The Art of Engineering

When was the last time that you enjoyed the wonder of a night time sky? I have fond memories of family holidays to Jeffery's Bay, and one of the things that stands out clearly in my mind is the beauty of the night sky from the beach near the house we stayed in. The richness and depth of the starry night seemed to suck you into itself.

When I look up from my home now all that I can see is a few of the brightest constellations while the rest is hidden by the haze of city lights. We have lost our night sky and we do not even know what the implications of that are (here are some). I was reminded of this by a photo essay on light pollution. The last line of the essay is particularly poignant: For all the benefits of artificial light, "we shouldn't pretend that nothing is lost."

On 28 March at 20h30 the WWF is asking us to turn out the lights for one hour as a vote for Earth and a vote against climate change. This global action will be presented to leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

This is not a vote against climate change, this is an action to win back some of what we have lost. This is an opportunity to start reclaiming our night sky. This is the chance to turn off not only your lights, but your TV, computer, cellphone and any other distraction and to spend an hour with the people you love – connecting and enjoying your humanity. This is a vote for a happier, cleaner and healthier world.

Sign up on the South African or International Earth Hour websites.



Image courtesty of Steve Jurvetson, licensed under a Creative Commons license.

eWaste is a particularly difficult issue to deal with as it contains many different materials and lots of extremely hazardous substances. Incorrect disposal of electronic items can result in many of those dangerous chemicals entering into our environment through water systems and air pollution.

eWASA, the eWaste Association of South Africa, is an organisation concerned with the handling of eWaste and represents the various industry stakeholders (like eWaste recyclers and disposers). Their website provides useful information about where to recycle your eWaste and how the eWaste recycling process works. They also have a really fascinating (and distrubing) list of hazardous substances and what items those substances are contained in. I recommend that everybody read that list (compulsory reading for engineers and product developers).

Refurbishing, reuse and extending the life–cycle of electronic products is an important (and preferable) way to reduce eWaste and the hazards associated with recycling and disposing of these products.

eWaste recycling is expensive and the costs are not necessarily covered by the resale of recovered materials. eWASA would like to introduce an advanced recycling fee (ARF) for products which will eventually become a part of the eWaste stream. This fee will be collected by the supplier at the time of sale and used to fund end–of–life recyling. Exactly how the ARF will be collected and distributed is not yet clear. Will certain items, such as CRTs, attract a higher ARF due to greater recycling costs? We will have to wait and see.

South Africa currently has no legal framework which deals specifically with eWaste, and unlike the EU's RoHS directive, we have no laws to govern the materials used in the products that we make. I have been quite surprised in my dealings with manufacturers of printed circuit boards and assembly houses that they even still offer leaded products (because people are still using them). There are many benefits in removing these hazardous substances from your product and any issues with the alternative lead–free options have already been resolved. It is our responsibility as designers to remove these substances from our products. South Africa should introduce legislation to govern the use of hazardous materials so that we can avoid future health crises.

We need more people to be aware of, and start recycling eWaste. Fortunately Makro and Fujitsu–Siemens have partnered together with an eWaste recycler, Desco Electronic Recyclers, and begun providing eWaste collection bins in some of their stores. This will help to create awareness of how to correctly handle and recycle eWaste. eWASA's website has a full list of eWaste collection points in South Africa.

Please design and recycle wisely – it is good for you, me, and our environment.

Photo courtesty of Stephen Bullivant, licensed under a creative commons license.

I visited the Natural & Organic Expo last weekend and learned a few things.

1. Polystyrene can be and is being recycled in Cape Town.
   

   From the reading that I have done I thought that polystyrene was expensive and inefficient to recycle, mainly due to the problems associated with transporting such a light plastic, but polystyrene is actually collected, melted into ingots and recycled into picture frames, stationery, cornices, skirting boards, hangers and seedling trays. In Cape Town EPS Reclaim in Montague Gardens collects and smelts polystyrene. Find your nearest polystyrene drop off point.

