The fourth Anniversary of Wind Power Africa is an impressive manifestation of its importance for the successful development of wind energy in Africa.

Microsoft, Amazon and Apple are dirtying your data. Let's ask their CEOs to clean-up and quit coal.

Why does the political prestige and prowess associated with the acquisition of nuclear weapons by a government still weigh heavier than considering future damage to the planet? Surely they know by now of the long-term effects of these radioactive chemicals on the environment?

This conference aims to provide a platform for business to communicate directly with local, regional and global experts who are already immersed in the Water, Food, and Energy Nexus.

Belgium’s Energy Minister Melchior Wathelet has recently announced that the tax imposed by Belgium on the nuclear power industry will without doubt be extended to 2013.

Four leading renewable energy associations have announced their intention to launch an umbrella body to act as a single voice championing the importance and relevance of the Renewable Energy Industry in South Africa. The announcement comes in the wake of the Green Economy Accord recently concluded through a series of engagements amongst Government, Business, Labour and Community at Nedlac.

New street lighting in Durban represents good luminance and uniformity in LED lighting; will create a more livable city with safer roads, increased security and a comfortable outdoor environment.

South Africa and European Union nations earlier this week announced a massive renewable energy initative, and this was launched in Durban on Wednesday. The South African Renewables Initiative (SARi) is in a bid to scale up and secure long-term funding to enable the growth of the renewable energy industry in South Africa.

A start has been made with construction of South Africa’s first “green” town that in time is expected to operate largely independently of the national energy grid. It will also be the first rural town fully integrated with an existing agricultural component, in this case a professionally run dairy farm, and one in which future food security has formed an important component of the overall planning.

Fuel made from wood could become a competitive commercial alternative to fuel made from corn by 2020 if the wood biofuel industry is supported, according to a new University of British Columbia study.

Powertech IST Otokon was awarded the Energy Project of the Year at the Southern African Association for Energy Efficiency’s (SAEE) Awards Ceremony last night.

Simon Alger (pictured), a second-year BSc Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Cape Town, walked away with one of two R15,000-00 Southern African Association for Energy Efficiency (SAEE) bursaries awarded at the organisations' prestigious Annual Banquet and Awards Ceremony in November 2010. The second bursary was awarded to Lisa Mniki, also a second-year student, studying Town and Regional Planning at Durban University of Technology.

The Centre for Energy and Electric Power (CEEP), Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at Tshwane University of Technology, announces its inaugural annual workshop on Energy and the Environment for Africa's Public Officers.

Energy continues to be big news. In South Africa, there's a focus on our future energy mix: that is, to say how much energy we should be generating from fossil fuels, nuclear or renewable energy resources. It's a critical issue, not just from an environmental perspective but also from an economic viewpoint. Surprisingly, we've heard little from business on the issue and arguably current Government deliberations aren't to business's liking.

The Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), Government's framework for meeting SA's future energy needs, is being finalised. Under this scenario SA will require far more energy than is currently available and, the IRP proposes, up to 70% is to be sourced from fossil fuels (primarily coal-based energy), 14% from nuclear and 16% from renewable sources by 2030.

While the reduction of fossil fuels from its current 95% of SA's energy sources is to be applauded, there will still be an increase in fossil fuel usage in absolute terms and a concurrent increase in associated greenhouse gases. Eskom's two new coal-fired power stations ' Medupi and Kusile ' will provide an additional 9 500MW of energy to the grid. Medupi alone will be the world's fourth largest coal-fired power station. Antiquated stations such as Komati, Grootvlei and Camden are being revived, indicating that Eskom remains well wedded to coal to meet SA's future energy demands.

business needs to be challenged

Business needs to be challenged on whether that's in its best interest. There are numerous reasons why I'd argue it is not. First, Government committed SA to conditional, but ambitious, greenhouse gas reduction targets at the Copenhagen climate change talks in 2009. Against a 'business as usual' growth trajectory, SA aims to reduce greenhouse gases by 34% by 2020 and by 42% by 2025. With the help of some innovative legislation, Government must expect business to meet these targets on its behalf. This will be difficult if SA brings on line additional fossil-fuel based electricity.

Second, Government appears set on the idea of carbon taxes. A discussion paper released by the National Treasury in December last year mooted levies from R75/t of CO2, rising to as high as R360/t. Business will find that expensive, especially when bolted to increased electricity costs.

Third, companies are setting their own carbon reduction targets. Some of these are in absolute values, such as FirstRand's 11% reduction between 2008 and 2011. Those targets are publicly declared and in this day and age of integrated reporting are gaining prominence. Such targets will be difficult to achieve without significant reduction in fossil-fuel based power and the availability of alternate clean resources.

meeting reduction targets

Finally, business faces various forms of compliance, including the submission to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) of their carbon footprints and achievement (or not) in meeting reduction targets. The CDP has proven extremely successful in publicising business's performance and that's often picked up by the media. There's an inherent reputational risk for companies whose carbon footprints increase but are unable to achieve stated reduction targets.

So why the muteness from business when the issue of carbon and energy is of such direct concern to it? One could surmise it's because business believes it's more beneficial to engage with Government behind closed doors. However, that would strike a blow for transparency and misses the opportunity to join forces with other clean energy voices.

Cynically, perhaps, it's because fossil-fuel based energy is perceived as the cheapest alternative ' which it currently is ' and business wants the least expensive option, even if that's contrary to national or corporate carbon targets. But such a viewpoint would be short-sighted of business. With taxes and other instruments in the offing, fossil fuel energy will become increasingly expensive and, if climate change is a concern, then business should be unequivocally calling for a rapid replacement of such energy with cleaner alternatives.

By Alex Hetherington. Source

The German Ministry of Economics and Technology will provide a German pavilion to specifically promote the participation of German companies in the Africa Energy Indaba 2012.

Measurement and verification professionals will now be regulated and accredited by a new body to assist the roll out of tax incentives for demonstrated energy savings.

The Southern African Association for Energy Efficiency (SAEE) has joined forces with Gareth Burley, a radio presenter on Kingfisher FM in Nelson Mandela Bay, in starting a national conversation about energy efficiency.

South Africa can create around 150 000 new jobs in the energy sector in the next 20 years, and at the same time safeguard against catastrophic climate change - according to Greenpeace's new 'Advanced Energy [R]evolution' report.

South Africa is committed to becoming a low carbon economy and to reducing our carbon emissions by 34% by 2020. The demand for skilled professionals in the carbon and energy sectors is rising. Predictions around job creation from these industries are very promising.

South Africans showed their power to save electricity when they switched off their lights for this past Earth Hour (Saturday 26 March), saving 350MW - enough electricity to power the city of Bloemfontein (aka Mangaung).

As part of its support for the Earth Hour campaign, Eskom measured the reduction in electricity used during the hour against typical consumption for this time on an average Saturday evening.