Energy and Fuels

As a physician I see the extraordinary efforts that I and my colleagues pursue to save the lives of our patients suffering from cancer and genetic diseases, let alone the amount of money allocated to find the cure to cancer. Yet here we have an industry that is actively promoting and incurring massive increases in these disastrous diseases, and society has not yet called their bluff. It is beyond time that we did.

South Africa ’s nuclear industry is known for its dirty tricks, the least of which was keeping an atomic bomb programme under wraps for decades. Now the industry would like us to believe that we are going through a “nuclear renaissance” in which atomic power will become a “safe and reliable source of energy”, and uranium is the next miracle resource in terms of jobs and foreign investment.

North America’s largest solar photovoltaic system is now running and generating power — about 30 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. The 14 megawatt power plant is at the Nellis Air Force Base in the sunny desert of southern Nevada. It’s expected to save about $1 million in power costs annually, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 24,000 tons each year.

A joint venture between the U.S. Department of Defense and Palau is set to test the feasibility of using satellites to beam down “affordable, clean, safe, reliable, sustainable, and expandable energy for mankind.”

Nigeria’s government has just announced its intention to make another round of investments in solar energy to supply up to 10 rural communities that currently lack access to the national power grid. The initiative, funded by Nigeria’s Ministry of Science and Technology, will benefit around 5,000 individuals living in villages spread across several local governments and is projected to cost 150m Naira, or $1.25 million.

Jeremy Leggett is the UK’s most respected green energy boss. He explains how investors are driving transformation of the energy industry, despite half-hearted government support.

The Brown government is set to unveil an ambitious proposal to build 7,000 new wind turbines off Britain’s coast by 2020, effectively producing enough electricity - 33 gigawatts - to power all of the country’s homes.

On 25 June 2003, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism gave Eskom the About the PBMR

The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor is a nuclear power plant that derives its name from the type of fuel that it consumes and the incremental, modular fashion in which it can be built.

When my fuel gauge starts heading for the red, it’s not a petrol station I start looking for, but a fast food restaurant!

Sun, wind, and water: these three natural elements can produce all the power you need with little or no impact on the environment.

Eskom is preventing a shift towards renewable energy.

The diesel engine was intended to run on peanut oil—allowing farmers to grow their own fuel and small craftsmen and artisans to compete with large industry. Cheap petrodiesel and petrol prevented this ideal from becoming a reality. Now, one hundred and ten years later, people around the world are ditching non-renewable petroleum-based fuels for biodiesel, a renewal fuel which has the potential to revolutionise the world we live in.

Death threats, medical secrets, lies and payoffs are some of the menacing tactics power giant Eskom and nuclear fuel company NECSA use against its employees and others to keep a lid on the hazardous health effects of its nuclear technology.

An audacious recent appointment by South Africa’s Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has inadvertently drawn closer public scrutiny to the South African nuclear industry—infamous for its “secrecy, lies and cover-ups” much of which has been quietly brewing below the radar.

Earthlife Africa, Cosatu, the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Environmental Justice Network Forum, the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa and a range of other organisations oppose the use of nuclear power in South Africa.

Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon. This is not the wacky proclamation of a doomsday cult, apocalypse bible prophecy sect, or conspiracy theory society. Rather, it is the scientific conclusion of the best paid, most widely-respected geologists, physicists, and investment bankers in the world. These are rational, professional, conservative individuals who are absolutely terrified by a phenomenon known as global “Peak Oil.” David Ross interviews Dr. Richard Heinberg.

Life in rural Africa has never been easy. Living “out in the sticks” (as we comfortable city dwellers fondly call it) is hard work. There is no water on tap; there is no lighting or electricity available at the flick of the switch. It is hard to comprehend a life without these simple amenities… and it is hard, manual labour to provide for a family without them.

Wasteful energy policies, overuse of resources, water supply shortages, global climate change, and deforestation are just some of the issues experts say need to be addressed for humans to achieve sustainable living on this planet.

Global warming and climate change pose a serious threat to societies of today and finding cleaner energy sources is a big challenge. It is evident that South Africa needs to move away from coal-fired power, but the Government’s move towards nuclear power as an alternative has sparked controversy.

The rush to produce bio-energy crops is alarming for biodiversity outside Europe too. Some of the most promising crops for producing biofuels are oil palm and Soy, two rapidly expanding tropical monocultures which are amongst the chief causes of tropical deforestation… demand for biodiesel could drive even further the large scale clearing of forests in key biodiversity hotspots such as Indonesia or the Brazilian Cerrado.

If South Africa is to step back from the brink of atomic war and nuclear destruction, we must embrace the global struggles of peoples such as the Navajo.