2. There is clearly a big demand for natural cleaning products.
   

   I was amazed at how many different natural, organic and bio–degradable household cleaning products were on show. The demand and acceptance of these products is growing not just for environmental reasons, but also due to health concerns such as allergic reactions.

3. Oxi-degradable plastics are creating headaches for recyclers.
   

   I have written about oxi–degradable plastics before. It is important to realise that oxi–degradable plastic is very different from bio–degradable plastic. Companies like Green Home make bio–degradable plastic from plant sources (in their case bagasse, a byproduct of the sugar industry), while oxi–degradable plastics are normal plastic (like polyethylene) with the addition of a metal salt which causes them to break down over time. In South Africa oxi–degradable plastics have been used mainly for fruit and bread bags. The problem with these types of plastics is that they are indistinguishable from normal plastics and it is difficult to know how far the degradation process has progressed. Oxi–degradable bags pollute the recycling stream and result in a poor quality end product.


4. Bio–degradable plastics require education and infrastructure.
   

   Bio–degradable plastic products made from sustainable sources (such as bagasse, mentioned above) may provide a viable alternative to plastic in some cases. It is important that they are manufactured from sources other than food crops (plastic from corn is unsustainable). A problem that needs to be addressed (and is being addressed by manufacturers such as Green Home) is how to manage the waste from these products. Simply dumping bio–degradable plastic into a landfill is undesirable. Bio–degradable plastics will not degrade in a landfill, which means effective collection and composting needs to take place. Consumers can compost these packages at home, but without education it is unlikely that this will happen. Education, collection and composting infrastructure is an important aspect of bio–degradable plastic.

5. Egg yolks contain colourant.
   

   Pick 'n Pay is selling a new range of indigenous free range eggs, and one of the marketing points is "No yolk colourants." Yolk colourants? It turns out that chicken feed is often supplemented to increase its carotenoid content to obtain a more consistent colour yolk. The supplements used appear to be natural or "nature identical" such as lutein and canthaxanthin.

It was good to meet new people, get exposed to a few new ideas and to find new sources of organic and environmentally aware products. If you are in Cape Town and the surrounding area then make a point to go next year.

The first Cape Town green bloggers get together is happening this Saturday, 11 Oct at 14h00. If you are a green blogger in Cape Town then join Juliana Rotich, Environment Editor of Global Voices Online, and other local green bloggers for an informal gathering. You can find all the details and RSVP on the wiki. Unfortunately I am unable to make it, but I am really glad that this is happening. Thanks Rory!

I am sure you have been in that situation where you are struggling to solve some problem, and then you take a break (maybe a nap or shower) and suddenly – WHAM – the solution hits you right between the eyes. Our minds are in continual process even when we are not aware of it.

Taking breaks changes us. Long or short, they matter because we allow ourselves to change the focus of our minds, and that change in focus allows us to think more clearly about all the other things. When we are deeply involved in something (be it a hard problem or the daily matters of life) our perspective narrows and taking a break helps to open up our perspective – we get a new view on the world.

I have been able to take a long break from life and travel in the USA for a month. Travel always changes our perspective, and this trip gave me much to think about. Returning to my business and normal life probably gave me even more to think about. For the next while I will be focussed on some engineering design and process issues that I think can be improved upon, but I will continue to discuss the environment and how we and engineering interact with it.

For now, some thoughts on my USA trip:

• America has a throw away culture. Everything is paper, plastic and polystyrene and meant to dumped after using. Restaurants, coffee shops, rest rooms and homes – waste is everywhere. Americans generate far more waste than South African's do.
• I did not see energy saving bulbs anywhere (except my brother's house). Energy crisis? What energy crisis?
  
• When we see stats and numbers about waste and energy usage they are typically based on American studies. Due to the the above points it may not be fair to impose those numbers on South Africa. That means we need our own numbers, and our own measures. Using the US yardstick against ourselves will yield false results.
• We need to make sure we move towards a culture of efficiency, reuse and longevity – away from a culture of waste.
  
