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THE Futuristic solutions ENERGY to avert a global crisis ISSUE
Also inside: Renewable energy • A new generation of power
P I CT URE STEVEN SU
F RO M T HE ED IT O R
C O N TA C T U S
PUBLISHER: Vasantha Angamuthu vasantha@africannewsagency.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR SIMPLY GREEN: vivian.warby@inl.co.za FEATURE WRITER: Terry van der Walt terryvdwalt@inl.co.za DESIGN: Kim Stone kim.stone@inl.co.za PRODUCTION: Renata Ford renata.ford@inl.co.za BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Keshni Odayan keshni.odayan@inl.co.za
CHANGE is being accelerated in our new world. Anything green – once seen as part of a fringe movement – is now so mainstream that it has airtime on the top news pages across the globe. Renewable energy is no longer a pipe dream but one to which governments and citizens are committing in various ways. Old systems are no longer working, and as we watch the crumbling of the old – with real-time loadshedding in South Africa and hours of blackouts – the need not only to Eskom-proof our homes, but to ensure our governments are on track and held accountable for ensuring sustainability in providing us our basic needs, is growing. We are watching communities being set up, whose sole reliance is on nature (renewables) and not fossil fuels. We are seeing municipalities also turn to renewable energies and all along the way, as the new runs alongside the old, we are given hope that what we do today will make a difference and positive impact in the world tomorrow and for generations to come. In this magazine some of the country’s foremost thought leaders on energy give us their opinions and we also hear from readers who are in their own ways going off the grid. Do keep in contact and let us know what you’re doing to create sustainability.
Vivian Warby
SALES: Charl Reineke charl@africannewsagency.com GENERAL INQUIRIES info@anapublishing.com
DO JOIN US ON: @simplygreenZA
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SG contents APRIL
2021
2 LETTER 3 CONTENTS 4 WHAT IS ENERGY? And how we can har ness it The what, how and why
14 OPINION
Energy and the 4IR – Prof Tshilidzi Marwala
18 SHOCK TACTICS
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9 RENEWABLE ENERGY
28 OPINION Water and Electricity – Benoit le Roy 31 BURN, BABY, BURN! Climate action to cool our planet
WWF unpacks Eskom’s tariff plan
22 NEWS
33 GRAVITICITY What goes up, must come down
Good global and local news
24 OPINION
Africa’s future energy mix – Saliem Fakir
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35 My gas jour ney 36 My off-grid jour ney 38 My solar jour ney 39 ENERGY TIPS 40 GARDENING Five friends grow green
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WHAT IS ENERGY Energy is how things change and move. It takes energy to cook food, to jump in the air, go to the gym, dance, walk to school, or play sport – it is “the ability to do work”. 0 4
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P I CT URE S MA X R AVI ER. L U CA S-PEZETA, CL I VEKI M
P ort ia Mbau in her garden.
Energy can take a number of different forms and can be potential, kinetic, thermal, electrical, chemical or nuclear.
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Organisms use energy to survive, grow, respond to stimuli, reproduce, and for every type of biological process. Energy is never seen to exist on its own but only as part of a system of particles. 0 6
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You, as a human, could be seen as a power plant. When moving, your body becomes an energy factory. In fact, according to the Washington Post, even at rest, the human body generates as much energy as a 100 watt light bulb. But how is energy harvested from humans? In England there is a gym powered by nothing but the 0 7
grunt and sweat of members. Power is supplied by treadmills, stationary bikes and step climbers. When in operation, each machine powers itself and channels surplus energy in the form of electricity. Transport is 100% dependent on energy and the sector is vital in the mission to conserve energy. This year a company unveiled a tyre
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which features a combination of piezoelectric materials (which produce an electric current when they are put under stress) and thermoelectric patches to absorb energy from vibrations, light and heat. Systems designed to harvest kinetic energy can supplement power systems anywhere people take part in activities that add up to lots of high-intensity workouts. 2 0 2 1
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In 2007, a pair of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students proposed using these “crowd farms” as a way of extracting energy for such things as LED lights. More recently, the concept popped up as an “eco-nightclub” in London where energy is amassed using blocks made of piezoelectric materials
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positioned just beneath the dance floor. A mall in the US recycles body heat from shoppers to regulate the indoor climate. Highways and freeways, which are hotspots for untapped energy, have been used to harvest energy from the vibrations produced by moving cars by coating the road with energy-absorbing
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materials. Over three months, the net electrical output was sufficient to run the motion sensors on a traffic light. Also, engineers in China have developed a technology that uses the mechanical energy of only a beating heart to pump power to pacemakers. – SG Correspondent and The Washington Post
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IT’S A (RE) NEW DAWN P ort ia Mbau in her garden.
Renewable energy comes from a source that is not depleted when used, such as wind, solar and hydro power and geothermal, tidal and biomass energy. These sources are different from fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas. Renewable resources are ones that can reproduce and replenish themselves naturally over relatively short periods. 9
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In South Africa – which has lots of sunshine – solar holds the most potential for renewable energy. Wind energy is also a major potential source, effectively generating energy that produces no greenhouse gas emissions.
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Taking renewable energy resources into our everyday lives
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Healthier people will create a healthier planet If by 2050 renewable energy powered the world, which is possible, it would mean a potentially healthier future and could possibly prevent the estimated 4 to 7 million deaths from air pollution annually, worldwide. Using renewable energy could mean less exposure to toxic fumes. According to the World Health Organisation, 9 out of every 10 people on the planet breathe polluted air, potentially leading to respiratory diseases, heart conditions, strokes and other life-threatening health problems. It is also good for the planet as it could stabilise the global energy sector – more areas connected via solar, wind and hydro power will mean energy-use cuts and cost cuts. It will also slow down and then reverse the effects of global warming.
