Energy Management News (Cape Town, SA)

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VOLUME 17 NUMBER 2 www.erc.uct.ac.za JUNE 2011

IN THIS ISSUEVale and Xstrata commissionenergy management solution thatcan save mines millions in energycosts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Independent operator will changeelectricity arena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Eskom EIA for nuclear facilityextension of comment period . . . 4Biogas systems for primary treat-ment of household wastes withenergy storage and recovery . . . 4The world of energy . . . . . . . . . . 5Novel energy systems for distributed and mobile power generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Powering change in low-incomeenergy markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

An ethical check-up on theIRP2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Eskom Open Innovation pilotproject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Proposals for research grants:

Africa initiative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10City calls on its residents to saveelectricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Southern Voices CapacityBuilding Programme . . . . . . . . . 13Why the media matters in awarming world: A guide for policy-makers in the global south . . . . 13Mthombo: A white elephantin the making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Fracking in the Karoo for and against . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Netmetering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Event Greening Forumbecomes official . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Wind sector expert required . . . 163rd Annual Nuclear Forum inSouth Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Cape Town gets Green Expo . . 18

CPUT offers petroleum course . 18Energy events 2011 . . . . . . . . . 19

Sponsored by the Department

of Science & Technology

Vale and Xstrata commissionenergy management solution

that can save mines millions inenergy costs

The mining industry world-widehas more than its fair share of challenges today from strin-gent environmental and regulatorypressures to an urgent need toimprove operational costs , productivi-ty and safety, all while having to minedeeper than ever before.

Aware of these challenges,BESTECH, one of Canadas leadingproviders of engineering, automation,software development and energy

management services, has beendeveloping a novel solution toaddress these challenges in mines for years. Their team of experts haveperfected a multi-faceted solutioncalled NRG1-ECO (Energy Con-sumption Optimization) that helpsmining companies gain better controlof their processes, energy usage,equipment, safety and energy costs.NRG1-ECO combines hardware andsoftware to manage virtually everypiece of automated equipment in amine. Its a complete energy man-agement system that can be appliedto processes such as compressors,pumps and any other systems in amine that could benefit from a reduc-tion in energy consumption, saysTrang Tran, BESTECHs Manager,Research & Development.

This is especially true with respectto a mines ventilation system thatusually operates at peak capacity 100per cent of the time. NRG1-ECOsVOD (Ventilation-On-Demand) mod-ule enables the mine to instantly con-

trol the ventilation systems air flow towhen and where it is needed. Thisallows a mine to reduce its ventilationcosts by as much as 30 per cent

which represents significant savingsgiven that ventilation costs make upalmost 50 per cent of a mines energycosts.

COLLABORATIONWhen BESTECH was developing thetechnology, it formed a consortium of industry experts and organizations toestablish best practices and stan-dards of excellence. The consortiummembers include organizations such

as the Centre for Mining Excellence(CEMI) as well as mining giants Valeand Xstrata Nickel. This year, thetechnology was installed at ValesColeman Mine and Xstrata NickelsFraser Mine, both in Sudbury,Ontario, Canada.

We worked together with BES-TECH on what was needed in theindustry and theyve completed thedevelopment of a Ventilation-On-Demand management tool for us,says Cheryl Allen, Chief Engineer Ventilation, Vale Mines Mill TechnicalServices, Canadian Operation. BES-TECH designed a system that can betailored to suit the needs of eachmine.

NRG1-ECO was developed withan open architecture so that it willwork with technology already in useat any mine. Integration is at the coreof NRG1-ECO and its ability to incor-porate with new or existing mineinfrastructure offers mines, old or new, the opportunity to realize signifi-cant savings as well.

In addition, the BESTECH teamoffers mines assistance with Energy-Efficiency Grants and Rebate applica-tions for both the initial site assess-


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Energy Management News 3

The South African Governmenthas confirmed that IndependentPower Producers (IPPs) will in

time generate 30% of South Africaselectricity. IRP 2010 2030 has beenpromulgated. The key to the efficientutilisation of IPPs is an IndependentSystem and Market Operator (ISMO)as proposed by the Department of Energy in a recent Draft Bill that wasout for public comment beforebeing submitted to parliament.

The establishment of an independ-ent system and market operator (ISMO) will revolutionise the local elec-

tricity market. But the legislation thatmakes the ISMO possible and theamount of legislation and regulationthat needs to be changed to accommo-date the new legislation means that itcould take years before consumers seeany real change.

Ompi Aphane, Deputy Director-General in the Department of Energy,said the ISMO Draft Bill, which wasopen for written public comment untilJune 13, would take about four monthsto legislate. Crucial to facilitating theintroduction of independent power pro-ducers (IPPs) to the system, the billmight, however, take another two yearsto be populated and even longer tobecome fully operational, admitted

Aphane. This could create even moreuncertainty for potential IPPs waiting toinvest in South Africa.

Other uncertainty has been causedby a delay in the finalisation of tariffs.Without knowing whether there will bea buyer for the power they produce or how much they would be paid for thatpower, it is obviously difficult for them to

make an investment decision. In fact,IPPs have been waiting about fiveyears for any kind of certainty related tothe government and state owned

power utility Eskoms plans regardingprivate investment in the sector.

As Mark Pickering, a partner atMeridian Economics, noted, the gov-ernment has repeatedly made positivepolicy statements about its intent toopen the power system to IPPs, start-ing with the Energy White Paper of 1998. In 2001, the Cabinet adopted aresolution that up to 30% of existinggenerating plants should be sold to theprivate sector, but little was done toimplement the privatisation of Eskompower stations though, and in 2004 theresolution was re-interpreted to imply

that 30% of new generation capacityshould be built by the private sector.Once again, little was done to imple-ment this resolution, although theDepartment of Minerals and Energy,did attempt to procure 1 000 MW of Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT)peaking plant a process which even-tually floundered prior to financial closein March 2007, said Pickering.

Eskom, too, has initiated a number of IPP procurement processes since2006, most of which have been aban-doned Eskom has also entered intonegotiations with a number of cross-border IPP developers. None of theseunsolicited proposals have beenfinalised, and in the course of 2009Eskom announced that all such initia-tives had been put on hold, pending theresolution of its funding model and theimplementation of governments policyon new generation capacity, Pickeringsaid in a research report prepared for the University of Cape Towns EnergyResearch Centre.

The governments policy on new

generation capacity is contained in theIntegrated Resources Plan, which setsout to diversify the source of the coun-trys energy away from coal, which is

used to generate 77% of the countryspower. Pickering said the IntegratedResources Plan, together with theISMO Bill and the National EnergyRegulator of South Africas new paper on wheeling which looks at chargesfor the use of the grid was a major leap forward. He said it would lead tothe most fundamental restructuring of the countrys electricity industry since1924.

There is, however, too little detail inthe bill for the electricity market to beopened up by any significant extent justyet. Failure to introduce private sector

investment, or IPPs, has resulted inSouth Africa retaining its vertically inte-grated electricity market structure,which has one dominant player that isowner and operator of the countrysgeneration, transmission and distribu-tion assets.

What the ISMO Bill aims to do isshift the market to the hybrid model,which will see IPPs generate power and invest in capacity side by side withEskom. Under the bill, that power willbe sold to a state-owned ISMO, whichwill then use Eskoms transmission anddistribution assets to get the power toclients. The Free Market Foundation(FMF), which last week hosted a con-ference on 9 June titled Unlocking theElectricity Transmission Grid, suggest-ed that South Africa needed to go fur-ther than this by opening up the entiremarket to competition. Inherent in hav-ing a single grid owner and operator isthe lack of competition, said FMFdirector Eustace Davie. This lack cre-ates the problem of potential excessivecharges and difficulties with obtaining

access to the grid. A problem govern-ments generally attempt to solve byregulation and, especially, price con-trol, which are not as effective as com-

Independent operator will change electricityarena


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4 Energy Management News

petition and consumer choice. In apaper on the electricity transmissiongrid and its importance to South

Africans, Davie said consumers, bethey individuals or large organisations,have the obvious problem of lack of

choice. It is important to at least havefinal distributors who purchase electric-ity from competing generating compa-nies, transmit it across transmissionlines, transform it, and compete witheach other for the business of the finalconsumers, Davie said.

