Renewable Energy | savingwater.co.za

New Power Capacity from Renewable Sources Tops Fossil Fuels

Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 18 July 2010

In 2009, for the second year in a row, both the US and Europe added more power capacity from renewable sources such as wind and solar than from conventional sources like coal, gas and nuclear, according to twin reports launched today by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21).

There was record investment in wind power in 2009

Renewables accounted for 60 per cent of newly installed capacity in Europe and more than 50 per cent in the USA in 2009. This year or next, experts predict, the world as a whole will add more capacity to the electricity supply from renewable than non-renewable sources.

The reports detail trends in the global green energy sector, including which sources attracted the greatest attention from investors and governments in different world regions.

Investment in core clean energy (new renewables, biofuels and energy efficiency) decreased by 7% in 2009 to the value of $162 billion. Many sub-sectors declined significantly in money invested, including large (utility) scale solar power and biofuels.

However, there was record investment in wind power. If spending on solar water heaters, as well as total installation costs for rooftop solar PV, were included, total investment in 2009 actually increased in 2009, bucking the economic trend. Continue reading New Power Capacity from Renewable Sources Tops Fossil Fuels

Nedbank first in carbon neutrality

Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 14 July 2010

Financial services group Nedbank yesterday announced that it had achieved carbon neutrality, becoming the first large corporation to do so in SA.

Nedbank's billboard woven from 2000 recycled plastic bags

The group also became the first financial services organisation in Africa to achieve this status.

Nedbank CEO Mike Brown said the achievement epitomised Nedbank’s commitment to playing a leading role in sustainability.

Mr Brown said that the bank would leverage its carbon neutral status to help the government drive the green economy and deliver value for its stakeholders.

He said that Nedbank had saved R28m through reducing its use of electricity, paper and water, and had spent R2m on measuring its carbon footprint.

It offset 213000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent gases through carbon credits obtained from the Rukinga project in Kenya, at a cost of R12m.

Rukinga’s carbon credits had brought much-needed jobs and social benefits to its community, while allowing its land to be restored. Mr Brown also said that the group would offset its carbon footprint every year and hoped to secure a more diverse portfolio of carbon offsets in future.

He said that Nedbank would focus on the “huge challenge” of water for SA’s sustainability. Continue reading Nedbank first in carbon neutrality

Major Initiative to Green World Cup

Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 08 June 2010

Three days before the kick-off of one of the greatest global sport events on the planet – the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa – a major initiative to green the World Cup and [...]

WWF moves closer to Green Power

Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 14 March 2010

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF South Africa) is showing its commitment over the next three years to reducing its own environmental impacts by operating on certified Green Power provided by means of the [...]

Spat over Eskom 'green' claims

Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems
24 January 2010

Cape Town – The assertion by Brian Dames, chief operating officer for generation at Eskom, that renewable energy is expensive, is untrue and not based on any factual analysis.

Wind-farming

The statement is refuted by Eddie O’Connor, chief executive of Mainstream Renewable Power, a British group that has invested in wind-farm development in South Africa.

During the public hearings on Eskom’s application for tariff increases held by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Dames declared that South Africa did not currently have renewable energy resources able to deliver base-load electricity.

Tariff incentives for renewable energy range from 96c to R5.50 per kWh, compared with Eskom’s prices which will rise from about 30c to 82c if its application for increases succeeds.

In his web journal O’Connor writes that the average capital cost of coal-fired power stations is globally the same as that of wind farms.

Coal is expensive and coal mines’ stocks are being depleted, whereas wind is free and blows uninterruptedly.

If a coal tax is levied on the tons of carbon dioxide released by coal-fired power stations, this will dramatically increase the cost of producing electricity from coal, while electricity from wind farms will not attract this tax.

O’Connor points out that coal-fired power stations use a lot of water, which is becoming increasingly expensive and scarce in South Africa, whereas wind power does not need water.

Source: Fin24.com

Continue reading Spat over Eskom ‘green’ claims

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New Power Capacity from Renewable Sources Tops Fossil Fuels

Nedbank first in carbon neutrality

Major Initiative to Green World Cup

WWF moves closer to Green Power

Spat over Eskom 'green' claims

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