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How can we transition and adopt renewable energy resources? To start with, local governments can lead by example by generating energy on site, purchasing green power or purchasing renewable energy. Using a combination of renewable energy options can help meet local government goals – especially in some regions where the availability and quality of renewable resources might vary. As a nation – with the government leading the way – we can generate renewable energy on site using a system
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or device at the location where the power is used, for example, PV (photovoltaic) panels on a government building, geothermal heat pumps and biomass-fuelled combined heat and power. There is also the option of purchasing green power through renewable energy certificates (RECs) – also known as green tags, green energy certificates, or tradable renewable certificates – which represent the technological and environmental attributes
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of electricity generated from renewable resources. Buying renewable energy from an electrical utility (such as Eskom) through a green pricing or green marketing programme, where buyers pay a small premium in exchange for electricity generated locally from green power resources, is another option. In the process, we will diversify energy supply and create economic development and jobs in manufacturing.
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SOLVING THE ENERGY DILEMMA
Governments around the globe are turning to technology and the Fourth Industrial Revolution to resolve energy challenges and efforts are already being made to meet these challenges, writes Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, the vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Johannesburg
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It has become increasingly apparent that we need to posit solutions instead of clinging to archaic systems
PR OFESSO R TSHILIDZ I MARWALA is the v ice-cha ncello r an d principa l o f the Univ er sity o f J oh an ne sburg
IN HIS 1845 poem The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe wrote: “Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” The South African interpretation of this is undoubtedly not quite what Poe had in mind. In 2015, South Africa experienced an estimated 83.5 days of load shedding. Early indications suggest that this year we may beat that number. A status report from embattled power utility Eskom shows that we are on code red for the next three months at the very least – if one is optimistic. Menacingly, this is our worst possible risk level, which indicates that there will be a definite shortage of reserve power generation and rolling blackouts will continue to be a weekly reality. And, of course, as we are all acutely aware, winter usually does not bode well for us. As we plunge in and out of darkness, it has become increasingly apparent that we need to posit solutions instead of clinging to archaic systems. It is not just the dark that is a concern but our reliance on electricity to power our technologies. What is clear is that we cannot go on like this. Do we spend the rest of our lives bracing for the possibility of load shedding? Even in the best of times, we have poorly maintained and ageing power stations which are incredibly unreliable. Almost 10 000 megawatts are out of commission at any given time. We now find ourselves amid a paradigm shift which fundamentally redefines every aspect of society and is poised to address our most profound challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic has confirmed that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is here. It is the fusing of people and technology which has inextricably linked the physical, digital and biological worlds. 1 5
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It encompasses the entire wave of disruptive technologies, ranging from 5G networks, autonomous vehicles, AI, machine learning, 3D printing, robotics and the internet of things (IoT), for instance. These technologies are fundamentally changing the way we learn, work and even power our cities. If we are indeed overhauling our systems, our policies and our approaches, then what is it that we dare to dream? In the case of Eskom, there are 4IR solutions that can be implemented. The field of engineering calls for a maintenance strategy. In the 4IR, this strategy is one of predictive maintenance. This, I would argue, is the path we need to explore to create efficient structures from financial, technological and operational perspectives. In technical terms, this is akin to the neural networks which form part of deep learning, a central tenet of the 4IR. Neural networks use a set of algorithms, similar to a human brain, designed to recognise patterns. Transformers are monitored directly during normal operations to predict failure. Eskom can then estimate when its transformers will fail and replace them beforehand. If we can predict when this will happen, we can extract the most optimal use of them. The rationale behind this is that there is convenient scheduling of corrective maintenance, which helps prevent unexpected equipment failures. Eskom should invest in condition-monitoring sensors and other devices and retrain employees to use this equipment and accurately interpret the data they gather. Nevertheless, this decreases costs and potential power cuts in the long run. But what about other energy alternatives? An argument often made is that the 4IR must be accompanied by sustainability. How do we harness digital technologies so that development is not dependent on exhausting finite resources and increasing emissions? This invariably calls for a shift towards renewable energy, which offers the possibility of greater access
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here and It encompasses the entire wave of disruptive technologies, ranging from 5G networks, autonomous vehicles, AI, machine learning, 3D printing, robotics and the internet of things
In South Africa we have backed ourselves into something of a corner with a less than adequate energy-mix strategy
to electricity, particularly in Africa, where we face glaring infrastructure gaps. Africa also bears the brunt of climate change. AI can simultaneously analyse the past, optimise the present and predict the future, making it a useful tool in the renewable energy sector. While this can be deployed in our current energy systems, it does make a wider spread of renewable energy an achievable goal. For instance, AI-based smart systems can help integrate renewable energy sources into the existing power grids. In South Africa, at the same time, we have backed ourselves into something of a corner with a less than adequate energy-mix strategy. For example, the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor, which was considered a safe and small set of nuclear reactors for power generation, using high-temperature technology, was abandoned in 2010 after almost R10 billion had been invested in the project. Instead, energy storage can be managed through AI, considering demand, energy generation, costs and even grid congestion. In Nigeria, Azuri Technologies uses a box the size of a landline phone, that uses AI to track household energy needs and adjusts the power output accordingly through dimming lights or slowing down fans. Solutions like this can be pivoted across the continent. If we have any hope of keeping the lights on in South Africa, the answer cannot be the usual strategy of establishing a task team. Instead, we must embrace the technologies of the 4IR. Professor Tshilidzi Marwala is the vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Johannesburg. He is the author of books such as Closing the Gap: The Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa and Leading in the 21st Century. 1 7
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Eskom has received severe criticism for its proposal to introduce a ‘capacity charge’ to customers who have solar photovoltaic systems. Is this public outcry warranted? Louise Scholtz and Karin Kritzinger unpack the issues
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P I CT URE F EDER I CO B ECCA RI
SHOCK TACTICS
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HE OUTCRY stems from two proposed changes in the Eskom household tariff regime. These are the addition of a “network availability” charge (daily charge that can be based on how much power you can use at a time) and the scrapping of inclining block tariffs (the more energy you use, the higher your tariff per kWh). While Eskom and municipalities support the transition to an environmentally sustainable system, and recognise the need for integrating renewable energy technologies, they also have the responsibility to address the potential revenue, technical and safety implications of this shift. Many households are unaware that it costs their electricity distributor – Eskom or the municipality – about R700 a month to keep them connected to the grid. This cost remains fixed, whether a household draws a lot of electricity from the grid or only a small amount, when they are unable to either 1 9
generate or store enough electricity with their existing PV system and/or battery storage. This means low electricity users, (including those with rooftop PV installations) who pay less than R700 a month on average, subsidise higher electricity users whose cost to the system is much lower compared to their usage. Let’s start with what we all agree on – Eskom, municipalities, electricity customers (including rooftop PV owners) concur that we need a safe and dependable electricity grid and that the cost of operating this grid is compensated by charging electricity customers according to a fair and equitable tariff regime. It is perhaps useful to start the discussion at this point of agreement and to analyse the contribution that a fixed daily network charge can make in ensuring the long-term sustainability of our electricity system. The issue of demand/set charges: Currently, most private households who buy electricity directly from Eskom pay an energy charge measured only in kWh per month. S I M P L Y G R E E N
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KARIN KRITZINGER is a s e n i o r re s e a rch e r a t th e C e n t re f o r R e n e wa b l e a n d S u s t a i n a b l e E n e rg y S tu d i e s a t S t e l l e n b o s ch U n i v e r si ty.