World experience has shown that avertically integrated electrical genera-tion, transmission and distributionstructure is not the best way to organ-ise the supply of electricity. Even if most of the parts of the whole structureremain government-owned, which isnot desirable, the entities will functionbetter if they are separated and canconcentrate on their core functions.ISMO and the electricity regulators willhopefully encourage private generatingcompanies who believe there is busi-ness to be had, to enter the market.ISMO does not have to weigh the riskson behalf of potential investors; all theyneed do is to allow access to the gridfor their generating plants, said Davie.An independent grid operator, as longas it is instituted quickly and efficiently,

will go a long way towards solvingSouth Africas electricity supply prob-lems.

Progress through freedom

G Contact: Leon Louw Executive Director Free Market Foundation

Eustace DavieDirector Free Market FoundationTel: (011) 884 0270 Fax: (011) 884 5672 E-Mail: [email protected]

Eskom EIA for nuclear facility extension of

comment period

An opportunity to review the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report(EIR) Report commenced on 09 May 2011 with a closing date of 23 June2011. Various Interested and Affected Parties have requested an extensionof the review period.

After due consideration of the requests, GIBB has been decided to extend thecomment period by an additional 45 days. The closing date for comment is now07 August 2011 (i.e. a 90 day comment period). You are, therefore, afforded theopportunity to use the extended period to review the report and submit comments.

Thank you to all those who have attended public meetings and open housesheld from 23 May to 02 June 2011 and already submitted comments on theRevised Draft EIR, as well as those who will take further time to review the reportsand submit comments.

G Contact: GIBB Public Participation Office, Nuclear-1 EIAP.O. Box 3965, Cape Town, 8000 Tel: 021 469 9180 Fax: 021 424 5571E-mails: [email protected]/ and [email protected]

Biogas systems for primary treatmentof household wastes with energy storage

and recovery

With increasing regulatory focus and consumer interest on sustainabilityissues, and in particular on water re-use, nutrient recycling, energy gen-eration and climate change, practical mechanisms for realizing multipleco-benefits from human generated (waste) resources are increasingly beingsought out. One such application is the use of on-site anaerobic digestion sys-tems, which co-digest multiple domestic waste streams including, for example,sewage, food waste, and grass cuttings to produce a methane rich gas (biogas).

Since these individual organic waste fractions exhibit varying biogas potential,their co-digestion could improve the biogas yields as established in a recent studyon municipal solid waste. While the co-benefits that are achievable depends onthe nature of the inputs, including whether or not sewage is present and what thetotal solids concentration of the influent material is, what is clear is that house-holds and institutions are for the first time able to reduce their overall environ-mental impact while achieving increased on-site energy production and use, water re-use and fertilizer beneficiation.

AGAMA has some years of experience in commercial use of fixed domeanaerobic digesters in South Africa, for households (rural and urban) and institu-tions, within the context of the countrys water, sanitation and energy constraints.Case studies from a number of applications that cover water quality, energy out-puts and additional supernatant treatment or utilization have also been undertak-en.

G Contact: Greg AustinDirector, AGAMA Energy (Pty) Ltd and AGAMA Biogas (Pty) Ltd Tel: +27 21 701 3364Fax: +27 21 701 3365

E-mail: [email protected]: www.agama.co.za


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E ach year, at the beginning of June, BP publishes its Statisti-cal Review of World Energy. Itis a great public service. BP may beknown for its liquid fuel interests, but itsReview covers all primary energy, thatis, all the sources of energy whichnature provides. In recent years it haseven included the renewables, windand solar, which now make a measura-ble contribution.

Because the use of energy is direct-ly linked to the creation of wealth,analysing who is using what, and howtheir use is changing, gives a strongsense of economic changes. It there-fore makes sense to evaluate theReviews data, which is readily avail-able on the internet in the form of spreadsheets.

This years Review gives datagoing back to 1965. It is a simple mat-ter to trace the trends. The first graphicshows how the world has consumedenergy over the last 45 years.

This has numerous remarkable fea-tures. It clearly shows the dip in energyconsumption as a result of the eco-nomic crash of 2008, and how con-sumption picked up during 2010, a realsignal of world economic revival. Youcan also see the oil price shocks of 1973 and 1978, which affected mainlythe consumption of oil coal and gasdemand were barely affected.

The continued rise of nuclear power surprises many. Nuclear energy nowgives us almost as much energy ashydropower. Growth slowed after ThreeMile Island, and again after Chernobyl,but has never stopped completely.

The miniscule contribution of re-newables other than hydropower isnoteworthy. All the talk around thestrong growth in this form of energy,and the thousands of jobs that might becreated by renewable industries, has to

be seen as just so much hype. It iscoming off a very low base, so of course it is growing strongly. But it isclear that the world will not come to rely

on renewable energy for many years tocome.

Equally, of course, the fossil fuelcontribution (coal, oil and gas) is huge.Today, it provides us with 84% of our total energy. The growth in fossil fueluse last year was more than 25 timesthe growth in renewable energy other than hydropower. There is a lobby thatcalls for a low-carbon economy, andmassive investment in renewables, tosave us from the purported disasters of climate change. The nations of theworld do not appear to be heedingthese calls or, if they are, they arepaying very heavy lip service. The real-ity is that that fossil fuel use is growingrapidly.

In 1965, fossil fuel use made up94% of the worlds energy supply. Thedrop to 88% is almost entirely due tothe growth of the nuclear industry over this period.

The real growth in the consumptionof fossil fuels is particularly striking inthe case of coal. Since 1998, coal con-sumption has grown by nearly 55%, buttotal energy use has increased by only33%. Coal, of course, produces far

more greenhouse gases per unit of energy than other fossil fuels. 1998was the year in which the Kyoto Proto-col, designed to limit greenhouse gas

emissions, came into force. Again, fulllip service appears to be the best car-

bon restrictions one can hope for.How does South Africa fare in com-parison with the average nation? Theenergy consumption of this hypotheti-cal average nation is shown in thenext graphic.

Slightly less than one-third of thetotal consumption is provided by eachof the fossil fuels. Nuclear and hydro-power contribute nearly equal quanti-ties, and together provide a little over

10% of the total. Renewable other thanhydro provide only 1%.The South African energy con-

sumption is strikingly different:

The world of energy


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Nearly three quarters of our energycomes from coal and less than a quar-ter from oil and gas together. As a drycountry, we have essentially nohydropower. Our nuclear power isabout half that of the average nation.Renewables are almost invisible(although we probably have somewood and dung which are not capturedin the Review).

Because coal emits nearly threetimes as much carbon dioxide per unitof energy as gas does, we appear toemit excessive quantities of green-house gases. If we had as much natu-ral gas as the average nation, our car-bon footprint would be very like that of other countries. There is no reason togo around beating our chests and

wearing hair shirts in guilt. We makeuse of the only source of energypresently available to us.

Energy and economic developmentare closely linked. It is therefore notsurprising that China (6.5 billion tons of CO 2), the US (5.8 billion tons) and theEuropean Union (4.2 billion tons) leadthe list of emitters. Even with our high-coal economy, we emit only 0.4 billiontons. If the US and Europe would cur-tail their emissions by less than 5%, wecould go on developing with no impacton the environment.

Climate change is apparentlycaused by increasing carbon dioxide inthe air. Yes, South Africa plays a smallpart in the increase, but the developednations play a far larger part. Anythingwe might do to reduce our emissionswill go unnoticed in global terms. Thatis a very good reason not to burden our economy with any more carbon taxes.Carbon taxes will harm our economy,slow our development, and do nothingfor the environment.