• It is hard to get a decent cappuccino. It is even harder to get it in a ceramic cup (I learnt to ask for a "to stay" cup on my last day).
• We need to learn how to be patient on the road. The Americans are really patient and courteous drivers. Most people's instant reaction would be that they have more policing. Is it more, or is it the style that matters? Also, do we really need to be policed to behave well?
• You can get just about anything you can think of (except a decent cappuccino).
• Nobody really knows or cares what happens in South Africa. We fool ourselves when we think our economic fortunes are closely tied to our political situation.
• South Africa has a soul, character and diversity which I am absolutely ecstatic to come home to.
  

This post forms a part of the SA Blook.

So what is our reality?

South Africa has an unemployment rate of about 23%, a skills shortage crisis, rising inflation, rising interest rates, a large current account deficit and an uncertain political environment – amongst a number of other things.

All of this points towards a great need, and with great need, comes a great crisis...just not the one you are thinking about. The great crisis we have is a crisis of opportunity. Wherever there is need, there is opportunity.

In this midst of this great opportunity the challenge that we face is finding people who are ready to create solutions. We must find and create people who are willing to innovate each day.

We are all innovators and have the ability to contribute to the creation of a better country. Unfortunately we tend to associate "innovation" with technological improvements, while it should really apply to every task that we do. Innovation needs to become a concept which permeates how we do business, and how we go about our jobs each day.

The other problem is that we tend to think of innovation as large leaps forward. Personally I prefer the Japanese concept of Kaizen, which means continuous change for the better (Mind of the Innovator is worth a read). So when I use the word innovate, I mean keep changing things for the better.

On its own, technical advances will only change South Africa a small amount. We need innovation to happen on all fronts – legal, government, business – but most importantly we need it to happen at a people level. We need to find ways to keep changing ourselves for the better, and with that the rest will come easily.

So how do we as businesses and individuals work towards a better South Africa?

1. People matter
   
   Our country, and our businesses run on people. The more we place value on each individual, the more value we build for ourselves. It is time to stop thinking about "human resources" and start thinking about people. People matter, and what they care about matters too.
   
   We are connected to the people around us. Acting in the interest of those around us serves not only to build a better country, but also to nurture and secure our own future.
   
   
2. Engage in the discussion
   
   We all need to engage in the discussion that is going on around us and try to contribute positively to it. Talking builds community and that forms the foundation for a better country. It helps us find out what matters to other people, and how we can help.
   
   I have been fortunate enough to be a part of an amazing online business community, The Forum SA, which has brought various business owners and managers together to engage with each other. Together we help each other with the daily challenges of running a business. It also provides a platform for us to work together as a group to improve conditions for small business owners in South Africa. Together we create a better country.
   
   The more we take part, the more we grow. Maybe it is time to grow together.
   
   
3. Be remarkable: make and do things that matter
   
   Jim Collin's wrote, "Good is the enemy of great." Or in Seth Godin's words, be remarkable.
   
   As a whole we have given up our greatness. We have lost our sense of greatness to crime, dirty politicians and corrupt businessmen. Yet as a country we are filled with greatness, even if we are not always able to recognise it.
   
   What and how we do things changes our view of both ourselves and the people around us. Do your actions reflect who you want to become? Do they reflect the country you want to live in? Do they build your (our) greatness, or break it down?
   
   What comes out of us, both in actions and words, reflects not only who we are, but who we are becoming. What steps did you take on the road to greatness today? We need to walk that path – one step at a time.
   
   
4. Do more with less
   
   Right now we can all feel the pressures of inflation. There are two basic ways to combat inflation – consume less, or produce more. If we can do both at the same time it is a double win. Innovation can help us to both increase productivity as well as decrease costs.
   
   As much as technological innovation can help, finding new ways to equip people with skills and increase their productivity can help even more. As we educate people through schools, universities and on–site training we grow our ability to deliver. As we produce and deliver more we push down inflation.
   
