriers to energy -efficiency investments."


CLIMATE TALKS LEADING UP TO COPENHAGEN
With just about four days to go before the commencement of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, we refer you to some recent news headlines in this regard: SA meets with Brazil, China and India ahead of Copenhagen Talks This article reports that: "South Africa wanted an ambitious and legally binding two-track outcome from Copenhagen. One track was that developed countries take on ambitious targets for the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, and the second was that developed nations comply with their convention obligations on adaptation, finance and technology." [Source: Engineering News].

OBAMA TO 'SHOW FACE' EARLY AT COPENHAGEN, BUT WON'T BE THERE FOR FINAL NEGOTIATIONS
Read more here, on Engineering News.

LOOKING AT CHINA AND THE USA's RECENTLY ANNOUNCED GHG EMISSION REDUCTION TARGETS
USA: "United States will pledge in Copenhagen to cut its greenhouse gas emissions roughly 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, a drop of about 3% below the 1990 benchmark year used in UN treaties."
CHINA: "China, the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases from human activity, pledged to cut the amount of carbon dioxide emitted for each unit of GDP by 40% to 45 %percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels, the official Xinhua agency quoted the State Council, China's cabinet, as saying."
[Source: Engineering News]

LATEST ESKOM NEWS / SA ENERGY NEWS

ESKOM'S AMENDED TARIFF APPLICATION
Earlier this week, it was announced that Eskom has reduced its most recent tariff hike increase application from 45% to 35%. NERSA is still to announce its decision in this regard. This Engineering News article gives some of the mixed reactions received to this bit of news.

COAL FIRED POWER STATIONS
The articles mentioned below highlight the rising cost of coal fired power stations in South Africa.
KUSILE - Eskom to sell up to 30% stake in Kusile in bid to secure up to R40bn in private equity [Source: Engineering News]. This article is also worth the read because it outlines what is new in Eskom's application to NERSA. It also points out that Eskom is ditching its plans for a 3rd coal fired power station and delaying other projects (nuclear/wind). Also read: Kusile project to be delayed by a year [Source: Engineering News].
MEDUPI - Medupi's capital costs likely to swell beyond R125bn [Source: Engineering News]. Also see this older Engineering News article confirming the details of the African Development Bank loan for this project. Also see this article: R124bn Medupi price-tag another indication of Kusile's vulnerability as Eskom finalises tariff request [Source: Engineering News].

COMMENT PERIOD FOR ESKOM'S TARIFF INCREASE APPLICATION - Under Nersa's approved timelines, public hearings were scheduled to take place across all provinces from January 11, 2010, to January 22, 2010, with a final decision to be made on February 24. [Source: Engineering News].

OUR SUMMARY: It seems Eskom is scaling down in all respects. Strangely, this coincides with me receiving a document claiming to be South Africa's Intergrated Resource Plan for Electricity to be brought before Cabinet (unconfirmed!)[view the document here, file size: 1MB]. It is clear from this document that there are big plans for nuclear in SA. Minister Dipuo Peters (SA Minister of Energy) reportedly said the following in a speech at the Seminar of Nuclear Power: Sheraton Hotel, Pretoria, Tshwane, 20 November 2009: ..."We need to decide whether to build coal fired or nuclear power stations."..."Coal has clearly become a difficult option as carbon emission taxes could be imposed going forward. Accordingly we have drafted the integrated resource plan for the country. This will clearly spell out the road map into the future and it will be adapted as and when circumstances requires us to do so."..."The energy sector of the economy has within it a chance to respond to the desire to create sustainable jobs."..."The nuclear energy expansion programme will require specialized skills. This requires nuclear technical capacity such as engineers and Scientists. The consolidation and co-ordination of education, training and development initiatives to produce the number of skills required for the programme."..."We have been struggling, as a country to create an industrial base that has the possibility to be part and parcel of the international supply chain of much larger industrial players. If there is an industry that is capable of doing this: it is the nuclear industry."..."We remain firmly committed to the realisation of the vision of catapulting our country into the mainstream of industrial and technological innovation. Accordingly, in order to achieve a sustainable nuclear programme and to obtain the potential economic benefits, we are investigating the re-establishment of the complete nuclear fuel cycle. In this regard, Necsa is currently conducting feasibility studies."..."It is indeed true that the experience at Chernobyl and Nagasaki may have given nuclear skeptics an opportunity to criticize the nuclear programme commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear and nearly 25 years of experience at Koeberg has clearly demonstrated that we have the capacity to manage nuclear generation plants successfully and I am convinced we shall do the same with the next generation of nuclear plants that we will surely build."

NORWAY RECOMMENDS A 'SOUTHERN AFRICAN POWER POOL' FOR SA
Read more here, on Engineering News.

MORE MONEY (FROM FRANCE) FOR CARBON CAPTURE & STORAGE R&D IN SA
Read more here, at Engineering News.

ETC,...

ANOTHER HOSPITAL IN GUATENG GETS SOLAR WATER HEATING UPGRADE THANKS TO NETCARE
In one of our earlier posts we told you about what's been done at Pretoria's Netcare Moot Hospital (solar powered aircon). This new Engineering News article tells us about the Union Hospital receiving R1,6m for solar water heating (installation started in Sept09).

FIFA 2010 GREEN GOAL LAUNCHED - Read more here, on News24.

Cost of Solar Panels will fall Quicker Than Expected

...or, atleast, in Europe according to this BBC News article which reports that the EU Energy Institute claims that the cost of solar panels will fall due to the extended lifespan of the panels. It further indicates [as our common sense would also tell us] that the cost will continue to drop as demand increases and the industry grows. The article also refers to the term 'grid parity': "A key goal for solar is what is known as grid parity. That is the point when it is as cheap for someone to generate power on their homes as it is to buy it from the grid." Professor Wim Sinke, from Utrecht University in the Netherlands also told BBC News that: "The target of the sector as a whole is to reach grid parity in almost all of Europe over the next 10 years. So by 2020 we should have grid parity in most of Europe,".

Wind Farm Project Planned for Tsitsikamma

This Engineering News article reports that a 40MW wind power project is planned for development on a farm at Tsitsikamma in the Eastern Cape. Although the project is said to be at a 'very advanced stage' compared to other similar South African projects, the feasibility study, EIA, licensing, grid agreement and other paper work is still underway. The article goes on to say "It was estimated that there were some 5 000 MW of wind power under development in South Africa, while the government had mandated the procurement of 400 MW of wind power by 2013."