G Contact: Philip Lloyd Energy InstituteCape Peninsula University of Tech-nology E-mail: [email protected]

Novel energy systems for distributed andmobile power generation

The Department of Chemical Engineering, UCT, hosted William Lear, Associ-

ate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineer-ing at the University of Florida, and Director of the Energy and Gasdynam-ic Systems Laboratory. He is the author of numerous technical papers on energycycles and turbomachinery, and is an Associate Fellow of the American Instituteof Aeronautics and Astronautics.

A/Prof Lear presented a talk entitled Novel Energy Systems for Distributedand Mobile Power Generation on 24 May.

Abstract of his talkIn a sustainable energy future, the efficient utilisation of unconventional fuels suchas biomass and municipal solid wastes will be a critical component in meeting theworldwide energy demand. In addition, waste heat represents by far the largesteasily-accessible energy source, and distributed generation is necessary in order to benefit from its potential. This presentation described a novel quad-generationdistributed energy system which combines multiple system advantages, includingwide fuel flexibility, low emissions, compactness, and attractive life cycle costs.The system produces electric power with an efficiency advantage, while simulta-neously producing heat, cooling, and fresh water, important for coupling to steamgasification plants and for remote or emergency operation.

The presentation also described the research and development activities for anovel direct methanol fuel cell system for portable electronics applications. Thesystem architecture enables significant gains in compactness, so that a fully-hybridised integrated laptop power supply, including fuel, can occupy the batterycompartment. Current research challenges were also described.

G Contact: Debbie de Jager Administration Officer & Personal Assistant to Prof JCQ Fletcher Head of Department & Director, Centre for Catalysis Research

University of Cape TownTel: +27 21 650 2509Fax: +27 21 650 5509E-mail: [email protected]: www.ebe.uct.ac.za

Powering change in low-incomeenergy markets

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has pub-lished a new opinion paper on how to provide low-carbon energy to theworlds poorest people.

In Summary, market-based interventions to improve access to energy rarelybenefit the poorest. Failure to understand local needs and preferences results ininappropriate goods and services and low uptake. This Opinion discusses howbusiness can deliver low-carbon technologies to the bottom billion and supportsustainable development by working more closely with government agencies,development practitioners and local communities in designing and deliveringproducts and services.

The authors are Emma Wilson and Ben Garside.

G Contact: Emma Wilson, IIEDE-mail: [email protected]

Ben Garside, IIEDE-mail: [email protected] Website: http://pubs.iied.org/17093IIED.html?s=SDO


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It is evident that elements of climatechange law and sustainable devel-opment legal ethics have begun toimpact the scope of energy planning inthe Republic of South Africa. In particu-lar, the revision of the Integrated Resource Plan 2010 (IRP2) approvedearlier this year by the Government of South Africa makes direct reference tothe nations international carbon-miti-gation commitments in planning for itselectricity sector. While some partiesmight find the South African govern-ments foray into, for instance, renew-able energy and low-carbon emittingenergy sources as being timid, theplanning process does reveal a lotabout the changing energy ethics of

Africas largest electricity producer andthe worlds thirteenth largest carbonemitter.

Energy ethics the world over is

changing. The 1987 Brundtland Com-mission Report heralded a global para-digm shift in socioeconomic policymak-ing. In terms of energy governance, aninternational focus on decentralizationof energy planning, the liberalization of energy trading across borders anddown to the micro level (for example,net-metering), and recognition of ashifting connotation of energy security are in strong evidence. Klaus Bossel-man writes that energy is no longer amatter of maximizing supplies for moreand more people, it is also a matter of social, environmental and future equi-ty.1 In the sub-Saharan African context,Yinka Omorogbe has written:

Within the context of Africa, itshould be understood that normsemanating from sources other thanthose of the states play a major rolein regulating the personal lives andday-to-day transactions of the ordi-nary citizen, as distinct from theroles of formal laws or customarylaw. For day-to-day living and for

processes that aid the smooth func-

tioning of lifes activities, order and regulation emanate from other sources that have been created or evolved to fill the vacuum arising

from the failure of states to fulfil basic functions of governance suchas the administration of justice, rev-enue collection, the provision of util-ities, and other measures toenhance the quality of life, and pro-

vide for the security of citizens. Inmany states the governments at alllevels have failed to look after their citizens and play little or no part intheir lives and development.[emphasis added]. 2

Additionally, African jurists havebegun to recognize a collective legal right to development in their interpreta-tion of international law and humanrights discourse. 3 If accepted, this andOmorogbes theory leads to the legit-imization of further efforts to decentral-ize (and not necessarily de-regulate)the South African energy sector. Also,section 24 of the 1996 Constitution of South Africa makes strong protectionsfor the environment. 4 While this overar-ching law has not yet been used to curbheavily polluting industries, it is some-thing to watch out for.

Since the first draft of the IRP2 wasfloated for public consultation last year,sadly, not much has changed in theSouth African energy landscape. Ener-gy planning in general, and the rollout

of wind energy in particular, has beenplagued by delays, and more delays.Wind developers have not been able tocount upon a stable regulatory land-

scape. Firstly, a reduction in the renew-able energy feed-in tariff (REFIT)schedule announced in March 2011diminished but in all fairness did noteradicate the ability of developers tooffer up bankable business plans toinvestors. 5 However, an announcementthen came that the REFIT formula for the procurement of the first 1025 MWof wind energy would be changed, andthat elements of competitive bidding,as opposed to a system of secured,level pricing structures, would be uti-lized. 6 Industry insiders have accusedthe government of deploying a bait-and-switch formula, drumming upinterest in the wind sector, luring inproject developers and now changingthe parameters for entry onto the grid.

Regardless of ones viewpointabout the REFIT debacle, it must besaid in the face of the seemingly insur-

mountable task of meeting its goalsunder the UNFCCC process, throughthe IRP2 process the government hasbrought together industry, the acad-eme, civil society and industry includ-ing independent power producers(IPPs) as never before. This is per-haps the most democratic era in ener-gy governance in South Africa. Howev-er, given the fact that there was avirtual cleptocracy ruling energy inSouth Africa from the days before the

Anglo-Boer War until 1994 (and somesay until now), this might say very little.Still, the IRP2 hints at the changingnature of energy security ethics andlegal approaches in South Africa. Whilethe IRP2 does not fully embrace thisnew brand of energy ethics, it will startSouth Africa on the road towards areduced reliance upon coal-fired elec-tricity production. There is still hope for critics of the plan, who see it as lackingenough muscle to change South

Africas energy culture. Energy Minis-ter Dipuo Peters promised in 2010 thatthe IRP2 was written with enough flex-

ibility to embrace, for example, morerenewable energy in the future should itbe desired. 7 Indeed, the amount of renewable energy envisioned to be

An

ethicalcheck-up

on the

IRP2


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online by 2030 was recently in-creased. 8

South Africa suffers from an energyparadox. The country has a long tradi-tion of electrification. Indeed, the city of Kimberley had streetlamps before Lon-

don, England!,9

However, the benefitsand burdens of grid development havenot been evenly shared amongst thedifferent sub-populations of the country.For most of South Africas history,those with access to the grid enjoyed avery stable stream of supply fromEskom. Bulk industrial purchasershave received sweetheart deals onenergy purchasing. 10 Residentialratepayers had some of the cheapestelectricity bills on the planet. Of course,Eskom, as with all government servicesduring the Apartheid era, had raciallymotivated aims and deliberately with-held services from black and colouredSouth Africans. 11 There are still seriouson-going disputes about equity in serv-ice provision. 12 Nearly a quarter of South African homes lack access to thegrid. Over 55% of rural dwellers lackstable access to electricity. As no smallaside, coal is king in South Africa.Eskom reported that during fiscal year 2009/2010, 232.812 GW/h of electricitywere sent out on the grid 92.8% of this was derived from coal-fire power

plants, 5.5% from nuclear power, 1.5%from pumped storage, .5% from renew-ables and .02% from gas. This relianceon coal has a terrible effect on theSouth African and global environment.Coal plants and related infrastructurecreate drastic CO 2 emissions, and alsoconsume copious amounts of freshwater an increasingly rare commodityin South Africa.

