Repair (Heal) Your World

Dear friends (this was originally published on 14 / January / 14) In 2008, the government announced Feed In Tariffs. I was there. In Parliament. Invited by a Member of Parliament who I already knew because of my Energy Research, which started in about 2004. In 2009, the government implemented Feed In Tariffs, but made them impossible to get. No one got them! In 2011, the government said that Feed In Tariffs were illegal and changed to the British Tender System. In the meantime Britain had just changed from the Tender System to the Feed In Tariff system because the Tender system had failed! The Tender System led to over-regulation and over-regulation leads to corruption. Meanwhile Eskom compares (benchmarks) themselves with Enel in Italy. And Italy suffered from the same problems as South Africa. great Feed In Tariffs, but no implementation. If you want to follow this approach, then Enel is the company to follow. In 2011, the City of Cape Town announced Net Metering which they...

Preface My name is David Lipschitz . I am a software developer and a researcher, researching Energy in its widest possible sense, but narrowed to Energy used by the people of South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho. I bring you Powerful Energy Knowledge based on my knowledge, based on Software, Energy and Power . Introduction This article represents a Balance Sheet, taken on 23rd November 2013, of my  knowledge  and making recommendations as to how I see rapid sustainable employment in Southern Africa and the world . The main points in this article are: Scaleability , e.g. building a 3 KW (3,000 Watt; 3 KiloWatt) house (roof top) power station and scaling it to 30 GW, (30,000,000,000 Watt; 30 GigaWatt); 10 million houses * 3 kW = 30 GW. " Localisation ", i.e. in the narrow definition of " Jobs in Clean Energy " OR the wider definition of " Jobs in the General Economy because of Jobs (Investment) in Clean Energy "? 11 million people need to b...

According to the Cape Times today, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa says she "wants what is best for South Africa without damaging water resources" and she has "Gazetted" that Fracking be put on South Africa's political agenda. I pray that she means this. If I heard the DOE or any other department saying this I wouldn't believe it. I would think that they want what is best for the mining or energy industry. But if Minister Molewa says that she, as the Minister in charge of Protecting the Environment, wants what is best for South Africa, and if she wants to be "objective" then I suppose we should believe her. I'm just a bit shocked that she is the one who has notified the public of what has been Gazetted, although on the other hand, I guess if she tells us, then we should believe we are in good hands! It is interesting that there is another article in the same newspaper which says that South African legislation i...

My letter in the Cape Times today: There are alternatives to the strikes, unemployment and massive problems afflicting South Africa. The population of South Africa is being hampered by government legislation that prevents private people and businesses from selling electricity across the national grid. Yet the energy policy white paper of 2003 says that competition should be allowed. South Africa is at a state of war with itself because of rapidly rising prices and growing unemployment, similar to what is happening in Greece and Italy. The National Planning Commission's report shows exactly how the unemployment figures are massaged and it is not good reading. However, there is an alternative. Safe, green, sustainable, electricity, with the price coming down every year or at the very least never going up again - ever. However, the government sees electricity as a cash cow, instead of realising that electricity is there to grow the economy. If the economy grows there will b...

Some good news and possibilities ... With so much "bad stuff" going on, I am so happy to have witnessed the amazing athletes at the ParaOlympic Games. The Parallel Olympics. South Africa has 8 golds, 12 silvers and 9 bronzes, making 29 medals. And we are 17th on the log at the moment, ie in the top 20 countries. I am very proud of our guys and girls. They have inspired me to continue reaching for my ideals and values in this difficult world in which we live. Initially I felt sorry and compassion for them. But after a few days, I realised that they don't feel sorry for themselves. They are an inspiration to all of us, whether we have physical or mental problems. We can overcome them. We can even overcome our environmental problems which lead to so many mental problems!! We just have to stop complaining and start doing. As soon as this happens, our world will truly change for the better.

The South African government has forgotten that South Africa's energy resources include the sun and the wind and water and other sources of renewable energy. Instead it concentrates its efforts on fossilised non-renewable fuels which harm the planet and doesn't give us the opportunity to make use of our vast solar, wind and ocean resources. Now that Government has lifted the ban on  fracking , perhaps it will level the playing fields and lift the ban on Net Metering and implement NRS 097 2 1 which allows Net Metering with Reverse Feed and Time of Use Tariffs without a service fee? This will give the alternative energy supporters time to show that alternative and renewable energy are cheaper and more sustainable than gas in South Africa. And it will level the playing fields and give the small person in South Africa the chance to compete with the goliaths of this world, including our government and Shell.