   Each of us has the responsibility to help develop another person. Remember, people matter.
   

In summary, we must innovate how we think of people, the things we say, what we do, and how we think.

The thought that I would like to leave you with is a question that I have been asking myself quite a bit lately – what is your reality? Think about that for a second before answering. We get bombarded from all directions (media, government, business) by someone else's reality (or one they want us to believe). Too much of that starts to change the way we see our reality.

So, when we strip it all away, when we really look at the exact details of your life, it may be that things are a lot better than we have been led to believe. Spend some time thinking about it.

What is your reality? How can you keep changing it for the better?

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Next chapter: The role of the younger generation in SA, and what we need to do to support them.

Previous chapter: Making the most of SA's creative talent and abilities.

This post is a chapter of the SA Blook: A Piece of Significance, an online book written by a diverse group of writers with strong views of our country and the reality we find ourselves living in. The other chapters in the Blook are here:

• Introduction
  

1. The new South Africa - is it real?
2. Is SA rich or poor?
3. What the world thinks of South Africa and what our global opportunities are
4. The importance of each individual's contribution collectively
5. SA Inc and the business of doing business in SA
6. The beauty and grandeur that surrounds us
7. The importance of technology in SA's global emergence
8. Building brand South Africa
9. Making the most of SA's creative talents and abilities
10. Innovate for a better South Africa
11. The role of the younger generation in SA, and what we need to do to support them
12. Connecting South Africa - Communities that transcend technology
13. We are African - the role of collaboration in South Africa's growth

---

This post is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 South Africa license.

The picture is used under stock.xchng's standard license and was taken by Lynette Lan.

Sometimes you have the opportunity to be involved with something unique, and I am fortunate enough to be in that position.

Monday will see the release of The Blook SA. I am very honoured to have been asked to write a post for it, and I am looking forward to reading the whole thing. There are some really awesome people involved:

• Andy Hadfield
• Duncan Drennan
• Eve Dmochowska
• Grant Brewer
• Justin Hartman
• Kerry-Anne Gilowey
• Mandy de Waal
• Melissa Attree
• Nic Haralambous
• Paul Jacobson
• Saul Kropman
• Tycoon's Geoff Candy and Hilton Tarrant
• Siyabonga Nhlumayo - guest writer

Darren Gorton of Out-Think has been the organising force behind this. Here are all his Blook related posts, and the original idea.

See you on Monday when you come back to read the full Blook :)

I think that it is worth trying to understand some of the reasons we are heading towards a food crisis.

The result of all of this deregulation meant that small producers lost access to the local market giving global market access to a few global producers. Three companies—Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, and Bunge—control the vast majority of global grain trading, while Monsanto controls more than one-fifth of the global market in seeds. Consumers from Sioux City to Soweto are more and more dependent on fewer and fewer producers. By eliminating the breadth and diversity of the system, we’ve eliminated its ability to withstand shock or manipulation.

Perhaps the greatest evidence of the scale of deregulation of the world agricultural market is the liquidation of reliable grain reserves. Though we’ve impressively deregulated financial markets, the Federal Reserve and central bankers across the globe still maintain the ability to soften the spikes and plunges of our monetary system. Not so in food markets. For centuries grain reserves have been an essential component of functioning food systems. When prices are high grain reserves can be released on the market, bringing prices down. When prices are low, reserve systems buy up grain, bringing prices back up. In the last two decades, however, the U.S. and most other governments have let reserve systems wither, placing full faith in the free market to self-correct, and eliminating their last emergency response mechanism.

Read the full article on UrbanSprout. Also further reading.

I am no fan of biofuels (or bio–plastics), but I have been a little bit suspicious that all the fingers are being pointed at it as the main cause of the food crisis.

But, looking at this, this crisis is a much more complex and deadly beast. We have already seen the same thing playing out in South Africa in both our bread and diary industries.

Unlike money supply there is currently no way to normalise the fluctuations in food prices - so where to from here? What can we do to fend of this looming crisis?