Since 1994, a build-out programhas aimed to increase equity in servicedelivery to the general population, butpower shortages plagued the country in2006 and 2008 and are threatening tochallenge the grid again during thecoming decade. Despite Eskomsfierce statements to the contrary, thiscould even happen within the next year or two as South Africa climbs out of theglobal recession and demand threat-ens to rise sharply.13 Electricity ratesare rising dramatically, in some placesas much as 20% this year alone. 14Recently, international currency specu-lators have acted cautiously in tradingthe South African Rand because of

fears related to grid paralysis.15

While itwas acknowledged that powerful indus-try players cut back-room deals for cheaper and more secure supply con-

tracts with Eskom, the government hashad to ram through a medium term riskmitigation plan (MTRMP), fittingly enti-tled Keeping the Lights On, to providea basic level of energy security for thegeneral population over the coming

decade.16

The plan for power genera-tion over the medium-term is carbonintensive, although programs for demand-side management and energyconservation are being funded. 17

The IRP2 is the crucial link in long-term electricity planning in South Africa.Elements of sustainable developmenttheory are present in the strategy, ascriteria such as water usage, climatechange effects (environmental), locali-sation benefits, regional developmentgoals (social), and financial costs andportfolio risks (economic) have beenaccounted for. 18 The government haseven extended the consultation periodfor the IRP2 process to harness moreinput and support from civil societymembers and sub-national levels of government. 19 The plan would seelicensed capacity on the grid expandfrom 44 535MW in 2010 to 89 532MWin 2030, with a reserve margin of roughly 15%. The bulk of new genera-tion would come from renewables(17 800MW), nuclear power (9600MW), coal-fired power (6 250MW),

close-cycle gas turbine generation(2 370MW), open-cycle gas turbinegeneration (3 910 MW), and importedhydro-power (2 609 MW). 20 While thesenumbers look promising, it must bementioned that over the medium-term,all regular plans to commission major coal-fired facilities at Medupi, Kusile,and Ingula are going ahead despiteprotests from local South Africans toWorld Bank officials. 21

To a large degree, the assumptionsunderlying the IRP2 reflect an out-dated model of energy ethics. Predic-tions of supply and demand are under-pinned by assumptions of grossdomestic product (GDP) forecasting,even though this indicator is increas-ingly under fire and decreasingly toutedby developed nations. 22 Additionally,while public buy-in is being sought, theentire energy plan seems to hinge onindustrial-scale, capital-intensive ener-gy planning and grid build-out scenar-ios. Very little room is carved out for grassroots involvement. Indeed, recentefforts by the Energy Minister to pro-

mote initiatives such as communitywind projects do not seem to fit into thispolicy in any real fashion. Also, theIRP2 lacks detail as to how demand-

side management will improve. Man-dating Eskom, a producer of energyand a state-owned company, to active-ly reduce consumption patterns inSouth Africa defies the very ethos of the parastatal, which is concerned with

producing and selling electricity, notstymieing their sales revenue! Plans tocreate an independent system operator need to be sped up to drive innovationand enhance the competitiveness of IPPs. This seems to be the largest driv-er of insecurity on behalf of private proj-ect developers, whom the governmentexpects to assume the bulk of the riskinvolved in propelling South Africa intoa green energy future. 23

The South African governmentshould step more forthrightly into creat-ing a marketplace for renewable ener-gy projects. More national demonstra-tion sites for different technologiesshould be considered. For instance, alot of private capital has been raised tolaunch the nations wind energy pro-gram. While there are major kinks for the government and the wind industryto work out together, more turbines canbe erected while such discussions takeplace. The government should mullover public financing through pensiondollars, community investment schemesor other majority public ownership

methods for the creation of wind farmsover the short-term, so that the nationcan be slowly sensitized to the technol-ogy. Giving planning power directly tocommunities is how nations like Den-mark rolled out very successful windenergy programs.

As noted above, the IRP2 has a lotof problems. However, the principles of sustainable development and climatelaw have started to seep into thedomestic energy policy process of South Africa. Policymakers should con-tinuously check-in on these ethics toensure that all of their work is guided bysustainable practice. Only time will tellif South Africa will truly embark upon anew path or stay chained to the energyparadox.

Notes1. Klaus Bosselmann, Ethical Implica-

tions in Adrian Bradbrook et al. (eds)The Law of Energy of SustainableDevelopment (Cambridge: Cam-bridge University Press, 2005) at 74.

2. Yinka Omorogbe, Alternative regula-tion and governance reform inresource-rich developing countries of

Africa in Barry Barton et al. (eds)Regulating Energy and Natural


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Resources (London: Oxford Universi-ty Press, 2006) at 42.

3. Tiyanjana Maluwa, International Lawin Post Colonial Africa (Boston: Kluw-er Law International, 1999) at 312.

4. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, No. 108 of 1996, s 24.

5. Terence Creamer, Having riskedR400m, wind developers fume atRefit overhaul (24 March 2011) Engi-neering News, online: EngineeringNews.

6. Terence Creamer, 90 renewablesfirms call for frank dialogue to endprocurement uncertainties (18 July2011) Engineering News, online:Engineering News .

7. Terrence Creamer In the Cold?Power plan flexible enough toaccommodate solar park EnergyMinister (29 October 2010) Engi-neering News at 10.

8. Terence Creamer, Nersa moves tocut Refit tariffs just as SA promisesto boost renewables (22 March2011) Engineering News, online:Engineering News .

9. G.Z. Ben-Yaacov, Power Generationin South Africa to the Year 2000(1979) 4 Energy 47 at 47.

10. Eskom No Power to the People(publication date unavailable)

Amandla Publishers, accessed 31

August 2010; Eskom And Aluminium Ending Special Deal for SmeltersWas Overdue AllAfrica.com (7 April2010) , accessed31 August 2010.

11. Leonard Gentle, Escom to Eskom:From racial Keynesian capitalism toneo-liberalism in David A. MacDon-ald (ed.) Electric Capitalism:Recolonising Africa on the Power Grid (Cape Town: HSRC Press,2009) at 50ff.

12. Jackie Dugard, Power to the Peo-ple? A Rights Based Analysis of South Africas Electricity Services inDavid A. MacDonald (ed.) ElectricCapitalism: Recolonising Africa onthe Power Grid (Cape Town: HSRC

Press, 2009) at 264ff.13. Eskom struggles to keep the lights

on (30 May 2011) IndependentOnline Business Report, online: IOL..

14. Power tariffs up 20% in Cape Town(22 June 2011) ESI-Africa.com,online: ESI-Africa.com.

15. Ron Derby, Rand loses ground onelectricity fears (26 May 2011) Busi-ness Day, online: Business Day. Ter-rence Creamer, SA should expectmore distribution-linked blackouts asR27bn backlog grows (12 May 2011)Engineering News, online: Engineer-

ing News. http://www.engineer-ingnews.co. za/article/sa-should-expect-more-distribution-linked-blackouts-as-r27bn-backlog-grows-2011-05-12>..

16. Keeping the Lights On (17 Septem-ber 2010) Eskom, online: Eskom..

17. SA seeks to cut power demand by 5000 MW (26 May 2011) EngineeringNews, online: Engineering News.

18. Department of Energy, IntegratedResource Plan (2010 Rev. 2) at 13.

19. Terrence Creamer, Urgent Engage-ment: Provincial roadshows plannedto broaden energy-plan consultation(29 October 2010) Engineering Newsat 11.

20. Electricity Regulations on the Inte-grated Resource Plan 2010-2030 (6May 2011) Staatskoerant No. 34263,at page 17, online: Ministry of Energy..

21. Some civil society groups have vocif-erously challenged the current WorldBank-backed plan to build two newcoal-fire power plants in South Africa.Earthlife Johannesburg in particular,has mounted a public relations cam-paign and is investigating legaloptions: Earthlife Africa.22. Lizzy Davies, Sarkozy attacks focus

on economic growth (14 September 2009) The Guardian Online, online:The Guardian..

