2007-12-16
Alternatives Energy Sources
Right now, South Africa is in the middle of a huge energy crisis - there is just not enough electricity to go around. The result is wide spread regular power outages, which has effected businesses, education, health care and just about every other industry you can think about.
The problem also hit home, in that I could see how it effected my wife's small business which she runs from home. We have implemented some measures, like generators and UPS equipment to carry the business through the average of 2 hours of outages per day. The bigger problem however, is that other businesses which my wife depend on do not employ measures to help them during power outages, so that leaves my wife still in a pickle.
Now I see that the SA government have approved some budget for the building of new power plants. It is amazing for me to see that not only is it like a decade late to make the decision, but they still insists on coal fuel electricity generation! I realize that for now we still have plenty of coal reserves - but it's going to run dry at some point - probably still in our life time.
So why don't they consider alternative sources of energy? South Africa is known for a couple of unique features that make for ideal alternative energy sources:
I know I can do more myself around home, and every so often I implement something new. For example, our home now use exclusively the new 16w or 24w globes (previously we had 60w or 100w globes). I also invested in a more economical car. Progress is slow, but we are getting there. Now I just hope the goverment can also wake up to the challenges.
The problem also hit home, in that I could see how it effected my wife's small business which she runs from home. We have implemented some measures, like generators and UPS equipment to carry the business through the average of 2 hours of outages per day. The bigger problem however, is that other businesses which my wife depend on do not employ measures to help them during power outages, so that leaves my wife still in a pickle.
Now I see that the SA government have approved some budget for the building of new power plants. It is amazing for me to see that not only is it like a decade late to make the decision, but they still insists on coal fuel electricity generation! I realize that for now we still have plenty of coal reserves - but it's going to run dry at some point - probably still in our life time.
So why don't they consider alternative sources of energy? South Africa is known for a couple of unique features that make for ideal alternative energy sources:
- We have over 2700km coast line - ideal for wave energy extraction projects
- We have sunshine - lots of it! Especially in winter months.
- We have strong winds in many parts, especially along the various mountain ranges running the length of the country (the Drakensberg in particular)
- We have LOTS of uranium (although it's not a "clean" energy source, I think it's proven to be relatively safe if well managed)
- Here is a Wikipedia page about wave power
- Here is a BBC news article about an actual deployment
- Another interesting presentation (PDF) on the topic
I know I can do more myself around home, and every so often I implement something new. For example, our home now use exclusively the new 16w or 24w globes (previously we had 60w or 100w globes). I also invested in a more economical car. Progress is slow, but we are getting there. Now I just hope the goverment can also wake up to the challenges.
