South African entrepreneurs are taking climate change seriously: Water filters made from macadamia nut shells, a mobile solar-powered kiosk for charging phones in off-grid areas, vegetable growing systems using recycled plastic bags, and a machine that turns any type of waste into energy (gas) or diesel. At the SEED South Africa Symposium held in Pretoria recently, … [Read more...]
Africa grapples with rising demand for destructive energy source
A whopping 70 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa still relies on charcoal as well as other solid biomass fuels for energy —80 percent when excluding South Africa. The charcoal use generates tiny soot particles that create and exasperate respiratory diseases and contribute to climate change. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than four million people die annually … [Read more...]
Future path towards sustainable cooking in the global south
The role of renewable electricity for the cooking sector in the Global South has been widely underestimated. As the costs of Renewable Energy technologies continue to decline, cleaner and more modern technologies represent an entirely new pathway towards sustainable cooking in developing countries. These are the findings of the new report ‘Beyond Fire’ launched by the … [Read more...]
Book Review: Mila’s Meals
It’s not often that you have the luxury of stumbling upon a wholesome, nourishing cookbook for ‘littlies’, that covers everything from weaning to toddler-hood. Perhaps if you’ve been hanging around all the right places most of the time, a little surprise like this ends up on your lap that leaves a delightful sparkle in your eyes. Having read this well researched book from … [Read more...]
Rekindling our sacred connection with the soil
We are at the cusp of empires falling and worlds colliding. While this may be a bold statement. In the seeming chaos of collapsing economies, unprecedented and endless wars, unpredictable weather patterns and huge animal die-offs, our most appropriate response appears to be some sort of foundational re-structuring. We find ourselves at the foundations of a new reality, a New … [Read more...]
Finding smart insulation for a hot house
Another summer almost over … hope to goodness the worst heat is over. How clueless was the building industry about energy efficiency when most of our houses were built! Who does not want to save energy now – and it is indeed all our duty to relieve the pressure on the national energy supply. Our double storey really cooks upstairs, where we work. Ancient traces of insulation … [Read more...]
Position for dynamic solarpreneur
A great position for a sharp minded solarpreneur is going at SunFire Solution, run by Crosby Menzies for the past 10 years as SA's leading Solar Cooker Company. SunFire was created to assist 3 billion people reliant on firewood every day to access clean cooking technologies and, in the process, create an equal footing for the women and children who carry most of the burden … [Read more...]
Employing aliens to capture carbon
Imagine turning thirsty alien invasive trees into biochar. Biochar is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass. This differs from charcoal only in the sense that its primary use is not for fuel, but for biosequestration or atmospheric carbon capture. If created under specific conditions it can also be suitable as a soil amendment. In a forest near Pietermaritzburg there is … [Read more...]
Being the change we want to see
A small group of environmental activists and food growers have started the Mpophomeni Conservation Group (MCG) under the auspices of Midlands Conservancies Forum. They host walks and talks, screen environmental movies and facilitate the Mpop Kidz Club which meets after school a couple of times a week, with support from N3 Toll Concession. MCG plan to inspire others in their … [Read more...]
Let the sun do your braai!
The Sun: it rises each day unpaid and taken for granted. Few places in the world are as blessed with such richness of Sunlight as Southern Africa, and to say that South Africans like to Braai is a colossal understatement. We are obsessed with braaing – something about being outside in our beautiful climate with friends and family, hatching adventure plans or discussing recent … [Read more...]
Innovative solar cooker bikes to help Sowetans
Nedbank launched an innovative “solar cooker bike” in partnership with the Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) and Sunfire Solutions; which aims to introduce a sustainable way of clean energy cooking to communities in Soweto. The energy efficiency project; which is a pilot exercise that could lead to a much bigger future rollout; combines the cooking … [Read more...]
Free energy from your own waste – biodigesters make sense
In the pursuit of a greener, healthier lifestyle we are constantly on the lookout for new ways to turn our wasteful lives into a more logical nature-simulating exercise, as Nature is always our best teacher. In nature there is no waste – everything is re-used to benefit some other organism, often as food. Of all the eco devices that we can now implement to lead lives that … [Read more...]
Izwilesizwe Primary starts solar cooking
The GPS diligently led me through shacks and narrow tar-less streets to an incorrect location. Temperatures already climbed into the thirties at 8am in the morning. I back tracked a bit and passed a young girl with her books under her arm and a bright blue t-shirt on. I asked for directions and she promptly pointed me in the right direction - Izwilesizwe Primary School, … [Read more...]