Trevor Manuel has quite clearly indicated what he thinks is best - grow as much food as possible.

Manuel said food prices had broken out of a 150-year pricing band and shot up in relation to other living expenses. “I don’t think you are going to see a reduction in prices for some time, so whatever can be done to encourage people to plant on every piece of arable land would be a benefit to all,” he said.

I think a lot of people see that comment as a drive for subsistence farming. Yes, and no. In the face of rising food prices, producing food will be a profitable business, whether on a small or large scale. And that means that growing more food makes good business (and social) sense for South Africa.

On the other hand there is a strong case for backyard growing, as well as the conversion of water loving fields of grass to food producing gardens.

"Agriculture is becoming more and more suburban," says Roxanne Christensen, publisher of Spin-Farming LLC, a Philadelphia company started in 2005 that sells guides and holds seminars teaching a small-scale farming technique that involves selecting high-profit vegetables like kale, carrots and tomatoes to grow, and then quickly replacing crops to reap the most from plots smaller than an acre. "Land is very expensive in the country, so people are saying, 'why not just start growing in the backyard?' "

So maybe amongst all the turmoil there is a great opportunity. For some it may be a financial opportunity. For others (like me) it is an opportunity to have some fun (because growing stuff is cool) and contribute in a meaningful way to a number of issues facing us.

Will you be a victim or a hero of this crisis?

[2008/05/15 Update] Thanks to Pia for pointing out this article about the Western Cape making municipal land available for growing food.

"As meaningless as changing a CFL may be, the people that change the CFL bulbs get engaged in the discussion – and that's important." – Colin Bevan, aka No Impact Man

There seem to be a lot of people who challenge individual action. I have often found that those same people shift responsibility.

I am sure you have heard it before:

• "What difference can I make? The government should..."
• "For every plastic bag you recycle, someone else throws ten away."
• "How does it help if I ride my bicycle to work while someone else drives their 4x4?"

The biggest difference that our small actions make is that they change what goes on inside of us. Let's look at my personal experience with recycling in Cape Town.

I decided that it was time to start recycling as much of our waste as possible. I already had a compost heap which was taking care of any organic waste. Now it was time to deal with plastics, cardboard, paper and the likes. After dutifully sorting my plastic waste I went to the Morning Star dump expecting to be able to deposit my various recyclables. Well, things did not turn out quite as I would have hoped. There just did not seem to be the facilities that were advertised.

Being me I sent off an email to find out what was supposed to be happening. After some emails back–and–forth it seemed like things should be better. So off I went for my second attempt at recycling. This time things were organised and clear. Everything went into the proper recycling bins. I was pleased.

Third visit...unfortunately it was exactly like the first. No recycling bins. Confusion. So back to square one with another email sent off.

So what is the point of my story? My action (recycling) has got me engaged with a problem within my community. It has me engaged in a conversation around the problems and challenges that we face. Suddenly I care about the quality of the dump in my area. That one small action has changed me.

So I encourage you to take action. Just choose something you care about and start doing something. It may or may not change the world, but it will change you.

The DME has released the proposed amendments to the Electricity Regulations Act 2006. It makes for some interesting reading, but here is what it boils down to.

The "licensees" (the people you buy your electricity from – e.g. municipalities) must ensure the following,

1. Incandescent lights must be replaced with energy efficient ones.
2. Unoccupied buildings' lights must be turned off.
3. No street lights should be on during the day.
4. New dwellings with a value over R750000 must include solar geysers.
5. Dwellings larger than 300m² must include solar gesyers.
6. All new installations must have a geyser blanket.
7. Office blocks, hospitals, hotels, resorts, and shopping complexes must incorporate solar water heating by 2010.
8. All geysers must be able to be turned off remotely by 2010.
9. All heating, ventilation and cooling systems (HVAC) must be able to be turned off remotely by 2010.
10. Swimming pool pumps and heating must be able to be turned off remotely (interestingly no date is set for this).
11. Street lights must be fitted with energy efficient bulbs.
12. Time use tariffs for customers who consume more than 500kWh a month, before 2010.