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HE ISSUE of inclining block tariffs: Whereas many argue that inclining block tariffs provides a way of both incentivising energy saving/energy efficiency as well as subsidising low electricity users (assumed to be poor) with the income derived from high electricity users (assumed to be wealthy), this is often not the
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Larger customers are more often billed for both their energy use and power availability. Certain municipalities have been charging their customers (including private households) an availability charge for many years. It is important to understand that the tariff regime (however it is designed) is not equal to the cost – the tariff is merely a mechanism for the utility to recover the overall cost of serving their customers. To illustrate this, many municipalities have a specific, separate tariff regime applicable to “beach houses” for both water and electricity usage. This tariff consists of a high monthly charge, with a much lower energy-based charge. This is because these beach or holiday houses are occupied only for a short time in the year but the utility needs to keep the services available for the entire 12 months. This intermittent need for the use of grid electricity is in some ways comparable to customers with rooftop PV installations – the cycle is just daily (solar electricity generated in the day and used in the evening) and not once a year. Furthermore, unless this customer goes completely off-grid, they will still have the same electricity availability that they had before the installation. As a matter of fact, if they feed their excess electricity back into the grid, it is likely that this feedback will peak higher than their peak electricity demand. This means it is not just an issue of buying less electricity but it is also an issue of evacuating the excess electricity fed back to the grid. In this instance, the grid acts as a “battery” and this service needs to be paid for.
case. Whereas wealthier household might not care as much about the cost of electricity, poor household are more likely to have more family members living together, increasing electricity demand for the household, even though it is low per person. Since the interests of rooftop PV owners and municipalities are misaligned, designing electricity tariffs that are widely accepted to provide fair compensation has proved to be difficult, as also illustrated by the public outcry to the proposed Eskom tariff regime. Arguably, this misalignment between the view of rooftop PV owners and the view of distributors results from a general lack of understanding of the contribution that electricity from rooftop PV provides to the grid as well as the value of the grid itself. This proposed tariff regime from Eskom, based on unbundled, transparent charges (separate charges for availability and energy), is the first step in de-risking Eskom from what basically is an historic distortion in the costing of the power system by having all the charges grouped together into an energy-only tariff. This tariff unbundling will also reduce the uncertainty in tariffs going forward, and make it easier for potential investors in rooftop PV systems to make sensible investment decisions. Eskom and municipalities, as the electricity distributors in South Africa, are well positioned to drive a sustainable, local energy transition away from fossil fuel-based electricity to renewable options. To assist them in dealing with the dilemmas inherent in this complex electricity system, the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies at Stellenbosch University is developing an agents-based, decision-making tool to assist with tariff setting. This forms part of an overarching project on the future of electricity distribution at local level, funded by the WWF Nedbank Green Trust. More on this topic can be found in the WWF publication titled Understanding and Managing Residential Rooftop Solar PV. LO U I S E S C H O LT Z i s t h e Ur b a n F u t u re s p r o g ra m m e m a n a g e r a t W W F S o u t h A f r i ca .
