A green energy summit
The laws of thermo-dynamics control the rise and fall of political systems, the freedom or bondage of nations, the abilities of business, the origins of wealth and poverty, and the general physical welfare of the human race. So said Frederick Soddy, Nobel Laureate, famous radio-chemist, son of a British merchant.
The choice between freedom and bondage also bears on coal as energy source.
South Africa had a spectacular economic awakening based on the vast exploitation of minerals and follow-on industries. The firm foundation was the "cheap and easily available coal for energy". This led us down a few drains. For example, South Africa is still horribly high (16th) on the list of world territories for carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. A massive change away from coal has to be affected - opposing the institutionalised giants who presently occupy thrones of coal.
Amidst this serious national crisis, the Eden district municipality boldly stepped forward under leadership of Executive Mayor Memory Booysen. Remember, the Eden DM has received the Greenest Municipality award for five consecutive years from premier Helen Zille. Now it organised a Green Energy Summit which took place in George on 11 and 12 April "to promote green energy initiatives towards an even greener district". A selectively invited and devoted group of
140 delegates attended at the start, including solid representation from the district's municipalities. And don't worry, the R160 000 from the local tax base may in future prove to be the best energy investment for the region.
The summit
Enthusiasm was injected by conference presentations from outside experts, alphabetically: CSIR Energy Centre,
Green Buildings Council, Green Cape, independent power producers, Micro-care Solar, NMU uYilo, Sagen (the South African-German Energy Programme), Salga, Stellenbosch University Centre of Renewable Energy, Thebe Solar, Western Cape Province Energy Game Changer, and more, but Eskom did not care to come.
Too many good initiatives fall flat afterwards in spite of a good summit event. This one promises not to.
At closing, delegates voted and resolved to collectively pursue some priority green energy work.
Worthy of mention are:
An Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) for the district.
Green planning from the IEP must be fully reflected in all plans of all member municipalities.
Each of the local authorities undertakes to implement at least one new green energy project per municipality per year.
Viable partnerships are to be pursued across the board, also by securing the required resources to give practical effect towards implementation.
Documents were to be prepared for each of the eight executive mayors (district and local) to sign a summit declaration "to inspire positive change, innovation and bold action which our people expect and deserve; and to work tirelessly to inspire service delivery and create a sustainable green energy future".
I like this.
It is for all of us to check, control, but foremost, cooperate and participate, in order to follow this good leadership of the district municipality on the energy front.