Hout Bay Green Faire Feedback

FLOE had a stand at this year's Hout Bay Green Faire which took place on Saturday 28 November 2009. We shared a stand with Joseph Diliza, an amazing artist and entreprenuer who started his own business making products out of recycled material and making paper using recycled paper and alien reeds growing along rivers in and around Khayelitsha and Crossroads. The Faire was a great improvement on last year's faire, there was an impressive turn out and we had loads of fun. We used David's solar panels to make electricity to power a hi fi and LED lights. We also used a homemade cardboard solar oven to make some tea. Our stand also displayed a 'Great Wall of Trash' to get the message across about how much waste we are generating from buying packaged products. There are many buying choices we can make to cut down on this waste. The Great Wall of Trash was also up to show people just how many things one can recycle rather than sending it off to the landfill. We would like to welcome our 60 new members who signed up at the faire and would also like to thank our sponsors for their assistance: Xanita and Grosvenor Printers (Craig,Shaun & Graham) for our two beautiful X-board signs (made from post-consumer recycled paper and sugar cane waste), Jason Lewis for the totally cool signage and logo artwork, Rob & Viv (V&R Television) for loaning us their gazebo and table, Erika Raubenheimer for the use of her recycled coffee bags and Chattels for the empty plastic water bottles, Estelle and Duke for donating the proceeds of all sales made from the recycled hats & bags made by Estelle, Eco-Insulation for their bags (unfortunately we weren't able to use them in the end), and ProudlySA (Dalene) for sponsoring Proudly SA tattoos and balloons. We are proud to confirm that we have raised our first R240 which we will be depositing into FLOE's bank account today! :) Please have a look at our Facebook Group to see more pics.

Tough New Environmental Laws to be Implemented Next Year?

Today's Legalbrief reports that "Polluting industries have been warned the Green Scorpions will be implementing tough new environmental legislation next year, says a Saturday Star report. This is contained in the Environmental National Environmental Compliance and Enforcement 2008/2009 report, which reveals environmental inspectors reported numerous cases of non-compliance at operations, including the ArcelorMittal steel complex in Newcastle, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging, as well as Highveld Steel, Sasol in Secunda and Xtrata Wonderkop, in Rustenburg. These ranged from excessive air pollution, illegal waste sites and contravention of environmental impact assessment decisions. But the report notes these facilities often escape harsh penalties with companies being given the opportunity to make representations or respond ‘positively’ to inspectors' verdicts. ‘New legislation regulating both waste and air quality, which should begin in the next financial year, will provide the mechanisms needed to ensure more effective enforcement,’ the report notes." [Subscription needed for full report].

New Biofuel Technology?

This Simply Green article tells of a breakthrough biofuel technology. The company behind it is Joule Biotechnologies. This technology can apparently make biofuel without agricultural land or fresh water, and if it proves successful, could (from what I understand) completely replace our reliance on liquid fossil fuels. The recipe?:- A secret type of micro-organism, the sun, and carbon dioxide in air! Joule plans on opening a pilot plant in 2011, so shall we wait and see? Let us know your thoughts.

Is Replacing Fossil Fuel-based Plastics with Bio-based Plastics Sustainable?

Read this interesting Simply Green article regarding bio-based plastics (those derived from biological sources other than fossil fuels). Read more about 'bio plastics' here. Also see the first comment posted after the article in which it informs us that bioplastics are "made from two major commodity crops - corn (maize) and soy. Both of these are genetically modified and more to the point are grown using industrial agricultural methods, using fossil fuel based fertilisers, pesticides and chemicals. These plantations are spreading across the Amazon basin and other endangered places like the Cerrado and Pampas in S. America, using slavery (yes its still happening folks) and of course creating green monoculture deserts." Please send us your views on this.

News Snippets

KENYA'S GEOTHERMAL EXPANSION PLANS
This Engineering News article reveals that Kenya plans to boost geothermal power generation to 4000MW by 2030. It goes on to say "The government estimates east Africa's largest economy has the potential to produce 7 000 MW of electricity from geothermal energy. It currently generates 167 MW from the source."

CLIMATE ACTION TRACKER
Have a look at this Climate Action Tracker developed to provide detailed information on individual country pledges for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions. It provides a checklist which "defines the actions required to avoid catastrophic climate change, while sustaining the global economy and adapting to the climate change we can't avoid". It also lists the various participating countries rating them according to the commitments they are prepared to make.

NORWAY PAYS US A VISIT
This Engineering News article quotes our President as saying "South Africa and Norway are committed to strengthening cooperation in the fields of trade, energy and the reduction of carbon emissions". Our President also thanked Norway for its assistance in making the upcoming World Cup Soccer more eco-friendly. In another Engineering News article, we are informed about the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Sasol and a Norwegian Oil & Gas Company "enabling Sasol to explore the possibility of becoming a participant in the carbon dioxide (CO2) Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM)". This Norwegian facility "is currently under construction..." and "would be a leading research centre for carbon capture and storage (CCS). The test facilities are planned to capture 100 000 t/y of CO2, and operations are expected to start in 2011."

Green Technology Innovations Awarded at this year's Tech Awards (CA, USA)

This Greentech Media article highlights some 'green' inventions aimed at assisting the poor. Some of the innovations awarded included: a drip irrigation system designed "for small farms that is cheap to make, easy to maintain and use water efficiently"; a solar lighting (& recharge) & mobile (boat) library; Zinc-air fuel cells (South African inventor) - "Alternative Energy Development Corp., makes zinc-air fuel cells, and recycles the byproduct, zinc oxide, for fertilizer. AEDC developed the fuel cell pack to serve low-income residents..."; and the 'Solar Ear' which is an 'inexpensive' hearing aid powered by solar power.

Solar - SA Update

THIN-FILM SOLAR PV PANEL TECHNOLOGY
This Engineering News article updates us on how SA's thin film solar PV panel technology (developed by Dr V Alberts) is coming along. The article reports that the "'development phase' for a commercial-scale project should begin in Germany in December, opening the way for a South African production facility that could become operational within "two-and-a-half" years." The production facility is to be built in Paarl in the Western Cape.

