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Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 22 June 2011
A delegation at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, represented the “very best capacity” in the country, the government said on Friday.
 NGO GroundWork criticised the inclusion of Sasol and Eskom in the UN Climate Change Conference It was reacting to criticism – levelled earlier this week by the NGO GroundWork – about the inclusion of representatives from petrochemicals giant Sasol and electricity utility Eskom in the delegation.
In a statement on Wednesday, GroundWork said the inclusion of Sasol and Eskom representatives “simply boggles the mind”.
“How can the two companies, who together account for the majority of South Africa’s emissions, and who do so profitably, be tasked with charting a low-carbon future for the country?”
The environment affairs department defended the composition of government’s negotiating team.
“The policy governing the composition of the South African delegation for all UN climate change meetings and conferences of parties is constituted with representatives of government, business, civil society, labour and Salga (local government) representatives, and also includes representative with specific skills, particularly from the South African scientific community. Continue reading SA climate delegation justified
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 29 May 2011
Eskom wants to build a new 2 100MW power station, making use of new underground coal-to-gas technology.
 Eskom's test project at Majuba power station contributes 3MW of power to total output Since 2007 the power utility has been working on the technology and hopes to start designing the new macro power station by December. This week Barry MacColl, Eskom’s manager for technology, strategy and planning, told Sake24 that the success of the technology has already been demonstrated. The trials had produced satisfactory results and the potential was tremendous, he said.
In the technology process two shafts are drilled into underground coal reserves. Then the coal – which is underground – is set alight. The burning coal releases, through the one shaft, a flammable gas which is collected and redirected to gas turbines that generate electricity.
MacColl said the underground reaction is controlled by regulating the quantity of oxygen being pumped into the one shaft, and the process can be altered by cutting off the oxygen supply.
Eskom’s test project at the Majuba power station is already contributing 3MW of power to Majuba’s total output.
Chris Yelland, an independent engineering analyst, said that very little is still publicly known about the technology. The technology was developed in the Soviet Union and used there, he explained. The biggest experts in this area would be Russians. Continue reading New Eskom power station to use coal-to-gas technology
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 29 November 2010
“The sheer cost of the water crisis will totally eclipse the arms deal, the Eskom crisis and that in many other departments. While we have alternatives for energy, we don’t for water, so the impacts of the water crisis will knock on through all socioeconomic levels.”
 Decrease in water quality will have different negative effects on individual economic sectors That’s the sobering message from Bill Harding, co-founder of DH Environmental Consulting and the previous chairman of the SA Institute of Ecologists and Environmental Scientists.
The water crisis had been in effect in Gauteng for the past 10 to 20 years, with no sign of abating, Harding said.
“There are sub-regional crises in other areas in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and then urban crises in many situations, such as Welkom. The bulk of the problem originates from inadequately treated waste water,” he said.
His comments follow a study conducted by economic research and advisory firm Plus Economics on behalf of trade union United Association of SA.
The study shows that a 1% decline in the quality, and therefore usability, of water in the country could lead to the loss of 200000 jobs and a decline of 5.7% in disposable income per capita, as well as a rise of 5%, or R18.1-billion, in government spending.
Plus Economics chief executive Charlotte du Toit said that the macroeconomic effects of decreased water quality included a rise of 28% in the ratio of government debt to GDP; a decline of R16-billion in household spending; a 1% drop in GDP growth; and a decrease of R9-billion in total fixed investment. Continue reading Water crisis will eclipse Eskom crisis
Posted by: Yes Solar Cape (Cape Town, South Africa) – 09 October 2010
Government has warned that rolling blackouts would be imposed from next year unless “extraordinary” measures were taken by Eskom to ward off an impending power crisis.
 Load shedding a reality from 2011, lasting until 2016 Eskom, in turn, has appealed to the public to conserve energy, and has urged private investors to help rescue the situation.
“We are going to run out of power,” spokesperson for Department of Minerals and Energy, Bheki Khumalo, said yesterday.
Khumalo was responding to a government report which predicted load shedding would become a reality from next year, lasting until 2016, unless urgent solutions were found.
Released for public comment yesterday, the Medium Term Risk Mitigation Plan (PTRM) for Electricity in South Africa – 2010 to 2016 anticipates rolling blackouts if energy providers other than Eskom are not found soon.
“This situation poses a real risk of rolling blackouts, similar to those experienced in 2008, and a serious threat to government’s objectives for growth and job creation,” the report states.
Khumalo said the report was a warning to all that energy in South Africa would not last forever. Continue reading “We are going to run out of power”
Posted by: Yes Solar Cape (Cape Town, South Africa) – 02 October 2010
Government expects the construction of Eskom’s planned solar farm in Upington to start in 2012, Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan said.
Solar farm Apple Valey, California
Eskom is likely to be able to finalise a decision on which technology it [...]
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