You can submit comments on the regulations up until 25 February 2008.

There are two things which stand out for me:

1. HVAC that can be turned off remotely.

The interesting thing with this is that it will be very noticeable to the end user. Turning off a geyser has little (no) effect on the end user. If your air conditioner suddenly turns off you are going to notice. The other thing is that turning a motor (the compressor) on and off is quite different to turning a resistor (geyser element) on and off. I wonder what the impact of this will be on the lifetime of the equipment?


2. Time use tariffs for customers using more then 500kWh/month.

There are many households using more than this, and certainly just about every business is going to be affected by this. We will have to think more carefully about when we use energy. Business is probably going to take the biggest knock from this, as it eats straight into your bottom line.

Other than that it just looks like we should all start solar geyser companies ;)

We are in the middle of an energy crisis and each of us need to make some dramatic changes to ensure that we have electricity, and that the economy can continue to run.

The first thing we each need to realise is that in the short term Eskom and the government can't help us. In fact, the only short term solution is to punish everyone by load shedding or electricity rationing.

The next thing to realise is that we can help ourselves and everyone else. Here is what to do (keep reading and find out how...)

1. Turn off the air conditioners
   
2. Turn off your geyser
3. Turn off your pool pump
4. Turn off anything that consumes standby energy (TV's, DVD players, cell phone chargers, etc.)
   
5. Switch to CFL and LED lights (and use fewer lights)
   
6. Run appliances as late at night, or early in the morning as possible
7. Use your computers in energy saving modes

Eskom's problem explained

We first need to understand the problem to know how to address it properly. There is a lot of confusing information out there, from silly politician's statements, through to confusing technical information.

There are two types of energy shortages, supply shortages and capacity shortages. Think of it like a dam and pipes. A supply shortage means there is not enough water in the dams, while a capacity shortage means the pipes are not big enough to get everyone enough water.

Eskom has a capacity shortage. That means there is not enough power generating capacity to deal with the peak demands.

Each type of problem requires a different approach to solve it. The supply shortage means we have to use less (just like when there are water restrictions). A capacity shortage means we have to either demand less, or spread the demand out better so that everyone gets what they need. This can easily be done.


Spreading the load

Eskom needs to reduce the demand by about 3000MW (megawatts) ^[1]. So in other words, we need to spread out the load more evenly so that during the busy times there is enough for everyone.

1. Turn off the air conditioners

This is not a suggestion that people like, but let's look at how this could work.

Eskom estimates that HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) contributes 5400MW (about 15%) to peak demand. If we guess that half of that can be turned off without any dire consequences, we already have 2700MW of the required 3000MW. This would be quite an extreme approach. Eskom estimates that 10% could be saved by just applying some simple principles.

Start with good insulation! If you have good insulation you will need to cool much less in the summer, and heat less in the winter. Make sure your ceiling insulation is in good condition and find out what else is practical to do (weather stripping, better windows, etc.)

Use the fan to circulate cool air from outside early in the morning. Only turn the air conditioning on in the mid–morning. Set the temperature as high as possible, and make sure that it is no more than 10º lower than the outside temperature.

Conservative power saving: 600MW


2. Turn off your geyser

Turning off your geyser for a large part of the day can help significantly with reducing the peak demand. This does require a bit of planning and organisation, especially if you have a large family.

I can turn off my geyser in the morning, and still have enough hot water to bath in the evening. Then just before I go to bed, I turn it back on to heat up for the morning. This may vary, depending on your geyser and its insulation. One thing worth investing in is a geyser blanket (if Eksom hasn't already come to install one for you).

Remember that each time you use hot water while the geyser is off cold water is running into it and cooling the hot water. You want to try to use hot water all at the same time, i.e. get everyone in your family to shower/bath at the same time, then you should have enough hot water for everyone.