PLANS FOR ROLLING OUT SA'S TARGET OF 1M SWH INSTALLATIONS BY 2014
This Engineering News article outlines the framework for how government plans to reach it's target of rolling out 1 million solar water heater installations by 2014. The plans include the establishment of a 'National Solar Water Heater (SWH) Entity'. It states the key aims of this entity to be: "national entity are to ensure affordability by procuring low-cost, best-quality systems through bulk buying and large contracts with quality assurance; to obtain and manage funding streams; to rigorously manage the supply chain; to ensure large-scale project management and disciplined deployment of numerous subcontractors; to protect consumer rights and interests in terms of events such as flooding or repairs; and to be accountable to government, funding bodies and consumers."

Times Magazine's Best Inventions of 2009

Have a look at Times list of 'best inventions of 2009' where you will find a fair amount of inventions that directly relate to the world's eco-conscious efforts, although some of these may be viewed as rather contraversial and perhaps should not be classified as 'best'[?] Let us know what you think.

Parliamentary Climate Change Hearings - Some Food for Thought

As you may be aware, we attended the Climate Change hearings that took place in Parliament last week on 17 and 18 November. Here is a summary written by FLOE's chairman following the events of the two days:-

"Dear all

Disclaimer: please note that the ideas and solutions presented below are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Free Life On Earth.

After two days in Parliament and feeling very tired, I feel the need to write a summary of what transpired - in summarised form as I have 20 pages of A5 format notes - and a huge number of handouts as well as mailings from various presenters - and lots of ideas about what can be done. (I see that this summary is 3 pages long, so I have put especially important bits in bold.)

There were about 30 presentations in total. We have been told that they might be available on the government web site at some point. I'll let you know. There were about 100 people in the Old Assembly Chamber each day and about 20 of them were MP's besides the portfolio committee chairpersons.

You can see me in action on our Free Life On Earth BLOG, here.

I came away feeling happy that these events took place inside parliament considering that FLOE has attended these type of conferences before (for example the Energy Caucus Conference). These conferences have happened outside parliament and there was a suggestion at the June Energy Caucus conference that we present in Parliament and this has now happened.

The main points in FLOE's presentation were:
•we need to consider internalising the externalised costs, eg costs to the environment, water resources, air pollution, etc;
•we need to think about decentralising centralised electricity production and allowing private citizens and business to make their own electricity and easily supply the grid;
•we need to separate Eskom into a Generating Division and a separate Transmission and Distribution Division. We called the latter division the National Grid Company. Read our full presentation here.

Many of the chairpersons of the parliamentary portfolio committees were there, for example, Finance, Agriculture, Environment, Energy, etc. One of the presenters said that it was the first time in three years of presenting to parliament that there was such a great cross-section of representatives from the different portfolio committees who each have a serious concern about Climate Change.

My first learning point from this conference was that whether climate change is happening or not, environmental degradation and destruction is happening at a faster and faster rate. Many scientists believe that man is not responsible for climate change, but what is a fact is that the following IS happening:
•forests are disappearing;
•fisheries are dwindling;
•agricultural land is disappearing;
•although crop yields are up in some regions due to changed weather patterns, quality in terms of minerals and vitamins in the crops are down;
•crop production and cattle production especially by formerly disadvantaged communities is down in many places. One presenter, who lives in a "location" next to Sasolburg said that cows are now routinely sold for R4500 each whereas before they were sold for R6000 each. And this isn't because of the recession. It's because the cows are thinner;
•health risks, especially in terms of deficiencies, respiratory and mental health problems are increasing;
•pollution is increasing, not just air pollution, but also other environmental pollution;
•pollution of water is scary, especially pollution from open cast mining, for example coal mines. 60% of rain water is trapped underground and under normal conditions runs off into river systems and dams slowly. Mines can be as close as 100 metres to river systems. If the underground or above ground water gets into the mine on the way to the river, it causes Acid Mine Drainage as the water becomes acidic. Not only this, but the water is contaminated in many other ways;
•Our country's security is under threat as more and more people leave drought stricken parts of Africa and make their way to South Africa. I'm not xenophobic. But if we are to support these people, we need to protect our water resources. Foreign companies and governments are also becoming more and more desperate to grab hold of African resources.

Whats the point of having a coal mine operational for 20 years and then have water problems for 100's of years afterwards? One presenter said that environmental cost to repair our water resources in the mining areas is R14 billion per annum for the next 100 years!! Eskom pays R18 billion per annum for its coal. Eskom's external costs of water and air pollution are R16.5 billion. So Eskom are telling us that they need to triple our costs in the next three years just to pay for their new build. After that they will need to double our costs to pay for their pollution. Our electricity bills, if left up to Eskom, could go up 6 times in the next 5 to 10 years. How can we afford that? Why should we?

Now you might say that the external costs are ok, but the EC (European Community) and other areas are putting bills through their parliaments which will help them decide where they buy their goods from and they might not buy from high polluters! What happens then?

40 New Coal Mines by 2020? A presenter showed that many of the new coal mines will be in the major water sources of the Orange River system which feeds millions of people downstream including in Gauteng? What's more important? Electricity or clean water? What is truly more precious? Water or Electricity? Especially if we can make electricity using wind, sun, ocean currents and tides, rivers, geothermal, etc? How long can we survive without electricity? How long can we survive without clean water? And why are the farmers up in arms?

We have a Feed In Tariff implemented in March 2009, but no process to allow Power Producers to connect to the grid legally. NERSA's document says that Standardised Direct Agreements and Connection Agreements will only be available in March 2010. Presenters from Deloitte and Touche and Nedbank said they have clients with 100s of millions of Rands to invest in projects, but the government is dragging its feet and not allowing these developments to go ahead! Why not? Maybe Eskom doesn't want competition. Maybe they are scared that there really are cheaper forms of electricity than coal and nuclear. Maybe? Also see this Engineering News article, "SA Could Have Most Expensive Power".

We heard about "state of the art clean coal" from one of the ministers. Simply put, Eskom finds ways of trapping the green house gasses and other noxious by products of coal burning and therefore the coal burn is clean; ie the air is clean. Even if 100% of the dirty stuff is trapped, where will the dirty stuff (sulphur and other waste products) be stored? And what of the coal mines and the acid mine drainage?

One presenter said that Eskom should pay for the roll out of solar water heaters instead of paying for a power station. I have done some calculations: 100 Billion Rand for a power station equates to 10 million solar water heaters at R10,000 each. That's at least one solar water heater for every house in South Africa. And after this there are hardly any running costs and no raw material costs. And many many jobs will be created. And there will be less need for coal mines and less acid mine drainage. It takes 8 years to build a big R100 Billion power station. Imagine if 5,000 solar water heaters were installed per day all over South Africa. How many jobs would this make? How many solar water manufacturers would pop up?