23. Time for government to act on elec-

tricity crisis (20 June 2011) Inde-pendent Online Business Report,online: IOL. Brin-daveni Naidoo, Cloud of uncertainty

still hanging over SA renewablessector (21 June 2011) EngineeringNews, online: Engineering News ..

Philip Martin Duguay was a visiting stu-dent at the University of Cape Town, Fac-ulty of Law in 2011, and is the author of Wind power to the people: overcoming legal, policy and social barriers to wind energy development in South Africa pub-lished in the March 2011 edition of theOxford University Press Journal for World Energy Law and Business. He is current-ly an energy policy analyst with the Gov-ernment of the Northwest Territories inCanada. This article was adapted from anarticle originally published on the Legal Frontiers website: www.legalfrontiers.ca.

G Contact: Philip Martin Duguay Faculty of Law, McGill University Montreal, QC, CanadaMobile: 438.878.5788 Website:www.legalfrontiers.ca/author/pduguay/


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E skom has launched an OpenInnovation Pilot Project andpotential solvers will be able toregister and access detailed informa-tion and the specific requirements for each challenge via the websitewww.openinnovation.eskom.co.za.Submissions can also take place viathis website.

The purpose of Open Innovation(OI) in the Eskom context is to engageexternal stakeholders in assisting withaddressing some of Eskoms chal-lenges. Eskom is collaborating with theResearch Institute for Innovation andSustainability (RIIS), a local innovationmanagement company, and NineSig-ma, an American company that facili-tates solving of challenges through anonline global innovation community.NineSigma is represented locally byRIIS.

The following four challenges have

been launched on the local platform:

Challenge 1: Towards a 10% reductionin residential energy consumptionEskom invites proposals for smart tech-nologies that will reduce domesticenergy consumption by 700 MW per-manently.

Challenge 2: Proactive selection of fallen electrical (power line)conductorsEskom invites proposals for technolo-gies that will provide early detection of sagging, slipping, or fallen overheadconductors used for electricity distribu-tion and delivery.

Challenge 3: Seek experts for peer review of sustainability footprint technology to measure social,environmental and economic impactsof an electric utility on society Eskom seeks experts to participate inpeer review of modelling and method-ologies that consider the social, envi-ronmental and economic impact of

power generation and delivery sys-tems. This challenge will only becomeactive after the Sustainability footprintreport is released.

Challenge 4: Seeking expertise and systems for integrated water and waste management Eskom seeks consultants and/ or tech-nology to address improved water uti-lization and management for industrialprocesses.

Responses from companies (smallto large), academic researchers, other research institutes, venture capitalists,entrepreneurs, inventors and innova-tors are welcome.

G Contact: Kammy Dhaver-Young Eskom InnovationTel: 011 800 4426 E-mail: [email protected]:www.openinnovation.eskom.co.za.

Proposals for research grants:Africa initiative

The Africa Initiative, a joint partnership between The Centre for InternationalGovernance Innovation (CIGI) and Makerere University (MAK), a researchgrants competition is now accepting new proposals for funding of up to $15

000 CAD. Future competitions may be announced in due course. Applicants are invited to submit proposals that are field-based and address

substantive-policy relevant challenges facing African policy makers at national,regional, and global levels in one or more of the areas of conflict resolution, ener-gy, food security, health, migration, and the cross-cutting theme of climatechange.

The Africa Initiative encourages proposals from relevant fields of physical sci-ences and social sciences. Priority will be given to African-based scholars, andearly- to mid-career Canadian-based researchers. Applicants must have a post-graduate degree or be in the advanced stages of a doctoral program.

While the Africa Initiative will give due consideration to any proposal consis-tent with the overall aim of this project, special consideration will be given to pro-posed research that: Aims to develop innovative approaches to addressing policy challenges in the

Africa Initiatives thematic areas Seeks to collect data that can be used by policy-makers in Africa Attempts to inform both policy makers and academics Involves questions that are especially amenable to cross-national compari-

son.The grant application procedure including details regarding proposals sub-

missions and the disbursement of grants is available on their website.The Africa Initiative looks forward to supporting this important research that

builds knowledge and capacity on policy issues critical to the continent.

G Contact: The Africa InitiativeE-mail: [email protected] Website: www.africaportal.org/research

Eskom Open Innovation pilot project


11/20


The City of Cape Town is callingon residential consumers toreduce their consumption of elec-tricity. Highlighting that residential elec-tricity consumption is responsible for some 43% of total electricity consump-tion in Cape Town, the City haslaunched a creative marketing cam-paign calling especially on those whofall in the mid-to high-income groups,and who use the most electricity, toreduce their consumption by between25 to 40%.

By means of a marketing campaignwith the slogan Electricity is expensive.Saving is simple, the City has deviseda practical checklist and developed aninformation-filled website to encourageresidents to save.

Alderman Clive Justus says, the

Citys Mayoral Committee Member for Utility Services: Efficient use of elec-tricity has become increasingly impor-tant in view of steeply rising electricitytariffs and the medium-term shortage of South Africas electricity supply. Theneed to reduce operating costs, thecost of inefficient energy use to theeconomy, the risk of future load shed-ding and ever increasing carbon emis-

sions all add up to the urgent need for a concerted effort to improve our elec-tricity efficiency in Cape Town.

The Citys Head of Energy and Cli-mate Change, Sarah Ward, cited anumber of reasons why the City is call-ing on residents to save electricity.

Firstly, electricity tariffs are goingup by about 20% in July this year. Wehave had cheap electricity in the pastand people are not yet used to beingenergy efficient. A 25 to 40% reductionby mid-to-high-income householdswould make a considerable differenceas residential electricity consumption isresponsible for a massive 43% of thetotal electricity consumption in CapeTown (Commercial is 40% and Industri-al 13%), said Ward.

Ward also called on consumers to

see the campaign as a real opportunityto save money. From 2010 to 2013 itslikely that your electricity bill will morethan double, or even triple maybemore with the biggest increases stillto come. Saving electricity is about sav-ing hard-earned Rands. The moneythat residents can save on electricity ismoney that can be spent on other things like a holiday, a solar hot water

heater or school fees. Saving electricityis also good for the Citys carbon foot-print and good for the globe, sheadded.

The City has spent considerabletime researching what residents can doto save electricity. There are no costactions, like turning the geyser thermo-stat down to 60C , which will enableresidents to save at least 5% on their electricity bill. Investing less than R1000 on an energy efficient showerheadand a geyser blanket will save moreand investing in options like solar water heating and ceiling insulation will savethe most. Doing all of these will saveresidents 50% or more on their electric-ity costs, while at the same time addingto the value of the property.

Over the next three months, home-

owners will receive electricity savingflyers together with their ratesaccounts. In addition, print and radioadvertisements, presentations to com-munity groups and exhibitions in shop-ping centres will encourage residentsto save as will awareness posters atpre-paid electricity vendor outlets.

The City also leads a range of other initiatives to encourage energy efficien-cy. An Energy Efficiency Forum hasbeen set up for large commercial andindustrial electricity consumers to pro-vide managers of offices, shoppingcentres, hotels and other commercialand industrial buildings with practicalknowledge on energy efficiency solu-tions. The City has developed GreenBuilding Guidelines and is also workingon a programme to support the massimplementation of solar water heaters.The Citys Youth Environmental School(YES) programme already reachesabout 1 600 schools per year, and elec-tricity saving worksheets for learners, ateachers guide and an electricityawareness play have been developed

as part of the campaign. In addition, theCitys Smart Living programmes reachthousands of public and private sector companies and residents each year.

City calls on its residents to save electricity

Electricity consumption: mid-to-high income residential, Cape Town


12/20


The City of Cape Towns Ten BestWays to save electricity at home are:

NO-COST CHANGESEasy-to-do changes that are the foun-dation of Smart Living

Turn your geyser temperaturedown to 60C

Hot water accounts for almost 40% of your electricity bill. Turning down thethermostat by a degree or two will saveyou 5% on your electricity bill. In mostcases, the thermostat is located in thelittle cover over the electrical element of the geyser. Switch off the electricity cir-cuit at the mains, undo the cover, andturn down the thermostat. Or hire aplumber/electrician to help you.

