Dr John Ledger is well-known for his sustainable energy views. He is not only chair of the Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa, but also deputy chair of the National Environmental Advisory Forum; non-executive director of the Johannesburg Zoological Gardens; editor of Endangered Wildlife Magazine; content editor of African Wildlife Magazine; and editor of EWT Vision Annual - Environment & Business – amongst other things. The following is an excerpt of John’s article in Endangered Wildlife:
Crossing the Rubicon
Energy specialists predicted that South Africa would run out of electricity in around 2007. Government debated and dithered, and talks about privatisation and reconstruction meandered on. Then one of the units at Koeberg nuclear power station packed up in February 2006 because of a damaged generator rotor. The Western Cape was plunged into darkness, and all hell broke loose!
Newspaper headlines reflected the anger of the people: 'Power cuts set off eco disaster'; 'Crashes, dead robots gridlock traffic'; 'We can't cope," Eskom admits'; 'Power cuts creating big losses for business'; 'Blackouts may short-circuit ANC's hopes of victory' and many more in the same vein. Ecological damage resulted from the failure of electric pumps; and raw sewage poured into rivers and wetlands, some of them important natUre reserves like Zeekoeivlei and Zandvlei.
The energy crisis also precipitated a debate about renewable energy: 'City warming to solar heating': 'Call for city to act now on renewable energy pledge'; 'Self-sufficient power could be yours within a year', the last being an exaggerated report on new solar panels
Given the power required to cook food, heat water and run household appliances, it would be extremely expensive to convert a typical electricity-dependent home to a photovoltaic system, even if a 50% reduction in the cost of PV panels is achieved soon.
The secret is to introduce a mix of appropriate energy technologies to wean ourselves off total dependence on mains electricity. This will take time and money, but it would make us resilient to power outages.
The logical place to start is by installing a 2 square meter solar water heater which will replace 2,000 kilowatt hours of electricity every year. It will also save 1,000 kg of coal and 2,600 litres of water every year, and prevent the production of 1,800 kg of carbon dioxide, 284 kg of ash, 16.4 kg of sulphur dioxide and 7.2 kg of nitrous oxide.
The next area is cooking, because an electric stove is a huge consumer of electricity. A gas stove provides instantaneous heat, and while not inexpensive, it does make you independent of mains electricity. Solar cookers and energy-efficient biomass cookers (like the 'Cobb' which can cook a meal with a few pieces of charcoal) are also worth considering.
The logical role of renewable electricity in your home is to provide power for your lights, your computer and your TV. Start off with a set of batteries and an inverter that converts direct current from the batteries to the 220 volt AC that is used in the home. Match this system to the power requirements of the lights and electronic equipment. Feed the appropriate circuits, and replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights.
Charge this battery set from the mains. The rationale is that this will make you independent of short-term power cuts. With solar hot water, a gas or biomass cooker, lights and electronic equipment, you will be able to get on with normal activities during a power failure.
In time you add some solar panels, perhaps a small wind turbine if you live in a windy area, or some other way of charging your battery set, to enhance your independence from the municipality or Eskom. There are bound to be lots of interesting new inventions to get electricity from sun and wind. I know of one – read the story by CLICKING HERE
We can all look at energy efficiency, and the way our houses are built, to reduce electricity consumption. The heat inside your roof can warm the house in winter, or heat granite chips under the floor to warm the house at night.
So while we have sympathy for our friends in the Cape who have been inconvenienced by the recent blackouts outages, we thank you for providing a 'wake up' call to all South Africans. We have crossed the energy Rubicon and must henceforth find ways to meet our household energy needs and reduce our dependence on potentially unreliable suppliers in future.
Contact dr Ledger at 011 680-1553; 083-650-1768;
or visit his web site www.sessa.org.za