We are told that the power stations take 8,000 people each to build. And 1,000 people to run a power station. Consider that the equivalent is 5,000 solar water heaters manufactured and installed per day!! For 8 years! According to ITS Solar, a water heater saves the equivalent of 2,900 kwh per annum. At 8 kwh per day and assuming the heater is on for 4 hours using 2 kw to run, we are looking at a power station replacement of 2 000 W * 10 million which is 20 GW. So if we roll out 10 million solar water heaters we get 20 GW of energy for the same "price" as 5 GW of coal energy. We are talking about vastly different "prices" here. One for a sustainable clean reliable generator of heat. The other for a dirty, inefficient, wasteful, unsustainable, continuously increasing in price, source of electricity to make heat. We have the heater. It's called the sun. It's much more efficient to use it directly to create heat than to create electricity to create heat.

If my calculations are correct, we would need to spend R400 Billion to heat the same amount of water using electricity as R100 Billion will heat if we use the sun. Which is cheaper, more reliable, and efficient?

So to get back to the hearings.

A presenter said that if the taxi fleet was retrofitted with catalytic converters, we would have an instant "forest" as the emissions using catalytic converters are hydrogen, oxygen and water. I haven't checked what it will cost to convert my car, but I intend finding out. And this creates jobs for the catalytic converter industry in South Africa, which unfortunately uses Platinum, but I think a good cost benefit (including external costs) could be done especially as one doesn't need more Platinum once the converter is fitted.

So what do we need to be concerned about?

1) Eskom is owned by the government of South Africa which is elected by the people of South Africa. It is therefore owned by the people of South Africa. The people of South Africa therefore have a say in how we get our Energy. With more jobs or with more money to a few already incredible rich people? We need to start taking responsibility for our own lives and speak up about these issues and not leave everything in the hands of the government. As taxpayers, we are paying for whatever the government decides to do - even if their decisions are not good for our country and its people.
2) One of the chairmen said that "South Africa has the most cohesive policy with regard to climate change in the world. See the National Climate Change Report of 2004." Well if that's the case, then why aren't we rolling out massive solar water heater , photovoltaic , CSP and wind projects as is happening in Germany, Spain, China, and other countries? Where is the problem?
3) Whether Climate Change is happening or not, Environmental Degradation and Destruction IS happening. What are we doing to prevent it?

Lastly I wish to concern myself with a question that kept popping up at the conference: "Who Pays?"

The answer is that whether we pay now or we pay later, we all pay. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone pays. At the moment the environment is paying, but the environment is getting cross and the environment is getting sick. And we are getting more stressed and we are getting sicker. We are popping more short term fix pills and hoping that one day we will find a "pill" that will solve our environmental problems.

So what to do:

1) Keep canvassing;
2) Keep lobbying;
3) Understand what is happening;
4) Reduce your consumption of unnecessary junk where possible. These items will not bring you happiness. Reduce your meat consumption by half. 18% of greenhouse gasses come from cattle. 13% from transport!
5) Buy local and practice awareness when you buy - ask yourself where does the product come from and what goes into making it. Don't buy any more plastic toys for your children. (There are lots of other types of toys, eg township children make their own toys) Try to avoid buying plastic and unnecessary packaging where ever possible. Recycle everything you can. This will send a message to the manufacturers that we are fed up and sick and tired of supporting industries that aren't kind to the environment;
6) Remember that the customer is truly king. What we buy or we don't buy depends on us. The suppliers want us to buy with lots of advertising. We are the ones with the power to change things around.

So how to truly change:

Change your mind set. Consider a paradigm shift. "Successful people are environmentally neutral or carbon negative" instead of "Successful people have bigger cars or bigger houses or holiday houses or golf clubs or whatever." I have huge satisfaction in knowing that my spending behaviour change has contributed to the sustainability industry instead of the car industry. One could say that my new car is on my roof, making electricity and saving coal on a daily basis. Helping to really make the world a better place in my own small way.

Join the revolution today. Are you concerned that if changing your habits will mean job losses? If so, you are wrong. More people will be employed. Car manufacturers will become solar panel manufacturers. Fewer machines. More job satisfaction. More people working from home. More fed people. More sane people. More money in the local communities. More happiness."

e.tv Big Debates on Education and Energy

The following debates will take place in Johannesburg on this Saturday, 21 November 2009 and will be hosted by Redi Direko and will be screened on e.tv. and the eNews Channel.

DEBATE ONE: 9AM - 11.00AM: IS EDUCATION SAFE IN GOVERNMENT’S HANDS?

Panelists:
Angie Motshekga, Minister of Education
Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Dinokeng Scenarios
Graeme Bloch, Development Bank of South Africa
Salim Vally, University of Johannesburg
Ronald Nyathi SADTU
Roger Millson, Governing Body Federation
Anthea Cereseto, Headmistress Parktown Girls

DEBATE TWO: 12NOON - 2.00PM: CAN WE GENERATE AFFORDABLE ENERGY, WITHOUT DESTROYING THE PLANET?

Panelists:
Bonang Mohale, Chairman of Shell South Africa
Tom Boardman, CEO of NedbankMandy Rambharos, ESKOM
Ompi Aphane, Department of Energy
Salim Fakir, WWF
Bobby Peek, Groundwork (environmental NGO)
Cormac Cullinan, Environmental Lawyer

Waste-to-Energy: Some Considerations for South Africa

Read more here, on Engineering News. Let us know your views on this topic.

More on Eskom

This Engineering News article confirms Eskom's plans to continue down the coal and nuclear path. More specifically, it states "that the immediate options to increase the base-load would not include nuclear, as this option was too time consuming to roll out.", however goes on to say: "The power producer would also look at what role nuclear energy could play in its future power mix." It also says: "Poulton said that Eskom would focus on coal-fired power stations, clean coal technologies, and energy efficiencies. These base-load options would also, to a smaller extent, be supplemented with renewable energy options." One begs to ask what clean coal technologies are available for immediate implementation?

Also see: "Eskom makes top appointments as leadership crisis abates" Engineering News

and

"SA seeks Options to Reduce Eskom Tariff Bid" Engineering News

Is enough being done about Energy Efficiency in Industry/Commerce? We'd have to agree that about the only good thing about a tariff hike is that it forces individuals and business to become more energy efficient, however, what about the people who live below the breadline and who hardly consume any electricity? What about if the tariff hikes are being put in place by a utility that seems to be in the shambles? Let us know what you think.

