COMMENT •

Leon Louw - Editor • @ LeonLouw3 • llouw @ interactmedia . co . za

To shake this unhealthy habit will not happen overnight . And even if it happens in the next decade , there is no way that it will happen without withdrawal symptoms . No matter how hard the arguments are in favour of green energy , it is doubtful that there will be sufficient land available for renewables to generate enough electricity ( I ’ m talking about South Africa ).

The calculations have been made ( you can fact check me on Google , as this is an editorial comment and not a research paper backed up by scientifically proven facts ), but to provide sufficient base load ( yes base load only ) in South Africa with wind turbines , for example , one would need enough turbines to cover the shoulder of the road on both sides of the N3 from Joburg to Durban . That ’ s not all . If you hammer the first turbine in at the Denver Hostel in downtown Joburg , they will need to be closer than 2.5 meters from each other to reach the Port of Durban , 564.4km away in a south-westerly direction . Can you imagine ?

Think about the exorbitant security costs involved in guarding these behemoths against arsonists and destructive Russian-trained politicians in South African society ? The same can be said for solar panels . Large tracts of land will be required , and how many private security companies will we need to make sure that these solar panels don ’ t get feet ? And what guarantees will there be that Julius Malema and his EEF mob won ’ t expropriate the land once it is covered in row upon row of bright , shiny new solar panels ?

The South African Police will certainly not guard these sensitive infrastructure points when the chips are down and thousands of people decend on these solar farms to do their Christmas shopping .

I say this tongue in cheek , as I really do think that we need to move towards cleaner energy in South Africa , but it will take a lot more than the looting crowd we saw in Durban and Johannesburg in July to dismantle those massive , carbon dioxide gushing power stations in the Mpumalanga coalfields .

However , that is not the only reason that coal will be with us for at least the next 10 years ( in my opinion ). Many experts say even longer than 20 or 30 years . The fact is that we won ’ t rid ourselves of the coal infusion just yet . It certainly will not happen overnight . If you don ’ t believe me , go check out some of the presentations made at the Joburg Coal Industry Day , and start thinking about it critically . •

Leon Louw , Editor

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