Use less hot water Take a short shower instead of a bath.Only fill the kettle with as much water as you need. Wash a full load of dish-es, rather than one dish at a time.Wash clothing in cold water.

Switch off equipment when not inuse

Turn appliances off at the wall rather than leaving them on standby as thiscan still draw about 6% or more elec-tricity.

Reduce pool pump operatinghours

Drop pool pump operating hours to 6hours in summer and 4 hours in winter.Clean filters regularly, and consider apool cover and turning off the pumpentirely in winter.

Reduce excessive heating or cooling

Space heating in winter is a big power guzzler, and the same for summer cooling. Use oil heaters with thermo-stats and avoid under-floor heating.Wear warmer clothing. In summer usea fan rather than air-conditioning.

LOW-COST OPTIONSInvesting under R1 000 Simple, cost-effective improvements

Install an efficient showerheadCape Town water bylaws limit shower flow rates to no more than 10 litres per minute. To test this at home, hold a

bucket under the showerhead for 12seconds. If there is more than 2 litres inthe bucket, then your showerhead isinefficient. A good, modern product will

save both water and electricity withoutcompromising your shower experience,and the saving pays back the invest-ment within a few months.

Insulate the geyser with a geyser

blanket and insulate hot water pipes leading from the geyser tomaximise heat retention.

Install efficient lightingCompact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)use six times less power than oldincandescent bulbs, and last muchlonger. Note that CFLs contain smallamounts of harmful chemicals, so itsbest to take them to safe drop offpoints at retailers like Woolworths or Pick n Pay. Of course, switching off lights in unoccupied rooms is an obvi-ous way to save.

INVEST-TO-SAVE OPTIONSInvestments that create greater long-term savings Install a solar water heater.It uses the sun to heat up your water,saving 25% or more on your electricitybill. With rising electricity tariffs andsubsidies from Eskom, the paybackperiod is no more than 3.5 to 5 years.

Insulate the ceilingCeiling insulation can keep the home5C warmer in winter, and 10C cooler in summer. More comfortable indoor temperatures mean less need for elec-trical heating and cooling, with savingsof up to 65%. Insulating other parts of the house also helps (e.g. stoppingheat loss through windows, walls or under doors), but the highest savingsare from ceiling insulation.

Public lighting, traffic lights and theCitys own large office buildings arebeing retrofitted to be more energy effi-cient. The City is currently undertakingenergy efficiency retrofits of some of itslargest buildings, namely Durbanville,Fezeka, Ottery and Plumstead CivicCentres. A reduction in energy use inthese buildings ranging from 12% to18% (depending on the building) isexpected to be realised in comingyears. An audit of the Citys flagshipbuilding, the Civic Centre, has beencompleted and a tender for the firstphase of the energy efficiency interven-

tion for that building is in preparation.The City has long recognised theimportance of buildings as energy con-suming infrastructure and their impact

both on electricity consumption and onthe carbon emissions of the metropole.

Whilst the majority of our buildingswere built in an era when electricitywas cheap and plentiful, that era hasnow past. Current realities of scarcity of

supply, and increased cost of electrici-ty, demand from both the City and itscitizens that they use this resourcewisely, says Alderman Justus.

These initiatives indicate the begin-ning of an era where the improvementin energy use of the Citys buildings willsupplement the retrofit work to theCitys street and traffic lights, the instal-lation of solar water heaters to theCitys clinics, nature reserve facilitiesand fire stations, and the residentialelectricity savings campaign, all aimedat ensuring that Cape Town is a lowcarbon city.

G Contact: Sarah Ward Energy and Climate Change Unit City of Cape TownTel: 021 487 2124 / 2200 Cell: 084 606 7177 Email: [email protected]: www.savingelectricity.org.za


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From January 2011 to June 2013,INFORSE participates in theSouthern Voices programme to

increase the capacity of NGOs to workon climate policies. INFORSE East andSouthern Africa is involved with thecoordinator, Timothy Byakola, Climatedevelopment Initiative, Uganda, and inWest Africa activities are coordinatedby Djiminingue Nanaste, ENDA, Sene-gal and by Pierre Dmble, Mali Folke-center.

INFORSE will use the programmeto: Increase the networking among

NGOs that promote renewable

energy and energy efficiency for access to energy. This is importantfor the necessary introduction of sustainable and affordable accessto energy for all. The networkingshall help increasing the knowledgeas well as the advocacy capacity of the NGOs to promote the sustain-able energy solutions.

Collect and coordinate NGO posi-tions on climate mitigation and how

African people and countries canparticipate while reducing povertyand improve their development.Positions will be collected and fur-ther developed through 2011 beforethe UN-FCCC COP17 climate con-ference in Durban, South Africa(starting 28/11-11).

Organise regional meetings of INFORSE members.

Organise national activities inselected countries.

Collect cases with good practices inpromoting renewable energy andenergy efficiency for increasedenergy access, both cases on poli-

cy initiatives and cases on actualbetter access to energy. The caseswill be used for inspiration of NGOsas well as for advocating better

conditions for the increased usesustainable energy to increaseaccess to energy.

The programme is made by a con-sortium of five Danish NGOs, Climate

Action Network and IIED. It is coordi-nated by CARE Denmark and fundedby the Danish International Develop-ment Agency (DANIDA). INFORSEactivities also include INFORSE-Africa,INFORSE-South Asia, INFORSE-Europe, and the Danish INFORSEmember Sustainable Energy.

G Contact: INFORSEE-mail: [email protected]: www.climatecapacity.org

International Network for Sustainable Energy

Southern Voices CapacityBuilding Programme

Why themedia matters

in a warmingworld:

A guide forpolicymakersin the global

south

The Climate Change MediaPartnership has published abriefing paper that recom-mends ways for policymakers tosupport a better class of climatechange journalism that is relevant tolocal audiences, builds public aware-ness of the issues and contributes toimproved policymaking.

In summary, climate change jour-

nalism can protect people and pro-mote sustainable development but only if it is accurate, timely andrelevant. Strengthening the mediascapacity to cover climate change canhelp countries to plan and implementdomestic policies that work on theground, while also meeting their international obligations. Policymak-ers have a huge role to play: byimproving the medias access tolocally relevant policy information;supporting journalists to report fromrural areas and international meet-ings; engaging the media in policyand planning processes; and work-ing to improve their own media liter-acy and ability to communicateclearly on climate change.

G Contact: Mike ShanahanPress Officer International Institute for Environ-ment and Development Tel: 44 (0) 207 388 2117 Fax: 44 (0) 207 388 2826 E-mail: [email protected] Website:

http://pubs.iied.org/G03120.html


14/20


A s the oil price has once againbreached the psychologicalthree-figure mark of $100 per barrel, security of oil supply is ascend-ing on the national agenda.

South Africas national oil company,PetroSA, has been pushing hard for Cabinet to approve its Project Mthom-bo, a new oil refinery to be built atCoega in the Eastern Cape.

But it is now widely acknowledgedthat the world has effectively reachedpeak oil, the time when global oil sup-plies can no longer rise to matchdemand. In a future of declining oil sup-plies and rising prices, project Mthom-bo could become our countrys biggestwhite elephant one that we can illafford.

The idea for Mthombo arose fromthe Department of Energys 2007Energy Security Master Plan, which

recommended that a greater proportionof South Africas liquid fuels be pro-duced domestically.

Feasibility investigations for theproposed refinery were concluded inSeptember 2009, and the Board of Pet-roSA last February approved the pro-gression of the project to Front-EndEngineering (FEED) studies, condition-al on Ministerial approval.

PetroSA hopes that Mthombowould come on stream by about 2015.With a capacity of 360 000 barrels per day, it would be the biggest refinery in

Africa. According to the Department of

Energys spokesperson, Bheki Khuma-lo, the projected cost of the mega-proj-ect was R110 million as of September 2010.

