In Part 2 we get to grips with the different types of currents and how to install your batteries to store your solar energy. Alternating current (AC) is what you find in the power mains from a power utility. AC has a positive and neutral. Direct current (DC) has a positive and negative and is the power we find in a battery. In AC, the positive and neutral alternates 50 times … [Read more...]
SA top of world clean energy investment!
For once SA is tops in the world with the rapid rise in our country's clean energy investment. “Since 2012, South Africa has emerged as one of the most important centres for clean energy investment, as it seeks to expand power capacity and take advantage of its sunshine and wind resources,” said Luke Mills, a clean energy economics analyst at BNEF. “The first quarter saw … [Read more...]
Giant news organisation to divest from fossil fuels
The Guardian Media Group - the owners of one of the world’s most respected and influential news organisations - has begun the process of divesting itself from fossil fuels. The move follows the launch of The Guardian's own climate change campaign - in partnership with 350.org - to press two of the world’s largest charitable foundations to stop investing in oil, coal and gas … [Read more...]
Solving the Eskom problem and poverty simultaneously
The South African government’s plan to spend almost R1 trillion on nuclear power, and the nuclear agreements between SA and China, Russia, France, Korea have got me thinking. Imagine this scenario. The Russian state-run bank lends SA R1 trillion. SA pays this 1 trillion straight back to the Russian State-run Nuclear company Rosatom who spends a portion of this on building … [Read more...]
CO2 emissions stalled in 2014 despite economic growth
In what has been described as a real surprise by the International Energy Agency (IEA), annual global emissions of carbon dioxide experienced zero growth in 2014, even as the globe’s economy continued to grow. According to IEA data CO2 emissions for 2014 were 32.3 billion tonnes, the same as 2013, meanwhile the global economy grew by 3 per cent. While this is not the … [Read more...]
New nuclear investments not a solution to SA electricity crisis
Greenpeace activists today protested at the opening of the two-day long ‘2nd Nuclear Industry Congress Africa 2015’, demanding a halt to shortsighted nuclear plans and the prioritisation of renewable energy investments amid South Africa’s energy crisis. As a direct communication to the delegates, the activists disrupted the opening of the congress and unfurled a banner inside … [Read more...]
Financial benefits from renewables exceed costs in SA
During 2014 renewable energy from SA's first wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) projects brought R0.8-billion more financial benefits to the country than what they cost. This according to an independent study by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The benefits earned were two-fold. The first, derived from diesel and coal fuel cost savings, is pinned … [Read more...]
SA to host the next International Renewable Energy Conference
The Government of South Africa announced that it has teamed up with REN21 – the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century - to organise the next International Renewable Energy Conference (IREC) in South Africa in autumn 2015. Dedicated exclusively to the renewable energy sector, IREC is a high-level political conference series hosted by a national government … [Read more...]
Blooming renewables in South Africa
Due to the increasing threat of climate change, the key role that energy plays in the interactions between societies and resources towards a sustainable development has gained broad attention. As renewable energy sources (RES) become more competitive in relation to other energy sources, they create another opportunity to attract additional investments in favour of a greener … [Read more...]
Small farms and organic practices can feed the world
Governments must shift subsidies and research funding from agro-industrial monoculture to small farmers using ‘agroecological’ methods, according to the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. And as Nafeez Ahmed notes, her call coincides with a new agroecology initiative within the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. Modern industrial agricultural methods can no … [Read more...]
Africa’s largest solar farm now fully operational
The Jasper solar farm, located near Kimberley in South Africa, is now the continent's largest solar power project. Construction was completed in October, and it is now fully operational (you can read that in the Star Wars emperor's voice). With a rated capacity of 96 megawatts, Jasper will produce about 180,000 megawatt-hours of clean energy annually for South African … [Read more...]
King Solar will rule the world
In the 1980s, leading consultants were skeptical about cellular phones. McKinsey & Company noted that the handsets were heavy, batteries didn’t last long, coverage was patchy, and the cost per minute was exorbitant. It predicted that in 20 years the total market size would be about 900,000 units, and advised AT&T to pull out. McKinsey was wrong, of course. There were … [Read more...]
City to offset small-scale electricity generation
Small scale alternative energy generators - yes that includes you and I with solar PV on the roof - will finally be able to feed our excess energy back into the grid and get paid for it by the City of Cape Town! The City of Cape Town has set itself a target of sourcing 10% of its electricity from renewable energy resources by 2020 and the roll-out of the small-scale embedded … [Read more...]
