"The source of energy in the future is going to be clean energy, but no single source will dominate. You wouldn't put a solar on the windy planes of North Dakota if you could put a turbine there," said Rick Needham, Google's director of green business operations in a recent interview.
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has published a study mapping the potential of renewable energy sources in Africa. The report analyses the current energy consumption in Africa and assesses potential of renewable energy sources - solar, wind, biomass and hydropower - and their cost efficiency and environmental sustainability.
About 77% of the country’s primary energy is provided by coal. Of that, 53% is used for electricity generation and 15 of the utility’s 27 existing and incomplete power stations are coal fired. South Africa’s dependence on fossil fuels is fast depleting our energy sources and is slowly resulting in a substantial depletion.
Not nuclear or coal, but the sun could power up the whole of South Africa. After the Sahara and some parts of Australia, The Rainbow Nation has the most stable and reliable solar radiation output in the world and is blessed with ample space and plenty of solar hours.
South Africa has an average of over 2,500 hours of sunshine annually. The country's solar radiation output is over twice that of Europe and one of the highest outputs in the world. This makes it a perfect climate for solar energy.
Affordable, accessible and energy efficient solar water heating systems such as solar geysers, retrofit geysers, heat pumps & hybrid systems.
Tasol is a renewable energies company with a national franchised footprint, and warehouses in Johanneburg, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. Solar Academy of Sub Saharan Africa is the sole distributor of the Tasol brand. Tasol focuses on two main solar power categories: Thermal systems (Solar water heating) and Photovoltaic systems.
Sun Hot Solar offer's a wide range of solar water heating systems for different budgets and applications and can tailor systems to suit each of their customers' individual requirements.
Your electric geyser is the most demanding electrical device in your house.
Replacing your geyser with a solar powered system can reduce your hot water electricity consumption by up to 80 percent.
South Africa’s Green Economy Accord was launched at the COP17 talks in Durban today. The Accord, one of the most comprehensive social pacts on green jobs in the world, builds a partnership to create 300 000 new jobs by 2020, in economic activities as diverse as energy generation, manufacturing of products that reduce carbon emissions, farming activities to provide feedstock for biofuels, soil and environmental management and eco tourism.
One in four people on this planet, including 550 million Africans living in rural areas, do not have access to electricity. This lack inhibits their economic development. Electricity can power their mobile phones, light their homes, and pump up water for irrigation. Renewable energy provides an affordable and eco-friendly way to improve their lives.
Although winter drought has detrimental effects on some parts of the world, it gives us the opportunity to be creative and explore solar technology.
Enough solar energy falls on the earth's surface every 70 minutes as humankind can use each year, and delivers reliable power without any fuel or significant storage costs.
In the aftermath of the Fukushima crisis, a majority of sustainability experts around the world now say that nuclear power isn't essential to a low-carbon energy future, research released today shows.
Early indications are that the market may well share such sentiments:
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has announced that Japan is rethinking its stance on nuclear power and that renewable energy will become a cornerstone for his country's energy policy.
The commercial solar industry in South Africa has received a great boost with the recent announcement by Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba that the African Development Bank has approved the loan of $365 million to Eskom. The minister said during his budget speech in Parliament that Eskom had received this as part of its renewable energy project build programme in line with the IRP.
Solar panels and other forms of small-scale energy generation may be eligible for a government-backed loan scheme to householders, according to the UK's minister of state for climate change. The potential inclusion of renewable energy in the coalition's flagship 'green deal' comes as a surprise, as the development of the scheme has so far focused on energy efficiency measures such as lagging lofts.
South Africa is one of the world's most carbon intensive economies, primarily because the majority of the country's electricity demand is satisfied through coal-fired power stations. This heavy dependency on coal and fossil fuels directly contributes to the current environmental crisis that is climate change and global warming. Unless the citizens of the world, including South Africans, make dramatic and sustained changes to their lifestyles, generations to come will have to face the consequences of our reckless and irresponsible utilization of the Earth and her natural resources.
Villiera is just one of the many local wineries to join the green movement. This forward-thinking winery has always sought out sustainable initiatives to lessen its impact on the environment. By ensuring that its green strategies also make good economic sense, it keeps itself affordable both on local shelves and in the export market. Aggressive water management, natural pest controls, biodiversity initiatives and a strong culture of recycling have been the forerunners to its latest project - an estate-wide alternative energy solution, outfitted entirely by homegrown solutions provider, enerGworx, using locally designed and manufactured products.
President Nasheed, a former carpenter, screwed in the remaining bolts to help launch this weekend's Global Work Party, what will be the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. On Sunday October 10th, at 7,000 events in 188 countries, citizens will be getting to work on climate solutions and telling their politicians to do the same.
The most famous seat of power in the world, the White House, is going solar. This announcement precedes the world's most widespread political demonstration ever, calling for leaders to act climate change.
Barack Obama's Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, today announced that by early 2011 solar panels on the presidential mansion will be generating hot water and electricity. "President Obama has a strong commitment to American leadership in solar technologies and the jobs they will create." he said.
Harnessing the inexhaustible power of the sun to generate electricity where there is none, is what IBC Solar is about. But first we need to understand the different possible applications of solar energy for our society. How does it all work?