Turn your geyser off before you leave in the morning, and turn it back on just before you go to bed. Play around and find out what works for you.

Businesses need to look at how the geyser is used, and try to keep it off before 10h00 in the morning and after 18h00 in the evening.

If one million households with a 2kW geyser element do this...

Estimated power savings: 2000MW


3. Turn off your pool pump

Pool pumps can consume anything from 500–1500W. You will have to experiment with your pool and see what works, but try to run your pool pump at night (after 20h00) rather than during the day when there is a high demand for electricity. You can also look into other lower power pool maintenance options, like the Floatron.

Estimate power savings: 120MW ^[1]


4. Turn off anything that consumes standby energy

TV's, radio's, DVD players, video machines, microwaves, computers, cell phone chargers and (some) ovens are just a few of the things that consume power even while we are not using them. If any of these items are turned on at the plug they can consume anything from 0.5W to 30W (have a look at the results of this guy's power audit).

The easiest way to do this is to use a multiplug (power strip) with switches.

It is really hard to estimate this, but a lot of small savings will add up for everyone. I suspect the savings could be a lot bigger than we think.


5. Switch to CFL and LED lights (and use fewer lights)

In the 2001 census there were 7.8 million households using electricity as their main source of lighting ^[2]. If each of those house were to change a single 60W incandescent bulb for an 11W CFL the savings would be significant (learn more about the benefits of CFLs). Also consider changing your halogen downlights to LEDs.

Unfortunately household lighting does not play a big role during the day. Commercial and industrial users are the ones that need to examine their lighting and reduce their consumption. An easy way to reduce lighting consumption is to retrofit electronic ballasts to your fluorescent lights which consume up to 38% less energy than magnetic ballasts. Commercial installations also stand to win a huge electricity (and money) saving by changing to LED lighting.

Obviously the simplest thing you can do is make sure that lights are turned off when you are not using them. Security lights can also also be changed to motion sensing to avoid them running all night.

Estimated savings: minimum 400MW


6. Run appliances as late at night, or early in the morning as possible

Washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers require a fair amount of power to operate (particularly tumble dryers). By simply operating these out of peak demand you can help to alleviate the load on the network. It might not always be practical, but running them before 07h00 or after 20h00 can help to make a difference.

Estimated savings: 250MW ^[1]


7. Use your computers in energy saving modes

We often use our computers in energy inefficient ways – allowing a screen saver to run, or leaving a computer on when you are away from it for a while. Some simple changes to your computers settings can help to reduce the load it puts on the network.

In XP set your power management to "Minimal power" (to ensure the CPU uses as little as possible), and in Vista choose a power saving power plan. Try to optimise the settings for your own situation. Turn off screen savers, and set your computer screen to turn off instead. Set your computer to sleep if not used for more than 20 minutes. Allow it to hibernate if not used for an hour (desktop computers can do this too!)

Again, this is difficult to estimate, but if every business took a small amount of time to do this the total savings could be significant.

With those conservative savings we can "load shed" over 3000MW. I think it is worth doing so that we can keep out homes and the economy powered.

PS. Post your energy saving tips here in the comments, or add to the list we have going on The Forum SA!

References:
[1] National Response to South Africa's Electricity Shortage
[2] Census 2001: Census in brief

Load shedding and Eskom have been on the lips of many South Africans over the past few weeks. We have had some of our worst electrical outages ever — even to the point of mines being forced to close. We are in the middle of an energy crisis and fortunately everyone has now realised that.

On Friday the government released a plan to deal with this crisis, along with a background document explaining the current situation, and some more details of the plan.

The problem is that there has been a rapid growth in demand and the reserve capacity has been consumed, leaving Eskom with only about 8–10% reserve margin. They want to have 15% reserve margin. The current small margin puts a lot of physical strain on the grid as it reduces time for maintenance (generators have to run more), and results in the generators running harder (like driving your car close to the red line the whole time). These stresses result in more unplanned outages.