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Eskom and municipalities, as the electricity distributors in South Africa, are well positioned to drive a sustainable, local energy transition away from fossil fuelbased electricity to renewable options
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AFRICA GOOD NEWS ECO HANDCARTS
THE BICYCLE MAN
Kenneth Guantai — Kenya HANDCARTS are seen everywhere in Kenya and many informal workers earn a living by using them. They are loaded with goods at markets and used to carry bags at airports and bus stations. The pushers work hard to transfer the goods they carry, as the loads are often heavy. They are also seen on Nairobi’s busy streets where they can hold up traffic, prompting a plan to ban them from city roads. Kenyan innovator Kenneth Guantai came up with a smart solution. He was concerned that many informal workers would lose their living if the carts were banned. His idea was to power the hand carts with batteries that are recharged by the rotation of the carts’ wheels. The Kenyan government supported the innovation with seed money and now many battery-powered carts are seen on Nairobi’s roads. The eco carts have several advantages: they’re easier to use, are faster than the manually pushed carts, which makes them better in traffic, and can carry heavier loads. They increase employment opportunities because, thanks to their greater speed, the operator can squeeze in more journeys. “We want to make the lives of all the hard-working vendors and workers across Kenya – and the world – easier, by using the energy they’re already creating to ease their load,” Guantai said. The carts were shortlisted for the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2019 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
FARM IN A BOX PAUL MATOVU of Uganda comes from a farming family, but when he moved to the capital city Kampala he had nowhere to plant veggies. He realised there is a lot of wasted land in cities and came up with the idea of “a farm in a box”, which can be set up on any vacant patch of land, and has its own composting system. “So many young people don’t know much about farming – and yet struggle to afford healthy food in the cities. We wanted to change that,” Matovu told CGTN News. The wooden boxes can be used to grow both fruit and vegetables. “We put the first tray and add soil then place the second tray; we just keep stacking trays together.” The box farm contains a chamber in the middle where organic fertiliser is applied to boost yields. He remembers his first months in Kampala. “The land was very small. Every time we tried growing crops in sacks they would get washed away by the rains and so we started using boxes, playing around with boxes, and that’s when we came up with this kind of box.” Matovu has sold his box farms to about 65 people in Kampala. The farm in a box was shortlisted for the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2019 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
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TANZANIAN Bernard Kiwia is a resourceful man. He started off fixing bicycles and became well known locally as being able to sort out anything that might happen to a bike. Then he started wondering what else he could do. In 2007, he attended the International Development Design Summit in the US where he was inspired by Guatemalan inventor Carlos Marroquin, who invented a device for shelling mielies, powered by bicycle gears. Kiwia began thinking about how to help rural people in his country by solving problems using locally available materials. As Global Shakers, a publishing platform that tells the stories of amazing innovators, points out, this approach
bike; a solar-powered hot water system using old fluorescent tubes; a fruit-juice blender and a windmill-operated washing machine (he built the machine too). If the wind isn’t blowing, he can pump water from his borehole using a stationary bike. Of the blender he says: “In the city, you can buy juice in any hotel or restaurant. But in the village, people can’t make juice because there is no electricity. Fruits come from the village, but in the village, they have fruits that they can’t finish in a season. So, the rest of the fruits they throw away.” Not any longer, thanks to the fact they can now make juice and sell it to the cities. He’s also working on an idea to use a bike
tends to be pretty green. In an interview, Kiwia said: “When people are in the village, they want to have the same life as people living in the cities.” But villages are often off the grid, which makes activities like charging a cellphone, running a washing machine or heating water difficult. But not for Kiwia. He has developed a cellphone charger powered by a
to make a machine that plants seeds. Global Shakers says Kiwia’s innovations not only ensure energy independence in often poor areas but also help start new businesses. Kiwia co-founded Twende Social Innovation, which identifies local needs and engineers new solutions. He also runs a creative capacity-building workshop.
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GLOBAL GOOD NEWS REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
P IC TU RE S G OIN Y K, SR IP, O G M PAN GO, POL IN A K UZ OVK OVA, DR O BOT D E AN, ALEX AZ ABAC H E
HOT OFF THE PRESS
LOCKDOWN POLLUTION AIR POLLUTION levels around the world decreased during the early lockdowns last year, but not as much as expected, according to a study led by scientists from the University of Birmingham in the UK. The study measured levels of nitrogen dioxide, ozone and fine particle concentrations in 11 cities last year including Beijing, Wuhan, Milan, Rome, Madrid, London, Paris, Berlin, New York, Los Angeles and Delhi. The results were published in Science Advances in January. The researchers found that, after adjusting for weather effects, the reduction in nitrogen dioxide was less than they had expected, while lockdowns caused concentrations of ozone to increase.
Fine particle concentrations decreased in all the cities except London and Paris. Zongbo Shi, professor of atmospheric biogeochemistry at the university and lead author of the study, said: “Emission changes associated with the early lockdown restrictions led to abrupt changes in air pollutant levels but their impacts on air quality were more complex that we thought and smaller than we expected. “Weather changes can mask changes in emissions on air quality. Importantly, our study has provided a new framework for assessing air pollution interventions by separating the effects of weather and season from the effects of emission changes,” he said. 2 3
THE DISCOVERY of a hot, rocky “super Earth” near one of the oldest stars in the galaxy has surprised an American team of planethunting scientists, according to The Good News Network. Team leader, and University of Hawaii postdoctoral fellow Lauren Weiss, said: “TOI561b is one of the oldest rocky planets yet discovered. Its existence shows the universe has been forming rocky planets almost since its inception 14 billion years ago.” The planet is about 50% larger than Earth but needs less than half a day to orbit its star. “For every day you’re on Earth, this planet orbits its star twice,” said Stephen Kane, a planetary astrophysicist and team member from the University of California, Riverside. Part of the reason for the short orbit is the planet’s proximity to its star, which also creates incredible heat. Its estimated average surface temperature is over 1 726°C – much too hot to support life as we know it today.
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THE WORLD is not on track to meet its climate change targets, reports the BBC’s chief environment correspondent Justin Rowlatt, but he believes 2021 will be a turning point for tackling climate change. This is why: Global leaders will meet in November in Glasgow for the follow-up to the Paris Climate Accord of 2015 and it is likely that carbon targets will be tightened. Countries are already committing themselves to steeper carbon cuts. In September, China’s president Xi Jinping told the UN General Assembly that China aimed to be carbon neutral by 2060. That country is currently responsible for 28% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Renewables now offer the cheapest source of energy. In October, the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organisation, said the best solar power schemes offered “the cheapest source of electricity in history”. Rowlatt says Covid has changed everything. It has shaken our sense of invulnerability and governments have stepped forward with stimulus packages to reboot their economies. With historically low interest rates everywhere, it has rarely been cheaper to be able to do this. And there is increasing public pressure on business to choose green solutions. Rowlatt says this makes business sense. Why would companies want to carry carbon risk in their portfolios?
AFRICAN ENERGY REVIVAL
The continent’s promise and future developments are tied to the solutions it picks with regards to its future energy mix, writes Saliem Fakir
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SALIEM FAKIR is executive director of the African Climate Foundation.