FLOE Speaks Up in Parliament

Earlier today, our Chairman and Co-Founder of Free Life on Earth (FLOE), David Lipschitz, delivered a speech to members of Parliament and the public who were in attendance at the Parliamentary Climate Change Hearings taking place today and tomorrow. Thank you, David, for doing a great job! This is just one example of how we wish to raise awareness about how human actions are causing harm to our natural environment and that we need to change our ways. The primary focus of this presentation was South Africa's energy situation. To read a copy of the presentation, click here. Members of FLOE, we hope to receive your further comments, feedback and ideas. We would like to address any additional concerns or suggestions you may have when the opportunity next presents itself.[David delivering FLOE's presentation in Parliament - apologies for the poor quality of the picture, it was taken on my cellphone]

New Environmental Magazine Launched by Conservation Organisations

History was made (13 November 2009) when seven non-governmental conservation organisations launched a new magazine at a function in Sandton. Called ENVIRONMENT – People and Conservation in Africa the new publication replaces African Wildlife (Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa – WESSA) and Vision (Endangered Wildlife Trust – EWT) and provides a new medium for five other conservation NGOs to spread the word about their work. The magazine is managed by an Editorial Board with representation from the seven NGOs namely: The Cape Leopard Trust, Game Rangers Association of Africa, SANCCOB, the Wildlands Conservation Trust,the Wilderness Foundation of South Africa, WESSA and the Endangered Wildlife Trust.

The publication will introduce environmental issues at leadership level, both in government and the private sector. The publication will be a vehicle for carrying scientifically sound information about the environment to the public in general and to leaders in particular. Above all, the new magazine will be independent and critical when important issues need to be raised, and when government or industry does things that may harm the environment. The partners in this new publication intend the magazine to become the authoritative, unofficial voice for conservation in the region.

You can obtain a copy of this new magazine by joining one of the founding organisations.

Cape Town: Documentary Showing on 22 to 24 November - Not to be Missed

I don't know about you, but I have already booked my tickets to go and watch this documentary called Buried in Earthskin which is about nuclear waste in South Africa. To find out more or to book your seats, click here.

News in a Flash (SA)

CITY OF CAPE TOWN - SEA LEVEL RISE REPORT
Following the 11th Hour Talk at which the City of Cape Town's Greg Oelofse made a presentation regarding a report done by the City titled "Coastal Climate Change and Adaptation - A Sea-Level Rise Risk Assessment for Cape Town", this report and other papers on the topic are now available for download on the City's website here. On the same topic, we found this Real Estate Web article article regarding insurance and coastal properties in the context of climate change and rising sea levels.

SA CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY
This Engineering News article informs us that SA's plans to release a 'draft(zero?) climate change policy will be put on hold until after Copenhagen (will possibly released for public comment in March 2010). It went on to say "The end-goal was still to have a White Paper on climate change drawn up by the end of 2010, Yawitch stated. This document would translate into a legislative, regulatory and fiscal package by 2012." In yet another Engineering News article titled 'Hopes for Ambitious Climate Agreement at Copenhagen Fade', SA's Environmental Affairs express their concern about what will be accomplished at Copenhagen. In this Engineering News article, our MInister of Energy confirms that SA will not be raising its renewable energy target of 10 000 GWh by 2013 and went on to indicate that funding will be used to help "South Africa move closer to its vision of generating four percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2013, improving energy efficiency by 12% by 2015, and providing one-million households with solar water heating over the next five years."

LATEST ENGINEERING NEWS UPDATE ON ESKOM SAGA
Here is the latest report on the Eskom Saga which also include an outline of how events have unfolded up to now.

WATER
Some 'water' for thought from Manual: "What course should we Africans pursue - Water for profit or as a right?"..."..we need also to remind ourselves that we're living on earth in 2009 with the same amount of water that was available in 1900, while in the meantime the global population has quadrupled..." Source: Engineering News. In this Engineering News article we are informed that the AFrican Development Bank has developed a 'business plan' for climate change in Africa pointing out that two key focus areas are: agricultural water development and water storage enhancement. With that thought, we look at another interesting article on Reuters.com which again highlights the tremendous interest big foreign companies have in African soil - is it all in aid of Africa and its inhabitants?

Update from Samantha - 350.org (South Africa)

Here follows an update from Samantha Bailey who is the Africa Field Coordinator for the International 350.org campaign (following the 350 events that took place on International Day of Climate Action which took place on 24 October 2009).

"...Yesterday I attended a meeting with South Africa's climate negotiators (who've been traipsing around the world to all the preparatory meetings before Copenhagen and who just got back from one in Barcelona, Spain). One of the loveliest moments yesterday was being told by one of the negotiators and one of the observers how in the final session at Barcelona, 350 was PLASTERED all over the hall. (If you haven't yet viewed this video of the team in Barcelona, please do - very encouraging: )

Now, a quick update on the handing over of the albums of photos of all your beautiful actions:

- The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Buyelwa Sonjica, was given the album by 3 lovely young women from the Underberg region of KZN on Tuesday, 3rd November - with the wonderful support of Bishop Geoff Davies from SAFCEI. A photo of the delivery team is attached (the young women's "chaperone" is on the right), and their lovely letter which they read to the Minister before handing her the album. The Minister received this very graciously.

- On Thursday, 5th November, a small group of us handed over an album to the Speaker of Parliament, Max Sisulu. Thabo Lusithi (CEJ coordinator), Mpume Mhlalisi (of Climate Justice Now network), Liz McDaid (of SAFCEI) and myself met with the Speaker in his fancy boardroom and we had about 20 minutes to speak with him about climate issues. We also gave him a Spekboom seedling in one of the lovely decorated cans (from the Imhoff Waldorf School's climate action).

- Yesterday I handed an album over to the South African team of climate negotiators who will be at Copenhagen. They were very pleased to receive some 'uplifting' pictures and were VERY encouraging of our efforts, asking us to please continue piling on the pressure. They had all just come from the Barcelona climate talks and they had both good and bad news. The bad news is that the EU has joined the "obstinate gang" (which consists of US, Australia, Japan and a few others) who are really trying to de-rail the negotiations and stubbornly refuse to accept responsibility for their historical emissions. The EU had been pretty progressive and constructive previously, but are now digging in their heels. And the obstinate gang seemed to cause a fair amount of damage and divisiveness last week, so things are not looking good for Copenhagen. At the same time, the good news is that Africa led a call for a much stronger push on industrialised countries to set real emissions targets, and the Africa group became the solid core around which the G77 & China group rallied.