PetroSAs main motivation for Mthombo is to boost security of supplyin the face of an assumed continuationof growth in liquid fuel demand. It isalso envisaged to supply other South-ern African countries as their economies expand. Another reason is

to produce better quality fuels, leadingto cleaner air and improved health of citizens.

However, several objections have

been put forward in public againstMthombo.

Oil companies like BP have arguedthat there is already sufficient refiningcapacity in South Africa and a newrefinery would be redundant.

Others have raised the logisticalproblems associated with the Coegalocation. To transport the fuels to mar-kets in Gauteng and other metroswould require the construction of newpipelines or shipping the refined fuelsto Durban to the new multi-productpipeline.

More importantly, a new refinerywould not help to wean South Africa off imported oil it would merely processadditional crude imports to replace thesmall fraction of total liquid fuel con-sumption that is currently imported inrefined form.

This relates to the most serious

problem with Mthombo: the future of global crude oil supplies.In its 2010 World Energy Outlook,

the International Energy Agency con-firmed that conventional oil productionreached a peak in 2006 and is set todecline by around 4% per year fromnow on. Total liquid fuels productionhas increased, thanks to expandingdeepwater and unconventional oil. Butthese sources have marginal produc-tion costs of $80 per barrel or more,and are thus helping to push up theprice of oil on international markets.

An emerging consensus is warningthat global supplies of oil from allsources will begin to contract within thenext few years. The amount of oil avail-able on world export markets willdecline even more rapidly as consump-tion in oil producing nations continuesto grow.

The result is that oil prices will rock-et upwards, curbing demand to bring itin line with diminishing supply. The oilshock experiences of 1973, 1979 and2008 all clearly showed how price

spikes bring about global economicrecessions.The power of demand destruction

was demonstrated forcefully in South

Africa in the recession of 2009, whenthe demand for all petroleum productsfell by an average of 2.4%, while dieselconsumption plummeted by 6.6%.

The prognosis for the future is thusof a growing glut of global oil refiningcapacity as crude oil supplies dwindle.

Multinational oil companies like BPand Shell have seen the writing on thewall, which explains why they havebeen selling downstream assets in sub-Saharan Africa.

In the context of global oil decline,the only way a new refinery wouldmake sense is if South Africa was guar-anteed a sufficient source of crude oilimports at competitive prices.

When Venezuelan President HugoChavez visited South Africa in 2008,indications were that PetroSA wasintending to source crude oil fromVenezuela, currently the worlds fourth

largest oil exporter.But neither Chavez, nor any other oil producer, will be willing or able togive oil away at discount prices. SoSouth African consumer demand for liquid fuels will be curbed by high priceswhether a strategic alliance is formedor not.

Moreover, when it comes to con-struction costs Mthombo would suffer the same fate as Eskoms two newcoal-fired power stations. Cost escala-tion will be driven by both climbingenergy prices and rising interest ratesas central banks try to dampen infla-tion.

The only way to avert a seriouslydamaging liquid fuels supply crisis is toinvest in alternative transport systemsthat are more energy efficient and notreliant on liquid petroleum fuels.

In their seminal book TransportRevolutions, Richard Gilbert and

Anthony Perl argue convincingly thatgrid-connected vehicles (GCVs) arethe best strategy for mitigating theimpact of peak oil on transport and the

economy. GCVs include electrified rail-ways heavy and light as well astrams and more futuristic modular elec-tric cars that can connect to the grid.

Mthombo: A white elephant

in the making


15/20


GCVs will need extra electricalpower, which should be generated fromrenewable energy sources like solar,wind and ocean power. Governmentneeds to initiate a war-time style mobil-isation to accelerate local production of

renewable energy infrastructure, creat-ing jobs in the process.Hopefully the Government will see

the light and pick sensible mega-proj-ects like the mooted solar park near Upington. Upgrading existing railwaysfor freight and passengers should be apriority over an expensive new high-speed rail link between Durban andGauteng.

Energy efficiency both for liquidfuels and electricity must be promot-ed through awareness campaigns, reg-ulatory standards and financial incen-tives.

The promise of a sustainable futurefor our society depends on the choicesmade now. Citizens need to be awareof unfolding realities and hold their elected representatives to account.There is much we can do, but time isrunning out.

G Contact: Jeremy Wakeford Chairman of the Association for theStudy of Peak Oil South Africa and Research Director of the South

African New Economics (SANE) Net-

work E-mail: [email protected]: ww.aspo.org.za and www.sane.org.za

The subject of hydraulic fracturing,or fracking, for the explorationand production of shale gas inthe Karoo has been well covered in themedia as a potential game changer inthe energy sector, with heated argu-ments both for and against.

A debate was held in Midrand on 25May, with diverse expert views from thefollowing presenters:

Presenters in favour of fracking: Prof. Philip Lloyd of the Cape

Peninsula University of Technology(CPUT)

Ivo Vegter, a well known opinionleader, journalist and writer in TheDaily Maverick and other leadingpublications in South Africa

Presenters against fracking: Dr. Anthony Turton, a well known

water resource scientist, formerly at

the CSIR, now professor in theCentre for Environmental Manage-ment at the University of the FreeState (UFS)

Dr. Chris Hartnady, formerly associ-ate professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at UCT, now

technical director at Umvoto, withexpertise in structural geology andtectonics in South and southern

Africa

The Chairman was Dr. Rod Crompton,a member of the board of the NationalEnergy Regulator of South Africa(NERSA), responsible for regulatingpetroleum and gas pipelines.

The debate covered: The geological aspects of the area Job creation, economic develop-

ment and poverty alleviation Security of energy supply and

opportunities for power generation,energy diversity and cleaner burn-ing energy resources

Investment and business opportuni-ties, and technology risks

Impacts on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project

The old economy vs. the new econ-omy; the stone-age vs. the space-age; the resource-based economyvs. the knowledge-based economy

Hydrocarbon-based energy vs.renewable energy

Security of water supply and theimpacts on the regions water resources

Fracking chemicals and water pol-lution issues

Waste-water storage, handling andprocessing

Issues of CO 2 emissions and cli-mate change

Environmental risks and dangers,and environmental protectionissues

Competition for land Alternative technologies and tech-

niques.

G Contact: Chris Yelland EE Publishers (Pty) Ltd E-mail: [email protected]

Netmetering

G reenCape initiative is a sector development agency set up by the WesternCape Province to look at the Green Economy.Part of their work is looking at Netmetering. They were wondering if there was

any research being done/already done on the impact of forgone municipal incomefor netmetering. If you push electricity back into the grid and run your meter back-ward this is tantamount to selling at the retail price, there will be a foregoneincome to the municipality from electricity that they would have sold to you.

They are anticipating that this will be the major objection from National Treas-ury and were hoping someone had already looked at it.

G Contact: Michael Mulcahy GreenCape initiativeTel: 021 811 0250 E-mail: [email protected]: www.green-cape.co.za

Fracking in the Karoo for and against ...


16/20


Wind sector expert required

E RM are looking for a wind sector expert, who is based in South Africa, tosupport their verification /validation teams on Clean Development Mecha-nism (CDM) projects.Wind sector experts working on CDM validations or verifications are required

to have one of the following:1. One years direct work experience in the field2. Related experience in project management/consultancy and successful com-

pletion of a relevant technical course/training programme3. Experience working on four validation/verification activities (twice as an

assessor-under-training accompanying a qualified validator/verifier then twiceunder observation by a qualified validator/verifier/technical expert) and suc-cessful completion of a relevant technical course/training programme.

Experts working on verifications must also provide evidence of knowledge or aprior professional qualification in one of the following areas:a) Instrumentation and metrological /calibration expertiseb) Management system (e.g. ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 17025).

G Contact: Rich Purser ERM Cell: +27 82 823 4173E-mail: [email protected]

The Event Greening Forum (EGF),which has been operating infor-mally since 2009, has nowbecome a Section 21 company andreceived support from eight MICEassociations (meetings, incentives,conferences and exhibitions), enablingit to be effective in realising its mandate- to promote sustainable and ethicalbusiness practices in the South Africanevents industry

The EGF will encourage business-es to operate in a responsible manner by providing support, resources andtraining. Its focus will address the triplebottom line of sustainability: people,planet and prosperity.