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OLUTIONS Africa opt for have implications for the advancement of agriculture, industry, the use of digital technologies and growth in exports. Energy access’s remit extends to issues on broader human development and strengthening democracy on the continent. Energy provision that is accessible and cheaply attained by more and more households, nourishes individual autonomy and will expand the scope of human capability, not only in the domain of self-sufficient villages, towns, cities, and homes, but also the inclination to participate more actively in the political sphere. The less time people spend eking out a living the more they can spend addressing their political concerns. W H AT EXACTLY IS AF RIC A’ S E N E RGY S ITUATION?
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There are vast amounts of oil, gas, coal and uranium but very little of that is used to meet basic needs. Most of the primary energy sources are exported to Africa’s major trading partners, Europe and China. The energy poverty index for Africa is around 350-700kWh a year, which is well below the global average. Even where there is access to electricity it constitutes a high percentage of household costs, with poorer households less able to afford these costs. The average cost of electricity is around US $0.18 per kWh (about R2.70) compared to South Asia where it is around US $0.07kWh. Then Africa faces a paradox – it has vast solar and wind resources and an underserved populace that suffers from a lack of energy access and poverty. Solar resource availability, remarkably, is fairly uniform across the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa has between 600 and 700 million people who do not have affordable, clean S I M P L Y G R E E N
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The key is enabling government policy and cheap sources of finance to scale renewables
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panels – currently untapped – if the right policy and regulatory enabling conditions are put in place. A study by the International Renewable Energy Agency notes that, by 2030, Africa can increase its renewable capacity fivefold compared to 2013 figures, and these can be from four sources: hydro power, solar, wind and biomass. To achieve this, Africa needs $70 billion a year of investments in generation technologies and grid infrastructure. The overall electrification rate in Africa is around 45%, of which 72% is in urban areas and 28% in rural areas (according to the African Energy Commission) – the potential is large. Renewables are much cheaper than fossil fuels and have the added advantage of being able to be deployed rapidly. The key is enabling government policy and cheap sources of finance to scale renewables. Africa is caught in an energy poverty trap and renewables offer a way for us to escape this. 2 0 2 1
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and reliable energy. And where energy is provided, it is often from old and creaking infrastructure. With renewables, the need for long wires and centrally planned energy systems is for a bygone era. The rate at which technologies are progressing, and costs coming down globally, has the potential for Africa to leapfrog the electricity provision model and how it participates in the clean energy revolution knows no bounds. The main sources of electrical and nonelectrical energy at the moment are oilbased fuels, gas, coal, wood and charcoal. Of the renewable sources, hydro power dominates, followed by geothermal, smallscale wind and solar. South Africa’s power is largely coal-based but this will decline as more and more renewables come online. South Africa’s potential for renewables – both solar and wind – is significant and can be expanded beyond the government’s plan for 19 000MW to 30 000MW. This is not to mention the vast potential for rooftop solar photovoltaic
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ILLUSTRATION KIM STONE
THE Futuristic solutions ENERGY to avert a global crisis ISSUE
Also inside: Renewable energy • A new generation of power
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Charl Reineke | charl.reineke@inl.co.za | Vivian Warby | vivian.warby@inl.co.za
WHERE ENERGY & WATER MEET Power generation and the need to keep the lights burning is directly linked to the provision of water, both of which are vital to our survival in a post-Covid world, writes Benoit le Roy.
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ODAY’S resources are so intertwined that we cannot look at them individually any longer. The effects of the current pandemic highlight this matter clearly – their inter-connectedness has left no economic sector unscathed. We label this inter-connectedness “the nexus of things”. In the previous edition, we touched on South Africa’s water security and here we look at the energy problems we face. We have to look at the water-energy nexus to understand the issues which require attention. South Africa’s energy evolution has been tightly linked to the water evolution, driven primarily by the mining rush and subsequent industrialisation. Energy in the form of electricity was required to drive the large mine winders (hoists) and de-watering pumps, which led to the building of large coal-fired power stations at the turn of the 20th century. The Witwatersrand (ridge of white waters) is on a watershed but the mining boom rapidly exhausted the water sources there. With no large water reserves, the Rand Water Board was established in 1903 to provide water to the Witwatersrand from Springs in the east, and Randfontein in the west, from groundwater. In the early 1930s, the board started the construction of the Vaal Dam. After its completion in 1938, water was pumped 400m uphill and then to the Reef 80km away. We also need water to generate electricity in large quantities. Significant volumes of bulk water are pumped from KwaZulu-Natal’s Tugela River to the Integrated Vaal River System at Sterkfontein Dam. It goes uphill over the Drakensberg range through a pumped storage scheme. Sterkfontein is Gauteng’s last-resort water back-up dam and is used to top up the Vaal Dam, when necessary. A pumped storage scheme is where energy is stored in the form of an elevated dam, in this case the Sterkfontein Dam, and at peak times, some of the stored water in the Sterkfontein dam is released
South Africa’s energy evolution has been tightly linked to the water evolution
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1 000m downhill, through a set of turbines, to a relatively small lower catchment dam. The turbines generate electricity that is fed into the national grid at peak times and the water is pumped back up in non-peak times when spare electricity is available. There is another inter-basin transfer requiring major electricity to pump water from the Vaal Dam uphill 200km to the Grootdraai Dam which supplies cooling water to the massive Kriel and Matla power stations. These are perfect examples of the water-energy nexus. With South Africa’s industrialisation, which arose off the back of mining, the demand for electricity increased rapidly. Towns and cities were populated, all of which required electricity.
