When Pravin and Nirvana Goorun returned to South Africa after ten years in Dublin, Ireland they wanted to leave a legacy for their children. “Not in terms of monetary funds, but in a business that supports a sustainable future and takes responsibility for a healthy world,” said Nirvana. In Ireland Pravin, a corporate accountant and Nirvana, a chemical engineer, missed the … [Read more...]
The sun’s impending temper tantrum
In late January and again in the second week of March, the sun lashed out in a bit of a temper tantrum, on both occasions sending out a powerful interplanetary coronal mass ejection whose full effects reached Earth in a few days. We got lucky: Nothing much happened, and the resulting space weather storm didn’t pack as big a punch as expected. This won’t always be the … [Read more...]
South Africa electricity supply under pressure
About 77% of the country’s primary energy is provided by coal. Of that, 53% is used for electricity generation and 15 of the utility’s 27 existing and incomplete power stations are coal fired. South Africa’s dependence on fossil fuels is fast depleting our energy sources and is slowly resulting in a substantial depletion. This harsh reality was proven again this week after … [Read more...]
Burning wetland stops us in our tracks
On Friday afternoon we were about to hit ‘send’ to release this issue, when a thick smoke invaded our office like a ghost. We ran outside to see the wetland beyond our wall go up in flames – fanned by a strong wind blowing in our direction. Ironically we were just focusing on the importance of wetlands as central to healthy ecosystems and here they are destroyed again. This … [Read more...]
Extreme heat and fires to increase
“South Africa is likely to see drastic rises in surface temperatures over the coming century as well as an increase in the occurrence of very hot days. Heat waves are expected to occur more frequently,” said Francois Engelbrecht, Principal Researcher on Climate Studies – Modeling and Environmental Health at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR.) He was … [Read more...]
Solar flare causing problems for technology
Having a problem with your internet or cellphone connection? Or making strange bleeps yourself? You may have to blame a higher power – the sun. On Wednesday, Nov. 9th a magnetic filament in the vicinity of sunspot complex 1342-1343 erupted, producing a M1-class solar flare and hurling a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. But what are CME's? CME's are 'flames' that shoot … [Read more...]
Growing a solar thermal power economy
In recent months South Africa has seen a dramatic change in its energy policy as the Department of Energy, NERSA and Eskom have taken steps to move to a renewable energy future. On November 4th the Independent Power Producer bidding process for the first 200MW of CSP will close, leaving many anxious developers waiting until COP17 to find out if their project has won the … [Read more...]
Greenpeace’s new campaign enlists SA sun and wind
Greenpeace Africa's quirky new renewable energy campaign, Use Me More, is a plea from the South African sun and wind to be used more as renewable energy sources. Instead of letting them blow away dandelions and give us a tan, we'd like them to power our country! Did you know that the amount of solar energy that reaches the planet in one year is double the energy contained in … [Read more...]
The future of SA’s solar industry
Enough solar energy falls on the earth's surface every 70 minutes as humankind can use each year, and delivers reliable power without any fuel or significant storage costs. With an average of more than 2,500 hours of sunshine every year, South Africa's solar radiation output is twice that of Europe, making it one of the highest in the world, and the perfect climate for readily … [Read more...]
Eco home part 1: keeping warm this winter
Natural medicine, vitamins and nutrition are some of the ways to keep colds and flu at bay in winter. Another way is the often forgotten old housewife's recommendation to keep warm, and it has proved its merit over the centuries. Keeping warm with clothes is one option, the other is to warm your house. That said the day of an oncoming flu or cold has often pointed out to us … [Read more...]
Harsh realities of global warming in Namibia
I'm woken by the sound of rushing water. I get up and hang out of the window. A river rushing by? Indeed. I have lived on dry river banks for many years, so it's a sound I know well. But now we're in a suburb of Windhoek. It's cool and damp and you might think you were in a Cape Town winter, as it never seems to stop raining. Yet this is March and Windhoek is the capital of … [Read more...]
Winter solstice liberates new light
Have you ever seen anything in your life more wonderful than the way the sun, every evening, relaxed and easy, floats toward the horizon and into the clouds or the hills, or the rumpled sea, and is gone and how it slides again out of the blackness, every morning, on the other side of the world, like a red flower streaming upward on its heavenly … [Read more...]