...the other good news is that the momentum is building towards Copenhagen in a really positive way - far more people around the world are now aware of Copenhagen and the importance of that conference, and far more people are aware of 350 and the call for a just treaty!

In regards to handing albums to Zuma and Manuel (and I requested a brief meeting with Vavi of Cosatu as well), I am still awaiting responses. We may have to be more creative here - I'll keep you posted, but if any of you have a great idea, please share.

Then, I've attached a really cute photo of a kid at a Hawaiian 350 action, with a very poignant and simple message. And finally, a reminder about the Facebook group for 350 supporters/organisers.

--
Samantha Bailey ~ Africa Field Coordinator ~ 350.org ~"

Feedback from Southern Africa Energy Efficiency Conference [12/13 Nov - JHB]

We've heard from G-Tech Energy who are attending the SAEEC at Emperors Palace today and tomorrow.

Here are some notes about some of the proceedings thusfar:

"I am currently attending the South African Energy Efficiency Conference, and the minister of energy, Dipuo Peters, just spoke. Here are my notes from her talk:

·There was acabinet discussion yesterday on the National Integrated Resource Plan
oPresident asked – “Are there the necessary skills and resources?”
oMinister, after seeing the audience today, would reply: “Yes – they need to be deployed appropriately”
·Energy Sector = Critical for growth, criticial for poor South Africans
·Minerals gave form to industrialisation
·Cheap Energy has not promoted Energy Efficiency – they have been opposed to each other
oThis is an unsustainable paradigm, supply orientated only
oEnergy / GDP very high
·Energy = 80% of emissions
·Must do more RE & EE
·2005 EE target - 12% against projected national energy usage by 2015
·Mines can do 15% with no cost / low cost technologies + good housekeeping
·Biofuels into mix for road freight
·Alternative ways for heating in low-cost housing
·Integrated Energy Centres for communities
·Technologies on the road map: Nuclear, wind, solar, CCS
·Have we done what is required? Do we live our lives according to what we preach? We all should be living energy efficiently
·Need more Energy Efficiency activists"

AND ALSO:

"Just had the privilege of hearing Andrew Etzinger, MD of ESKOM, talk on EE & DSM. Some notes:

·Price increase will be 45% for 3 years, then 5%, then 9%.
·EE budget is 34 billion for 5.5 GW / 19423 GWh/year

I posed the question to him about why ESKOM is driving both DSM (Demand Side Management) and EE (Energy Efficiency), since DSM is about managing the demand so you can sell more electricity, and EE is about reducing the amount of electricity sold? He replied that at the moment they are the only body with the capacity to do EE, and would like, in time, see that role go to some other body.

I say, will the NEEA (National Energy Efficiency Agency) please stand up, please stand up, and ask that the R34 billion rather go to them – I guarantee you that they can do significantly more with it!"

Source: Frank Spencer - G-Tech Energy
Also see this Engineering News article for more on this topic.

21st SAB Environmentalist and Environmental Journalists of the Year Awards - 9th November 2009

The 21st SAB Environmentalist and Environmental Journalists of the Year Awards held on Monday the 9th of November 2009 saw this year's Environmentalist of the Year award going to Bishop Geoff Davies of SAFCEI.

To find out about other winners in the different categories, read more here, at Bizcommunity.com.

The Bizcommunity article informs us that "This year saw a record number of entries for the awards, which are reputed to have become South Africa's most prestigious accolade for journalists producing crucial environmental coverage."

Environmental Education in SA Talk - 10 November 2009

Last night I attended the aforementioned talk. Here is a brief run down of the line up:

Liz McDaid of The Green Connection gave a presentation which included a short educational video on how our actions are negatively impacting the Earth also demonstrating how this can be turned around. Liz then showed us a presentation explaining how Green Connection provides environmental education resources especially to rural communities. Liz stressed the importance of providing environmental education which will help us adapt to the effects of climate change in light of the fact that initially it will be the inhabitants of third world countries who will suffer most from the negative impacts of climate change.

Peter Becker gave a presentation and analysis of how certain unsuitable material can reach teachers and school children under the guise of it being 'educational material' giving a specific example of an 'energy comparison' wall chart of which approximately 3900 copies have been distributed by the City of Cape Town to schools in Cape Town. Read more about this in our earlier post here. Many concerned individuals/organisations (including FLOE) are taking the matter further. We will keep you posted on developments in this regard.

Bishop Geoff Davies and Kate Davies of the South African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI) told us about the work that SAFCEI is doing in faith communities. As quoted from their website: "We are an institute of people of many faiths, united in our diversity through our common commitment to earthkeeping. Our aim is to support faith communities in fulfilling their environmental & socio-economic responsibility." Kate Davies also gave us examples of the educational resources that SAFCEI offer in their aim to help church congregations and faith communities become 'eco-congregations'. Although they face many challenges in producing resources to cater for such a broad audience with different faith and cultural backgrounds, they have already successfully produced a variety of material covering a range of environmental topics.

National Grid Company Needed for SA

FLOE's chairman David Lipschitz has recently written a paper suggesting that what South Africa needs is for ownership of Eskom's (South Africa's) electricity grid to be transferred to a national (electricity) grid company which can be utilised by various independant power producers to feed electricity through. The national grid company will not be allowed to become an IPP and the IPPs will not be allowed to own shares in the grid company. The paper is our submission to the Parliamentary 'Climate Change' hearings scheduled to take place on 17 and 18 November 2009. To view the paper, click here. We welcome any comments or further suggestions you may have regarding this idea.

Revision of SA Energy White Paper

Following on from one of our older posts on this, Engineering News reports here that "The Renewable Energy Market Transformation (REMT) unit at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), again, on Friday, called on eligible consultancy firms to indicate their interest in providing a consulting service for the revision of the Renewable Energy White Paper Policy and Target, as part of the REMT." Consultants have until November 13th to submit their expression of interest.

SA Energy - Eskom Management Saga

In case you are interested in the recent strange and secretive unfolding of events at Eskom, here are a few articles worth the read:

The Latest from Engineering News - "Godsell calls it quits, Maroga stands firm, Makwana named acting chair" and "Eskom Developments a Complete Disaster"

The Best of EE Publishers - "The Eskom saga: Power struggle, or power supply?"

and also have a look at this media statement from Archbishop Thabo Cecil Makgoba: Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.