For example, in the week of 14 January a total of 8700MW (22%) of the capacity was unavailable. 5000MW of that was due to unplanned outages.

In the medium and long term Eskom is continuing to expand their capacity, but in the short term drastic measures need to be taken to keep the economy supplied with electricity. Right now Eskom needs to release about 3000MW of capacity to provide enough "breathing room." That is a large chunk of power....although you might be surprised at how easily it can be obtained.

There is a single viable option to solve this crisis in the short term, and that is power conservation. The government and Eskom have identified this and have the following short term goals (my comments below the bulleted lists):

1. Introduction of a quota system (rationing) based on success in Brazil
   
   • Consumption reduction targets for
     • Industial: 10%
     • Commercial: 15%
     • Hotels, resorts, shopping centres, conference centres: 20%
     • Large offices, government buildings: 15%
     • Agriculture: 5%
     • Residential: 10%
   • Penalty tariffs for use above quotas
   • Cut–off of repeat offenders
   • Incentives for exceeding savings targets
   • Trading of used quotas for large consumers
   
   Brazil's system was pretty simple: all users had to reduce their consumption to 80% of their previous year's consumption. There were penalties for not complying, and incentives for exceeding the targets. Large consumers could trade their excess savings. Interestingly, Brazil's greatest savings came from the low end of the market.
   
   The key to making this work would be to implement the simplest practical system, and stick to it.
   
   I think that it is a reasonable proposal, and could have the fastest impact, as there would be direct cost implications for all users, which would inspire energy savings and efficiency.
   
   
2. Efficient lighting roll–out programme (target 750MW by 2010)
   • CFL roll–out to users
   • Immediate restriction on sale of incandescent light bulbs
   
   There is an estimated immediate savings of 600MW if all residential households change to CFLs. I think energy efficient lighting is great, but residential users are typically only using lighting at night, so this does not really play a role during the day. I believe that if businesses focus on improving their lighting efficiency it could make a significant contribution towards the targets.
   
   It is also interesting that there are plans to back up the drive for energy efficient lighting with a restriction on incandescent lighting. 20 lumens per watt will be the minimum lighting efficiency allowed. CFLs and quartz halogen bulbs are both more efficient than this (examples of lighting efficiencies). For those of you concerned about mercury, there is a plan to develop a disposal protocol for the CFLs.
   
   
3. Solar water heating programme (target 650MW)
   • 1 million installations over three years
   • Unit cost and production capacity are issues
   
   The high cost and slow pay–off of solar heating make it unappealing as a retrofit for residential users. Industrial users probably stand to win the most by changing over, and the next point definitely has merits.
   
   
4. National housing specification
   • Mandate all new houses be built with solar geyser or gas geyser
   • Time switch or interlocker between geyser and stove
   • Ceiling insulation
   • Geyser insulation
   • Double glazing
   • Weather stripping of doors and windows
   
   The actual impact of this will take a while to materialise, but the benefits will be reaped for years to come. Interlocker switches will ensure that geysers and stoves do not operate concurrently, reducing the peak demand in the mornings and evenings. Improvements in insulation will reduce the need for heating and cooling, which is a benefit to the national grid, as well as the user.

Medium term goals include smart metering (I still do not understand how this helps with the load), fuel switching (to LPG), conversion of traffic lights and public lights (to solar powered), and the conversion of water heating to solar in the hospitality industry.

Overall, I think the approach is correct, but the reality is that the power still lies in our hands. That is a great responsibility for each of us. If we want to see our country grow (and our mines working again!) we need to each take responsibility for reducing our energy consumption as much as possible. We (and the government) need to take immediate action to resolve this problem.

I believe that the government and Eskom should embark on a huge national advertising campaign to support this plan. It should be hard hitting and demonstrate that each of us has a role to play in securing our future. It should become socially unacceptable to use power inefficiently. We each need to stand up for our own future.

To find out how to help read the 7 best ways to stop load shedding.