Safe Disposal of Energy Saving Lightbulbs

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This City Works For You: Save on Electricity

The city has put some very interesting facts on energy consumption up on their website. Information relating to cost per hour for running household appliances, from your electric blanket on preheat to your 100 Watt lamp. 

Tips for energy saving at work include:

Turn off the photocopier when you leave - a photocopier left on overnight wastes enough energy to make about 1 600 copies!

Turn off your computer monitor - a monitor left on overnight wastes enough energy to laser-print about 800 A4 pages! By turning off your monitor energy consumption can be reduced by 50%

Leaving the lights on in an empty office overnight wastes enough energy to make about 1000 cups of coffee!

Save 10% of an air-conditioner electricity bill by turning the thermostat down 1º in winter
and up 1º in summer

View the page here to see all the stats and the other saving tips.
More saving tips can be viewed on the Eskom website.

State assets won’t be liquidated to fund Eskom

There is new information about the previously mentioned loan to Eskom.
Government’s R20 billion equity injection into Eskom will not be funded by liquidating non-core state assets after all. Government communicators have conceded they made an error with their earlier statement to that effect, and said the funding will actually come from Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget process.

News of the additional funding comes two weeks after Gordhan announced the extension of a loan guarantee to the power utility which now totals R350 billion. In an email under the heading “urgent correction” a government communicator said a recommendation to liquidate non-core state assets to fund an Eskom equity injection was not approved by Cabinet’s Economic Cluster.

Government’s Spokesperson Themba Maseko said the equity injection is aimed at helping Eskom with its balance sheet. “We believe that we’re strengthening Eskom’s ability to go to the markets to raise additional capital so that it can continue with the building programme,” he said.
Maseko said they intend to remove all doubts on Eskom’s ability to keep the lights on.

Article Via Eye Witness News

Save Electricity: Tips

Eskom has put together some simple tips on how to save electricity.
Tips including:

Switch the iron off once it has reached it's temperature.
 It will stay hot longer than you think.
And you wont have to keep paying!

Taking a shower uses less water than a bath,
so you save both water and electricity (to heat the water)
Showers save!

View the pdf here. for more tips on saving electricity.

Eskom ’honoured’ by R15 billion loan

Eskom on Thursday said it was truly honoured by the faith that the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has shown it regarding its future plans.

The bank and the local power utility signed a R15 billion loan agreement in Midrand on Thursday morning.

The money will be drawn over a five year period to fund various projects to increase the country’s electricity generating capacity.

It’s the biggest loan that the bank has ever approved.

Eskom CEO Brian Dames said, “It’s a very public statement by the bank in terms of its confidence in Eskom and Eskom’s ability."

"We are truly honoured by the faith and trust that your bank has shown in our organisation as well as the future of our country,” he added.

Article from EWN
 

R174 billion to bolster Eskom

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Thursday announced government is extending its loan guarantee to Eskom by R174 billion.

This brings the total guarantee to R350 billion.

Gordhan was briefing MPs in Parliament. He took to the floor shortly after the Finance Committees were given a brief overview of the medium-term budget.

He said Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan and Treasury agreed on supporting Eskom with its build programme.

Gordhan added that the multi-billion rand guarantee should offer enough assurance on the country’s energy security.

“This will enable Eskom now to continue with its entire build programme through to 2017,” he said.

Gordhan said the move should cast aside any doubts over whether government is standing by the utility.

The extra money will be used to fund the Kusile Power Station.

Gordhan was eager to allay fears that the construction of the 4,800 Megawatt power station in Mpumalanga would be scrapped because of financial constraints.

“Any doubts about Kusile and so on are all removed. They have the guarantee of government to do the borrowing they need to do, particularly when money is cheap now.”

The future of the other 4,800 MW power station Medupi, in Lephalale, is already secure thanks to a World Bank loan.

[Article from Eyewitness News. Chantall Presence.]

Is economics the driver for innovation?

“Industry’s goal is not to deploy the most innovative or the greenest technology. The goal is to make money” says MIT alumnus and DoE under secretary for science, Steven E. Koonin.

As someone with a long academic background he postulated the issue in the form of a simple syllogism:

• Almost the entire energy industry, with only a few exceptions, is in the hands of private industry;
• Industry’s primary goal is a legal and predictable profit;
• Therefore, innovation in the energy supply will only reach a significant scale when it is profitable or mandated.

Read the rest of the MIT news article here and let us know what you think.

About us

We are a Social Enterprise committed to inspire all South Africans, but especially the youth, to think innovatively, develop “eyes” that can “see” socio-economic need in society and come up with innovative solutions. We want to be instrumental in connecting aspirant innovators, in an enabling and empowering way, to the resources available through institutions of higher learning, policy makers, local authorities, financiers, etc. Through this we aim to contribute to the development of an ECO-SYSTEM in which INNOVATION will flourish, engender and instil a spirit of ENTREPRENEURSHIP and a SOCIAL HEART as integrated concepts and NOT as mutually exclusive initiatives. Our own business model, therefore, follows exactly these principles.

OUR OBJECTIVES:

Through our Conference and Expo we aim to achieve the following:

·         Undo the myth that we, as a country, are NOT innovative and that all meaningful innovations originate in the northern hemisphere, i.e. UK, US, Europe, etc.

·         Actively pursue the search for the key ingredients needed to develop an eco-system in which innovation will flourish, then communicate the findings and provide a platform where the best implementation practise can be discussed.   

·         Provide a platform for South African individuals, institutions and business to showcase their newest innovations in the ENERGY sector

·         Provide an opportunity for ENERGY INNOVATORS from all spheres of South African society to network, explore, learn and be inspired together.

·         Provide a single place where the PUBLIC and INDUSTRY can discover the latest innovations related to their energy needs.

·         Inspire learners and students to think “INNOVATION” through exposing them to practical demonstrations of and interactions with the latest innovations by the innovators themselves

·         Act as a KNOWLEDGE BASE and “NEXT-STEPS-SIGN-POST” to aspirant innovators

Appeal to Corporates:

If INNOVATION in the ENERGY sector is a concept which is NOT in conflict with your corporate BRAND, please consider being a part of this inspiring event.