B ENOIT L E R OY i s t h e ch i e f ex ec ut iv e a n d co - f o u n d e r o f t h e S out h A f ric a n Wa t e r C h a m b e r
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ITH such large populations, the need for water-borne sanitation gave rise to the building of more than 830 sewage treatment plants in South Africa. The sewage generated in households, offices and industry is gravitated and pumped by thousands of pumps stations, all requiring electricity. Sewage treatment plants generally require large amounts of electricity to drive the purification process – around 17% of the electricity required by South African municipalities is used for treating sewage and providing water. So how do we save the associated electricity? As water is required to produce the electricity in our homes, the easiest way to reduce electricity consumption is to reduce our water consumption. Benoit le Roy is an environmental alchemist with 40 years of water, waste and energy engineering experience. He is the chief executive and co-founder of the South African Water Chamber established to represent the private water infrastructure sector to collaborate with and assist the government to implement the national water and sanitation master plan. This will not only re-industrialise the water sector but it will also provide a myriad skilled jobs and the opportunity to again export water-related products and expertise globally. 3 0
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As water is required to produce electricity, the easiest way to reduce electricity consumption is to reduce our water consumption 2 0 2 1
P I CT URE HEATHER MOR SE
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committed organisations working together – with each other, and with local and national government – to collectively achieve a net carbon-neutral economy for South Africa by 2050. Aca SA has in its fold 25 local governments, investors, and companies across South Africa that have come together to pursue net-zero emissions in their country by 2050.
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THE organisation’s main focus is to develop a road map for transitioning to cleaner energy and carbon neutrality in the next 30 years, and it is dedicated to driving ambitious climate action, increasing public support for addressing the climate crisis, and engaging national governments to decarbonise faster. These national alliances are unique because they include a diversity of voices representing leaders from nearly every sector of society, including academic and cultural institutions, tribal organisations and faith communities, healthcare institutions, and civil society. “We are acting now to create a future that is low-carbon and climate-resilient, and inclusive for all who live in South Africa,” says Aca SA on their website. You can sign up to join “this network of forward-thinking businesses taking climate action individually and collectively to unlock opportunity for investment”. For more information check out www.alliancesforclimateaction.co.za
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O MAKE more electricity, companies are exploring ways to generate power from unconventional sources, while complementing the drive towards renewables. The coal-mining industry is dying and it will never come back. But a new start-up is breathing life into mining communities with an ingenious design that uses old mine shafts to generate energy. A development from the UK is making it possible for cheap energy to be generated by dropping weights down old mine shafts – which is good news for South Africa. Gravitricity, an energy start-up based in Edinburgh, has drafted designs for a winch and hoist system that would drop 12 000 ton weights down disused mine shafts. Similar to pumped hydro, the concept works by converting electrical energy to gravitational potential energy, according to a report by the BBC. Managing director of Gravitricity Charlie Blair said the company has devised a giant weight system that drops into disused mine shafts using gravity to create power on demand. The patented technology is based on a simple principle – raising and lowering a heavy weight to store energy – the same principle used to run pendulum clocks, with a weight acting as a power generator to
THE POWER GENERATION Energy innovation – South Africa is ready to get electrified and fight load shedding blackouts – using things from the old days in smart new ways
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Part of what makes Gravitricity’s design so great is that it doesn’trely on sun or wind
keep the clock running. A weight of up to 3 000 tons is suspended in a mine shaft and energy is generated or expended by lowering and raising the weight. The concept uses winches to hoist weights to the top of the mineshaft when energy is plentiful. When there’s a dip in supply, the weights are dropped hundreds of metres down vertical shafts to generate electricity. “It’s a simple case of ‘what goes up must come down’,” said Blair. The system is capable of generating up to 20MW of power in shafts varying from 150m to 1 500m. It can last 50 years without degradation, and it’s cost effective because it uses existing infrastructure. In areas where mine shafts don’t exist and solar or wind isn’t effective, a hole could be dug for the system.
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art of what makes Gravitricity’s design so great is that it doesn’t rely on sun or wind. When you need energy, the weight can drop in a second for power on tap or be released slowly for sustained energy. And because it doesn’t use a battery for energy storage, you don’t have the problems of disposal and degradation inherent in batteries. If the energy comes from renewable sources, it could be a completely green form of energy storage and a way to repurpose abandoned infrastructure. – Compiled by Terry van der Walt
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WHAT’S THE FUSS ABOUT GAS? David Boardman has taken steps to cut his dependence on the electricity grid and getting gas to heat water, instead of wasteful electric geysers, was one of them. This is his journey...
W DAVID BOARD MAN h as installe d a g as system which h as re duced his electricity bill conside ra bly.
E WERE using traditional geysers with geyser timers to try to reduce the amount of electricity we consumed. Then we opted to move to gas heaters, both for our home and two cottages. There were a few motivators for moving to instant hot water on gas, one of which was the running cost of heating water. After the installation of two systems there was an instant saving of R100 a unit a month after the cost of gas. The unit is small and wall-mounted which makes servicing simple and much cheaper. You do not have 200 litres to 400 litres of water in a geyser above your head in the ceiling. The initial cost of the unit is not much more than a geyser installation when all costs are factored in. If there are extended power outages, we still have hot water. Another benefit of using gas is that anything that runs on gas can be run off a single cylinder. One cottage was designed with the intention of using a gas heater. The two other units were retrofitted, which was fairly simple. You do need a plumber with a gas fitter’s certificate, however, this is easy to find. Most manufacturers have installers they work with. Choosing the unit can be difficult as there are quite a few options, so you should have an idea of your needs before you buy. If you want a system where you are able to adjust the water temperature, this will cost you a bit more money.
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FIVE THINGS I LEARNED ALONG THE WAY: 1 I should have done the gas retrofits much sooner and saved even more money. 2 A plumber crawling round in the roof at R400 an hour goes a long way to buying a new gas unit. 3 A total green system should be considered if it is a new build. 4 I could have maximised my future solar energy system had I pitched my garage roof differently to catch more direct sunlight. 5 Plan for a complete offgrid system. Even though this might not happen immediately, it will make partial solutions easier in the future in terms of water harvesting and solar energy.
P I CT URSE JU A NI TA SWART, SU PPL I ED
Shaun Fereira’s energy journey was a big deal which involved selling up in the city and starting a new life off the grid. This is his story...