Two things that spring to mind:

1. We, the public, are owed the truth about what is actually going on at this state owned utility.
2. The winds of change are in the air.

Worldwide Growth of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Market - Some Interesting Stats

This Renewable Energy Focus article informs us about a report's findings that:-

1. Spain & the USA lead in terms of installed capacity and market share;
2. 88% of new construction projects are in Spain (which shows the effectiveness of introducing feed-in tariffs);
3. Current installed CSP capacity worldwide: 679MW;
4. Current CSP capacity under construction: 2000MW;
5. Out of the different type of CSP designs, "Parabolic Trough technology accounts for 88% of operating plants and 97.5% of the projects under construction";
6. Further growth is expected especially in the Middle East and North Africa;
7. The report indicates that the CSP market can reach 24GW by 2020.

It is interesting to note that "...our [South Africa's]worst solar irradiation is BETTER than the best in Spain." [Thanks, for the info Frank - Renewed Energy].

This alone, shows the potential for the growth of this market in South Africa.

SA: 1000 000 Solar Water Heaters To Be Installed Over the Next Five Years

Find out more, here on the Renewed Energy blog.

Climate Change Negotiations Update - No Raw Deal for Africa

This Engineering News article tells how "African negotiators in Barcelona on Thursday told journalists in Johannesburg, that they would “boycott” discussions regarding the Kyoto Protocol at the Barcelona negotiations until developed (Annex-1) countries made real commitments on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions." The article also informs us that African nations believe that the Kyoto Protocol should be changed, rather than scrapped because it would take too long to establish an entirely new protocol.

Quick News Overview

FUEL CELLS
This Engineering News article speaks of how Angloplat launched a demonstration fuel cell plant in South Africa's Limpopo province to produce 200 kilowatts of electricity by converting coal-bed methane (CBM) gas into hydrogen. The article quotes Angloplat as saying "Fuel cells are a unique opportunity for Africa ... they are modular in nature, you can put them in a remote area, they can run on or off grid, they can run on (various) feed sources," [some feed sources mentioned are methane and natural gas].

SOLAR
OPPORTUNITY FOR SA MANUFACTURE OF IMPROVED DESIGN CSP PLANT COMPONENT
Read more here at Engineering News.

RESEARCH AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES FOR SOLAR ENERGY
This Engineering News article tells us about SOLTRAIN, an initiative sponsored by the Austrian Development Agency "aimed at transforming energy systems from fossil based to more sustainable solar energies, specifically targeting solar thermal applications in South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe."

COPENHAGEN TALKS UPDATE
This Engineering News article outlines some more of the talks taking place leading up to Copenhagen. While a deadlock has hampered the possibility of nations agreeing on a unified approach, there have also been rumours about the deal being delayed. While protesters outside of the hearings literally "lined up hundreds of ringing alarm clocks" representing the running out of time, the Danish Climate & Energy Minister was quoted as stating "... The world can wait no longer. I know that striking a deal is not easy now. But do any of you believe it's going to be easier next spring, next year or the year after?"

SA GOVERNMENT & ESKOM

[We know the rest of this post sounds very bleak, but REMEMBER, you have your chance to speak up and tell Parliament about your idea(s) and concerns! Find out more here - deadline for written submissions is this Friday, so please SPEAK UP so that they will LISTEN!]

ESKOM - DA calls for Maroga's resignation following the exposure of more alleged mismanagement. Read more here on Mail&Guardian.

MANAGEMENT OF WASTE
DA brings attention to the alleged "dangerous lack of oversight and control" in the management of hazardous waste in South Africa". Read more here on IOL.

THE FUTURE OF COAL
This Engineering News article points out how Eskom "expected to invest up to 110 billion rand in coal mining by 2020 and dig at least 40 new mines in that time to meet growing demand."

WATER
Our Water & Environmental Affairs Minister admits that "an estimated four-million South African citizens were still without access to potable water and that the threat of climate change could serve to worsen matters in future." Read more here.

Renewable Energy Legislation of Nations Available at a Click of a Mouse

The EU's comprehensive database on RE Legislation is now complete. Read more here, at Renewable Energy Focus.

Wave & Tidal Energy Update (UK)

In this Renewable Energy Focus article, we are informed that "An £8 million project that will produce tools capable of accurately estimating the energy yield of major wave and tidal stream energy has been approved by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI)". The article goes on to state: "There is currently no software package or validated method of estimating the average annual energy production of a wave or tidal stream energy farm, according to the ETI." A more recent Renewable Energy Focus article highlights a new wave/tidal power technology which uses an underwater kite that can harness tidal power.

Update on Thin Film Solar Panel Factory Planned for Western Cape

Urban Sprout has recently reported on how Sasol holds a 45% interest in the public private partnership which will see the building of a pv solar panel manufacturing plant in Paarl (we reported on this SA-developed thin film pv solar panel technology in an earlier post). The technology boasts substantially greater efficiency and lower production costs than crystalline PV panels while the only negative trait is that the panels contain a thin layer of cadmuim. It is hoped that an alternative material will be found to substitute the cadmium layer. It was reported that the plant should be operational by 2012.

Environmental Education in SA

Following on from our earlier post called "What are Your Children Being Taught About Alternative Energy?", we've just heard that Peter Becker is holding a talk titled Environmental Education in South Africa at Josephine Mill in Cape Town on Tuesday, 10th November 2009. Click here to find out more about the speakers and what will be discussed. The event is open to the public and we encourage you to attend (please rsvp).

Have Your Say! The Impacts of Climate Change

The South African government is allowing all of us the opportunity to tell Parliament about our ideas & concerns regarding the impacts of climate change (political, economic, legal, gender, & social impacts). Find out more here. The deadline for submissions is 6 November 2009, so SPEAK UP, SA!!

Incandescent Light Bulb Levy of R3 Comes into Effect on 1 November 2009

The environmental levy on "electric filament lamps" comes into effect in South Africa this Sunday, the 1st November 2009. See a copy of the Government Gazette notice here. This applies to all "electric filament lamps" [as set out in the Gazette notice schedule] manufactured in and imported to South Africa. As far as we understand, this applies to incandescent lamps and most halogen lamps [there is apparently a range of energy saving halogen lamps on the market to which the levy does not apply].