FOUNDING MEMBERS Exhibition & Event Association of

Southern Africa (EXSA) Southern African Association for the

Conference Industry (SAACI)

Southern African Tourism Services Association (SATSA) Federated Hospitality Association

of Southern Africa (Fedhasa)

Certified Meeting Professional Net-work South Africa (CMP NetworkSA)

International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA)

Technical Production Services Association (TPSA)

South African Roadies Association(SA Roadies)

Justin Hawes, MD of Scan Display,co-founded and co-chairs the forumwith Grace Stead, one of the directorsof icologie, a sustainability training andconsultancy company. He says, Theresponse from the associations hasbeen good and everyone has demon-strated a strong appreciation for theimportance of greening and a readi-ness to embrace it.

Its official launch took place at SATourisms Meetings Africa 2011, whichis a good fit for the EGF, as a large pro-

portion of the MICE industry relates tobusiness tourism and can benefit fromtaking steps to improve their sustain-ability.

SA Tourism showed support for theEGF and its objectives by attending thelaunch and implementing green meas-ures at the expo, including the use of renewable energy and conducting aneco-audit to measure the effectivenessof its event greening interventions.

G With acknowledgement to Bizcommi-unity.com

Website: www.eventgreening.co.za

Event Greening Forum becomes official

The founding members


17/20


The 3rd Annual Nuclear Forum inSouth Africa with the theme:Nuclear Power - AcceleratedProgress was held on 19 May 2011 atthe Emperors Palace, Johannesburg.

This one-day conference was sup-ported and endorsed by the Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa(NIASA), and was sponsored by Areva.

BACKGROUNDWorld electricity consumption hasincreased dramatically over the lastnumber of years. The future outlook isthat world electricity demand will con-tinue to increase at a rapid rate.

This trend is even more true in Africa, where the levels of electrifica-tion in some countries are as low as5%. South Africa has a declared inten-tion of doubling electricity production inthe near future.

With world sentiment aiming to cur-tail the use of fossil fuels, the only elec-trical energy source that has the poten-tial to provide major reliable base-loadelectricity is nuclear.

Traditionally the capital cost of nuclear power is considered to be high-er than that for fossil fuels. However,the question needs to be askedwhether the higher nuclear capital costis a refection of genuine necessity, or whether it is significantly due to legisla-tion resulting from public perceptionsthat then have the consequence of increasing construction costs. We needto examine these factors, to establishto what degree we can reduce the cap-ital cost of nuclear power in South

Africa.Public misperception concerning

nuclear power also extends to issuessuch as the handling and storage of nuclear waste. Such misperceptionsexert a powerful public opinion force ongovernment approach to policy.

The public needs to be accuratelyinformed on such nuclear issues, so as

to facilitate open and meaningful publicparticipation in energy provision discus-sion.

At the 3rd Annual Nuclear Forum

these issues of approach to construc-tion, and approach to public perceptionwere examined and discussed.

The damage suffered at onenuclear power plant in Japan, as aresult of their tragic earthquake andresulting tsunami, underlines the needfor a powerful and reasoned approachto the important issue of nuclear power.

The programme included keyspeakers addressing: Domestic construction of nuclear

power plants, by Dr. XolaniMkhwanazi, chairman, BHP Billiton

SA possesses nuclear technologyand knowhow, by Prof. PhilipLloyd, Energy Institute Cape Penin-sula University of Technology

Do the numbers produce construc-tion or confusion, by Pali Lehohla,statistician general

Economic reality of energy priceand cost, by Leon Louw, executivedirector, Free Market Foundation

Nuclear and renewable power arenot competitors, by Dr. ZeblonVilakazi, Director, iThemba Labs

What Happened at Fukushima, byDr. Ramatsemela Masango, groupexecutive - nuclear compliance,Necsa.

The Japanese experience andpublic perception, by AndrewKenny, Energy Policy Consultant

Radio-isotope production, by Dr.Van Zyl de Villiers, group executive- Strategy, Necsa

Shape of a national nuclear net-work, by Prof. Eben Mulder, direc-tor, Post Graduate School of Nuclear Science & Engineering,

University of the North West 14h45: Safety, jobs, costs, by Dr.Yves Guenon, managing director,

Areva

China: Experience and Prospects ,by a nuclear representative fromChina

G Contact: Candice Scorer Project Manager, SiyenzaTel: 011 463-9184Fax: 011 463-8432 Email [email protected]

3rd Annual Nuclear Forum

in South Africa


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Three City Events has announcedthe inaugural launch of its fullycomprehensive greening expo,The Green Expo, being held from 12-14 August 2011 at the Cape Town Inter-national Convention Centre (CTICC). Itwill be an accessible exhibition, focus-ing on sustainability issues, for bothhomeowners and business people. TheFriday has been designed as a tradeexpo while the Saturday and Sundayare open to the public.

The organisers have been activelyinvolved in the greening of the eventindustry and had an active involvementin the newly formed Event GreeningForum. Recent events have had thecarbon footprint minimised with the bal-ance being offset with renewable ener-gy certificates, making the expos car-bon neutral. In addition, it has sup-ported local small businesses as sup-pliers and exhibitors, wherever possi-

ble, to support the principles of thetriple bottom line.The company has a successful

track record in exhibition management;it manages the award-winning SABCEducation Baba Indaba, has won theEXSA award for Best Consumer Exhi-bition of the Year, four times in the lastfive years as well as a gold award for the Most Memorable Event in 2009.The company has also been awardedthe Top Women award for gender empowerment.

The expo is a unique opportunityfor businesses and organisations topublicise their products to the morethan 15 000 visitors anticipated. Con-sumers and businesses must worktogether to make a favourable impacton the planet through their personaland professional lives, says NatalieNaude, organiser and MD of Three CityEvents. Therefore, The Green Expo isaimed primarily at the consumer butwith a significant business appeal.

Visitors will be attracted to the expoto witness new practical methods to

going green; to look for value in their existing businesses and scout for newbusiness opportunities and to listen to

talks by professional speakers on thelife choice issues facing us today.Businesses involved in reducing car-bon emissions, energy saving tech-nologies, sustainable business prac-tices, organic products, recycling andeco-friendly products are stronglyencouraged to participate.

The website will provide an interac-tive resource containing informationand education on sustainability issuesas well as promoting exhibitors andsuppliers of green technology.

G With acknowledgements to Bizcom-munty.comWebsite: www.thegreenexpo.co.za

Cape Town gets Green Expo

CPUT offers petroleum course

The Energy Institute of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology is to offer an introductory course to the petroleum industry from 28 August to 2 Septem-ber 2011.The need for such a course was identified after discussions with the Department

of Energy. There are no university courses devoted to the whole industry. Newentrants to the industry have difficulty in getting to grips with the extent of the indus-try and its ramifications.

The petroleum companies are global players, and the oil majors have beenamong the leading companies in the Fortune 500 list for the past 100 years. Someof the majors have annual revenues larger than South Africas GDP. The petroleumindustry is the largest single contributor to our national exchequer.

To satisfy the need, the CPUT has structured a course with international andlocal lecturers knowledgeable about the industry. Prof Jean-Pierre Favennec of theFrench IFP, author of several books on the industry, will take the lead. Local expertsinclude Prof Philip Lloyd of the Energy Institute and Prof Anton Eberhard of UCTsGraduate School of Business, with additional input from some members of theindustry in South Africa. A tour of a refinery is included.

The course will be held at the Townhouse Conference Centre in Cape Town. Itwill be five intensive days, so residence in the conference centre is encouraged.Thus participants need not waste time travelling, and they can start to forge thosenetworks that are essential to the smooth running of the industry. To foster this, avery favourable daily rate has been negotiated at the hotel.

G Contact: Anneke de Klerk Cape Peninsula University of Technology Tel: 021 460 3658

E-mail [email protected]


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Energy Management News (Cape Town, SA)

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