SHAUN FEREIRA and his partner live in totally off the grid, for both power and water, on their land in the Free State
MY BIG ENERGY JOURNEY GREW UP and lived most of my life on Gauteng’s East Rand but always wanted to live away from people, be close to nature and try to be as self-sustaining and sufficient as possible. In April 2019, my partner Donna Porterfield and I sold our house in Benoni, as well as most of our furniture, and set off in our car with all we could fit in it. We travelled all over South Africa, camping at various caravan parks and looking for land in a quiet area with a river. After about three months, we found what we were looking for: 4 hectares of land between two private game farms with a 150m private river front. It is about 12km from a small town called Koppies in the Free State. We moved on to the land at the end of July 2019, living in 3 6
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our tent. The first job was to clear the bush – it was so thick you could not even see the river. We braaied most evenings and also had a small one-plate gas burner. Water was supplied by our neighbour who gravityfed water from his tank to our 500 litre tank. I bought a big dustbin and fitted it in the branches of the tree next to our campsite. We filled it using a ladder and then had a gas geyser which gave us hot water for our outdoor bath under the tree. For power we had 2 x 330W solar panels, a 12V 200ah gel battery, a 2500W inverter and a charge controller. This ran our 50 litre camp fridge, our television and lights. We started a small garden A P R I L
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and drilled a borehole for water. We also built a 6m high tank stand – and eventually started building our house. The building, which is 8m by 12m has an open-plan lounge and kitchen; two bedrooms and a bathroom which uses a composting toilet. The living area opens on to a 3m by 12m deck which overlooks the Renoster River. Just over a year after we arrived, our house was completed in August 2020, and we moved in. Today we are totally off the grid for both power and water. We upgraded our solar system, so now we have 9 x 330W solar panels, a 5kW inverter / charge controller, 2 x 24V Revov 10.2kWh lithium-ion batteries. All this powers a fridge-
wThe couple’s new home with its solar panels which provide their power needs.
FIVE THINGS WE WISH WE’D KNOWN BEFORE WE STARTED:
freezer and a camp fridge; our borehole pump and pressure pump; television; ceiling and deck fans; the washing machine and all the lighting. When we’re not braaing we cook on a gas-powered oven and hob and have a gas geyser for hot water. Our soil here is clay but we have found that after mixing in some compost and a lot of organic matter – left over from all the bush clearing – our soil is fine. We put up a 5m by 16m shade-net tunnel and have started growing various vegetables and plants. In future, we plan build another two shade-net tunnels. We also have livestock. We started with two cows, which were meat cows, and later we got a milk Jersey cow who had
a calf three months ago, so we now have a herd of four cows. The Jersey cow gives us about 6 litres of milk a day. We plan to get more animals but before we can do that we need to build a barn which is one of our next projects. Our goal is to be as selfsufficient and sustainable as possible and maybe even make a little income from our animals, vegetables and plants. It has taken two years to get where we are now and we are loving it. Hopefully, in the next two years,we will have achieved our goal to supply most of our food needs. We are learning every day with growing things and keeping animals. You can follow us on our Facebook page @HomesteadSA. 3 7
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1 If you are going off the grid get a minimum 5kw inverter and charge controller. 2 Go with lithium ion batteries. 3 Learn to work with what you have and do a lot of your own research. 4 There is no such thing as failure – you only learn and get better. 5 Learn patience as sometimes things can take time.You can follow us on our Facebook page A P R I L
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TOP: The control panel which synchronises energy storage and consumption. ABOVE: Bush bath. This was the tub the couple used before they moved into their new home.
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MY SOLAR JOURNEY
Graham Robjant of Glenwood in Durban was unable to sustain his business due to load shedding, so he took the plunge to get off the grid. This is his journey...
Sun p owe r. GRAHAM R OBJ ANT and the system tha t is savin g his busine ss – and s aving him mon ey
N THE past I used to battle with Eskom and load shedding. Being an electronics technician, I relied on power to fix equipment but, with four to five hours of no power, I had to have a Plan B. Some inheritance money from my aunt made it possible for me to go off the grid. I opted for solar. It was the most important thing to be done at the time. I spent R80 000 on solar power, which I felt was becoming the leader, and I hoped others would follow. Also, I wanted to be able to help people with advice after I had been through the pitfalls. Over 10 or 11 years, I have been able to iron out issues. I’ve got the T-shirt. You’ve got two kinds of systems: the system that runs totally independent of the grid and the grid-tie system. The grid-tie won’t work in South Africa because of Eskom. Lots of people use it in Australia and are able to put power back into the grid. But, here, Eskom keeps turning us off all the time. If there is Stage 6 or 8 load shedding, it would be hopeless. You would have to hope you had sunshine. The other alternative would be a wind turbine. For me, the biggest benefit is having peace of mind. 3 8
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FIVE TIPS I LEARNED ALONG THE WAY. 1 Buy the correct batteries. A standard car battery is not the best. It is designed to deliver a lot of torque to immediately start a motor and is not designed to charge and discharge regularly. One needs a cycle battery which is designed to charge and discharge on a regular basis. 2 Choose the correct UPS (uninterruptible power supply) for your load. You must decide what devices you want to run, look up how much power they draw, then allow for another third of that amount of power to be available, and buy an appropriate inverter. 3 Choose the correct solar regulator. 4 Ensure that you are not running applications when you don’t need to. A TV left on can consume a lot of power. 5 Look into having a battery balancing unit.
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Ensure that your electricity meter is functional.