Phase 2 of REFIT Decision Announced

NERSA announced its decision on the way forward with REFITS today:

TARIFFS
R0,96/kWh BIOGAS
R1,18/kWh SOLID BIOMASS
R2,31/kWh CSP [Concentrated Solar Power] Tower (storage capacity: 6 hours per day)
R3,14/kWh CSP trough without storage
R3,94/kWh Large scale grid connected solar PV systems [Generating capacity of more than 1MW]

[OTHER TARIFFS ALREADY ANNOUNCED UNDER REFIT PHASE 1: Wind power at R1,25/kWh; Small Hydro at R0,94/kWh; and Landfill gas at R0,90/kWh]

Small scale grid connected PV systems were not included despite the public's support shown for it.

The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and REFIT guidelines are yet to be finalised.

Read more here, on Engineering News.

Cape Town: Drop off your Recycling at Selected Engen Service Stations

Check out this Mother City Living article about how "Woolworths and Engen have installed recycling facilities for paper, cardboard, glass and plastic at selected Engen service stations in the Western Cape as part of their commitment to reducing landfill waste and protecting the environment." The article gives a list of which Engen service stations have the recycling facilites available.

FLOE Receives NPO Number [27 October 2009]

It has been a long wait, but yesterday we finally received confirmation from the Directorate of Nonprofit Organisations at the Department of Social Development that our application for a non-profit organisation number has been approved. FLOE is also registered with SARS as a Public Benefit Organisation.

SA News: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology & Waste to Power Technology

This Engineering News article states the case for hydrogen fuel cell technology to be sped up and This Engineering News article tells why although farmers have shown interest in 'waste to power' options, many are not taking the leap due to the financial expense.

New Concept Electric Bike/Car Seats 4 Adults!

Check out this Engineering News article to read about Peugeot's new concept car which is more or less the length of a bike, yet it can seat 4 adults.

More on Eskom's Proposed Tariff Increase Application - Mixed Messages

This Engineering News article points out how Eskom stated that if IPPs [Independent Power Producers]are excluded from its revenue requirement mix, that tariff increases would be lower. Such a statement is misleading and could lead to a public perception that IPPs are a "bad idea". While in a more recent Engineering News article, Eskom's chairman indicated that "Power from private companies should grow more rapidly" and went on to say "Independent producers should be able to make their case directly to the regulator." Meanwhile, have a look at this Greentech Media article which highlights more hidden costs not considered for the production of power from non-renewable sources.

More on What Sappi is Doing To Reduce Its Carbon Footprint

Read more here, on Engineering News.

The Day the World United - 24 October 2009 - International Day of Climate Action

Here are just two pics that we took at some of the '350' actions held in Cape Town. Have a look at our Facebook group to see more. For more awe-inspiring images/videos of worldwide actions, visit www.350.org.

German University Students Win International Solar Competition to Build Most Attractive & Efficient Solar Home

Read more here, at Renewable Energy Focus. For some pics look here.

Nedbank Building - SA's First Green Star

This Engineering News article tells us that Nedbank's second phase Sandton head office "...to be completed by April 2010, achieved a four-star rating, which signified “Best Practice” in green building." It is also reported that Nedbank is the first SA bank committed to going 'carbon neutral'.

Green Building Council of SA Launches Pilot Retail Rating Tool

Read more here on Engineering News. The article indicates that the public is invited to comment on this pilot tool, with the deadline for comment being 19 February 2010. Visit: www.gbcsa.org.za for more information.

The 11th Hour Talk Hosted by Global Carbon Exchange

Last night we attended a very interesting "The 11th Hour" talk at Cape Town's MTN Science Centre (hosted by Global Carbon Exchange).

Hollywood movie producer, Stephan Mcguire told us an amazing story of the events which led to him being involved in the making of the movie, The 11th Hour [a movie about climate change by Leonardo Dicaprio]. He also reiterated the truth that we all need to be responsible in taking action against continuing unsustainable practices [see www.11thhouraction.com]. Stephan also introduced us to his organisation called Coalition for A Sustainable Africa.

On the local front, our very own Gregg Oelofse from the City of Cape Town gave a very insightful presentation on the anticipated impact of rising sea levels in Cape Town and surrounds over the next 40 years. We looked at three REALISTIC "eye opening" scenarios and potential mitigation measures were also discussed. There was also talk of a proposed "Coastal Protection Zone" preventing further development directly on the coast.

On a lighter note, Simon Back from Backsberg Wine explained the process that lead to Backberg becoming the first carbon neutral wine farm in the world. He also highlighted how the work is still continuing and announced the launch of their new strawbale earth centre which will take place this coming Saturday. Backsberg intends to provide training programmes for the local communities at the centre and the centre will also be an office for "Food & Trees For Africa".

Deon Robertse of Zoom Advertising told us about his concept of a 'conscious' brand and stressed how companies who do not become sustainable now will end up facing the consequences. He also told us about an awesome new initiative called "Consider Us" , which allows children to write 20 words to world leaders explaining in their own words why it is important that the right decisions are made in Copenhagen at the end of this year [and beyond][have a look at some of the comments posted by children, but be warned, it's a tear jerker!]. He also hinted that Arno Carstons new single [still to be released!]titled "It's an Emergency" will be the project's official song.

What Are Your Children Being Taught About Alternative Energy?

We recently learned about a disturbingly biased poster that was distributed to schools throughout the City of Cape Town. View a picture of the poster here. Read Ninette's analysis of the poster here. We have met with the City of Cape Town to express our concerns and will be having a follow up meeting with them soon (hopefully). We will keep you posted regarding further developments. Please warn your children about it.

REMINDER: International Day of Climate Action This Coming Saturday!

This Saturday is International Day of Climate Action. So far, 4227 actions are planned to take place in 170 countries across the world. Footage will be taken to show the world leaders at Copenhagen in December. THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR LIFE ON EARTH! Find an action near you, here on www.350.org. CALLING ALL CAPETONIANS!!! FLOE is endorsing two specific "350" actions which will take place in Cape Town this Saturday:- 1. Human 350 to be Filmed From Air on Table Mountain; and 2. Cape Town City 350 Celebration (paint yourself red and walk from Parliament to Gardens). I will be joining the latter action and hope to see you there!!!

ISES Solar World Congress Calls for the Rapid Transition to a Renewable Energy World

The ISES Solar World Congress [2009]which was hosted in Johannesburg last week [11-14 Oct 2009] lead to the passing of a resolution by the Congress which calls for a global target of 100% renewable energies by the middle of this century (by 2050). Click here to view the resolution [SIZE OF FILE: 2.9Mb].