The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Saliem Fakir -
Citizens should brace themselves for a long journey of troubled co-existence with Eskom’s woes.
Citizens with higher incomes are likely to become less dependent on Eskom because they can supply their energy needs through alternative power sources like renewables, solar-water heaters, gas and home-diesel generators. But poorer households that cannot afford alternatives will either have to absorb higher electricity costs or live with reduced quality of life.
There are several...
At a recent seminar, Brian Ashley, director of the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), said that we are facing the mother of all crises in climate change. Importantly, if we are to keep global warming below two degrees celsius, 70% of fossil fuels must stay below the earth's surface. This makes the transition to a low carbon economy vital for South Africa.
But how do you convince thousands of jobless South Africans with a low carbon footprint, as a consequence of their...
South Africa has made good progress on climate policy, but that could be held up by a new emerging political economy in the country that can only be described as "more coal, more nuclear, and more gas", said Saliem Fakir of the WWF at a seminar, which explored the potential for a transition to a clean energy economy.
Sadly for South Africans, while there is an understanding of the level of carbon intensity in the country, we are only likely to shift towards a low carbon economy...
Tim Radford -
A global low-carbon energy economy is not only feasible, it could double electricity supply by 2050 while actually reducing air and water pollution, according to new research.
Even though photovoltaic power requires up to 40 times more copper than conventional power plants, and wind power uses up to 14 times more iron, the world wins on a switch to low-carbon energy.
These positive findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Edgar Hertwich and Thomas...
Saliem Fakir -
There are three aspects of energy supply that lend themselves to shifting the diversification of a national economy. The mix of supply should reduce dependence on any source, especially if the source creates a foreign dependence or a systems path-dependence that eventually leads to wider risks for the general economy.
In South Africa, coal is becoming too constraining. Our long-term dependence on coal for the majority of our energy, both electricity and liquid fuels, makes it hard to...
On a single Sunday in May this year, Germany was able to obtain nearly 75 percent of its electricity from renewable resources. By noon that day, electricity prices went negative. Small producers such as small businesses, families and co-ops are producing large amounts of wind and solar energy at near zero marginal cost, which is fed into the grid. Renewable energy technologies have sprung up in tandem with information technology heralding a move away from energy being supplied by large...