10TIPS
Note the meter reading and then switch off all the circuit breakers on your distribution board. If the counter increases, then you have a leak and need to call out an electrician to assess. Record your electricity meter totaliser weekly, at more or less at the same time, to track your consumption. Maintain the required vigilance. As they fail, replace all your light bulbs with LEDs. Your geyser can use up to 50% of your electricity. By installing timers, similar to pool-pump timers, you can reduce your electricity consumption considerably. When replacing an old geyser, spend a little more and install a solar-heated geyser. Showering for two minutes with a water-saving nozzle is a game changer – although it might not be as relaxing as a bath. If you have a swimming pool, and can afford a cover, buy one. This will save significant amounts of electricity as you can reduce the amount of hours the pump is running. Reduce it by one hour at a time until the water clarity is affected. A rule of thumb – without a cover – is eight hours a day, at least, in summer and six hours a day in winter. Another large electricity user is the hob and oven. If possible, replace either or both with an induction hob or gas hob and oven. If you have the funds, invest in solar PV panels once you have reduced your electrical load as much as possible as described above. Recent-model appliances, such as fridges, dishwashers and washing machines, are energyeconomy rated and are generally very efficient. Check the energy rating and consider the best rating when replacing an appliance.
The first step towards boosting South Africa’s energy security is to reduce our national demand, and with households directly consuming around 25% of the electricity generated by Eskom, it is important to do our bit in our homes BY BENOÍT LE ROY
to reduce your energy demand 3 9
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HERE ARE 10 TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED:
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HOW GREEN IS MY GARDEN? BY VIVIEN HORLER
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Five friends have created a community on a small holding on the West Coast where they grow sustainable food forest and minimise their environmental impact in a permaculture way of life
Ester Kruger, with their beloved sheep, Wollie, who is now ten months old.
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Collecting resources: In permaculture everything is a resource. The friends save their coffee grounds (source of nitrogen), egg shells (calcium) and banana peels (potassium) to make a rich fertilising tea to dress the garden beds. 2 Garden view: The first-year layout in 2018, observing the
plot to see what would be best plan for the garden 3 Reusing: They use recycled water bottles – they cut the top off to form a dome – to keep seedlings warm during the winter frosts, creating a “greenhouse” around every individual seedling, rather than having the expense of building a big greenhouse.
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IVE YEARS ago, Ester Kruger went on a career development course and was brought up short by the question: What would be your best life? The answer came to her in an instant – to live sustainably, off the grid, with a community of friends. She had the friends already – people she had met while studying at Stellenbosch University’s Military Academy in Saldanha – and they were of like mind. Because they were in the Western Cape, she sold her home in Pretoria, and used the money to buy a 3 200m² plot in Hopefield, near Saldanha Bay, land once owned by the town’s founding fathers, a Mr Hope and a Mr Field. Now Esther shares her home with four friends, a sheep, a handful of rescue dogs and cats and some chickens. And while only the five, ranging in age from 42 to 52, live in the Hopefield Homestead, they are part of a broader group of Hopefield residents who share their vision. At the centre of the Hopefield Homestead project is a permaculture garden – what they intend to become a food forest – “a multi-layered, purposefully designed forest of food producing species”. The friends say: “The idea is the diversity of plants creates a healthy, abundant and harmonious ecosystem in which pollinators, birds, tortoises and other creatures can also thrive. “Food forests need a clear initial design strategy and work
to become established, but as they mature over time, they require less maintenance as they become more self-sustaining.” But the project has not been without challenges. Hopefield is in an arid part of the West Coast. Their land is short of water, has dry and compacted soil, virtually no topsoil, consists of a hot, sloping, west-facing site, exposed to both summer and winter winds, and has few trees. But Lizana de Jongh, who is the garden fundi and has worked on a permaculture farm in New Zealand, has the vision and the tools to get the garden growing. The group are collecting rainwater and using grey water, have laid down sheet mulching, are creating their own compost, cultivating worm farms, erecting windbreaks and contouring the slope. Their gardening policies include no digging and no weeding; the planting of perennials and water-wise flora; natural pest control and an effort to plant to attract pollinators and other wildlife. Their plants include soft-fruit trees; nut trees; citrus; aloes and succulents; culinary and medicinal herbs as well as berries, veggies and vines. Apart from supplying their own needs, they will sell their produce to the popular Hopefield Market which is run by De Jongh. The garden is a huge part of the project, but Kruger,
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4 Plants are chosen plants
specifically to bring wildlife and birds to the garden. “Wilde dagga”, or lion’s ears, are planted throughout the garden, as it is a great source of nectar and attracts beautiful sunbirds. 5 A forest garden forms a complete ecosystem, and within this system, the friends bring wildlife back to their garden, landscape with edibles and use a perennial plant system
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that self-seeds and creates abundance year after year. 6 As the soil is compacted clay, they take great care to plant our trees correctly. They purchase them at 3 years old to ensure a stronger root system to survive the harshness of the soil and Hopefield summers. They prepare the holes with homemade compost and bone meal and cover with mulch to help with moisture control.
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2 1 Part of the grey water system with filtering by sand and reeds. 2 Ester Kruger enjoying the
who has a Master’s degree in industrial psychology, is more interested in what she refers to as “the social experiment”. “The five of us – and our friends beyond in the wider community of Hopefield – all have a similar philosophy. We believe in collaborative consumption, we grow, we share food and skills, we barter. Leon van Rensburg’s the baker and maintenance man; Ron Moller is the nature enthusiast, bird watcher and photographer and Jazz van Zyl has a magical understanding of our animals and also works in the garden.” Word of their experiment has spread and they frequently have visitors, some local and some from abroad, including Mexico and Israel, who come to watch and learn. Their shared vision is to embrace a permaculture way of life, to build their sustainable food forest and to minimise their environmental impact by switching to renewable resources. Their power set-up includes 12 solar panels and four specialised batteries connected to an inverter. They cook on gas and are installing gas geysers too. Says Kruger: “We are very conscious of our power usage in general. The key for me is we have chosen a different way of living. The world has changed and we need to reset how we live. We need to collaboratively; create value. I am concerned about the future and climate change and it seems to me that, if you share these concerns, then there are two ways to go: to isolate, stockpile food and withdraw or you can build communities and resilience. “And I’d rather build communities than isolate. We hope to grow old together – we’re five years into what is at least a 20-year project.”
3 Hopefield sunset at their firepit in the garden. 3 Wollie saying ‘hi’, eating his favourite snack.
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