Thursday, 13 November 2014
Carbon Sequestration in South Africa for our coal generated electricity
South Africa uses coal to generate electricity (Eskom), produce fuels like diesel and crude oil (Sasol), a multitude of synthetic chemicals and metallurigical processing. It is a cheap fossil fuel and available right on our door step. We have so much of it that we even export around 28% to the foreign market. Coal drives quite a large economy on it's own and this is one of the reasons, up until the last few years, that no other energy alternatives were seen as favourable or invested in. Now since coal with be with us for quite a few more decades, spewing carbon dioxide without limit into the atmosphere, solutions will need to be found to bring the carbon dioxide emissions from this source down.
Nothing has changed in the last few decades, instead the usage of coal has risen exponentially due to South Africa's economic growth and the rising the export price. However, there are technologies available that can be researched further and implemented but need the right conditions to do so. The fact that the large industries emitting carbon into the atmosphere by burning this fossil fuel and the customers of the generated energy do not pay a cent towards these emissions, means inherently that there is no need to pour money into researching Carbon Capture and Storage technologies (CCS).
But what is available under the umbrella of CCS technology? The Department of Energy in the US has poured approximately $6,5 billion in the last 30 years researching and testing this technology of capturing carbon dioxide and storing or sequestering it in underground porous rock formations. The petroleum industry (international) has been injecting carbon dioxide into depleted oil fields and using it to force trapped oil to the surface for more than four decades. A good example of this is the Canadian petroleum company Cenovus Energy. Since 2000 around 20 million metric tons of CO2 has been captured form a North Dakota plant that turns coal into synthetic natural gas and stores it in a depleted oil patch. No leaks have been documented at this site and the risks of a catastrophic leak is extremely low. Smaller, regular leaking is still a possibility at some sites where the rock is brittle and faulted. One of the most stable sites is the Sleipner gas field in the North Sea, where the Norwegian oil company Statoil, has been injecting millions of tons of CO2 into a brine saturated sandstone layer about a kilometre below the seabed. These deep saline aquafiers, like the one under the North Sea and the US, can hold more than a thousand years of worth of carbon emissions from power plants in the US alone. Other types of rocks also have the potential as a carbon sink. So instead of storing CO2, volcanic basalt converts the gas to a form of carbonate rock - thus eliminating the risk of escaping gas.
All of the above technologies capture CO2 either by extracting the impurities from natural gas or the conversion of coal to other chemicals. Capturing CO2 from a coal fired power plant is a totally different story. Trying to capture CO2 from a complex combination of stack gases is an uphill and very expensive task, which the power companies generally have no incentive to carry out. Different technologies have been developed to make carbon capture more efficient and cheaper such as to gasify the coal before burning it. This technology is being used at a new plant in the US which was designed with carbon capture in mind. But this won't work on existing power plants who burn crushed coal. One option is to burn the coal in pure oxygen instead of air which produces a simpler flue gas from which to extract the carbon. This technology is still under development and hasn't been put into use at a power plant yet due to the prevailing global political climate in most of the countries using coal fired power plants. China is making huge investments to clean up their air especially with all their power utilities using coal. The first power plant in China designed to capture carbon is due for completion in 2016 - the project called GreenGen will capture 80% of it's emissions.
The above technologies have the promise of delivering big emission cuts quickly, which are sorely needed if are we to keep to the agreed emissions budget set out by the International Panel of Climate Change to keep temperature rise below the 2 degrees Celsius. The impact of CCS is huge and has the potential of cutting carbon emissions by approximately 80% within the next 40 years. But to get this going we need global regulation and incentives (carbon trading is one) to produce innovative and progressively cheaper technologies for cleaner air and less carbon emissions.
And this market incentive is coming to South Africa soon, as soon as 2015! The proposed carbon tax and National Trading Scheme is being implemented for industry from 2015. The demand for carbon offsets is there, the supply is lagging behind though. A formal framework is being developed currently for the agricultural sector with carbon credits to be traded via the Gold Standard. This standard as well as other schemes such as the Clean Development Mechanism and the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) within the local National Trading Scheme will be used for the carbon offsets within industry. These regulations and markets will reduce the carbon footprint of our electricity and other carbon intensive resources dramatically through the use of CCS technologies, which will trickle down to our products and services. This is has long been called for as South Africa has the dirtiest electricity in the world which affects market access of our products and services globally.
Wednesday, 16 April 2014
How the cement industry has become the good guy by reducing carbon emmissions
Carbon foot printing is complex! I am currently involved in carbon footprint assessments as part of the Confronting Climate Change project which is part of the Sustainable Fruit and Wine Industry Initiative.
This project focuses primarily on activities in the agricultural sector and the interlinked supply chains within this industry which include the farms, wineries, pack houses with cold storage and finally distribution. The carbon footprints of each of these boundaries need to be reported on for numerous reasons which include benchmarks, tracking and continuous improvement. This push to initiate a project like this originally came from retailers overseas who are trying to reduce their overall carbon intake and then the changing climatic conditions in the country which is detrimentally affecting the fruit and wine industry. The EU has limits on it's intake of carbon or the carbon flows from other countries, which means products entering the EU are being monitored on their carbon footprints more strictly and if it is too high then this will have a detrimental affect on future trade. This knock on effect will be felt even more so in the fruit and wine industry in South Africa. In the fruit industry if farmers do not export at least 70% of their products, they stare bankruptcy in the face which in turn means job losses, less contribution to overall GDP, slowed economic growth and the list goes on. As you can see, the consequences are massive and need to be taken seriously as soon as possible. And of course let's not forget to mention the carbon taxes coming into play by 2020 for the agricultural sector.
To move away from the agricultural sector, one industry has made great strides in transforming itself from the bad guy to the hero in reducing carbon emissions: cement. Alongside other major industrial sectors, the cement industry has a major obligation to contribute towards achieving the objective of reducing carbon emissions to stay within the global carbon budget, particularly since the traditionally resource-intensive cement making process has resulted in the industry being ranked among the world’s top contributors of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The global carbon budget has been calculated at 1000 billion tons starting from pre-Industrial revolution times. We have already used up half of that budget which means we are already experiencing a 2°C rise in average global temperatures compared to before the Industrial revolution.
To explain a bit more about what processes take place in the cement industry, let's start with the raw materials. Lime and other minerals are used as inputs which are mined from quarries (land use change). None of these materials are recyclable. Then the energy required to power the kilns for klinker production is considerable and the process releases large amounts of green house gasses into the atmosphere (coal burned in kilns and electricity from national grid). Energy conservation has become a big driver in the industry not just because of rising costs but also the availability of that energy due to Eskom not keeping up with industry expansion and dwindling supplies of cheap coal. Electricity emission factors in South Africa are also very high because it is derived from coal. Taking all this into account, it takes 200 kg of coal to produce 1 ton of klinker and the entire process releases 900kg of CO2 e into the atmosphere for every ton of cement produced. Consequently, the global cement industry has been identified as contributing more than 5% of the total global carbon emissions. To add to this, economic growth is invariably associated with an increase in demand for cement and other building materials and this has prompted the industry to find new ways to overcome the associated environmental challenges and so embrace the challenge of making cement production a sustainable process.
The widespread calls for 'green cement' has prompted the industry to follow approaches ranging from reforming international building codes to finding alternative solutions to the traditional high energy intensive cement. +AfriSam has been at the forefront of achieving this 'greening' of the industry. Project Green Cement which was initiated in 2000 to measure and then identify these hot spots and thereafter reduce CO2 emissions has resulted in the following:
Well done Afrisam! An example of a responsible and sustainable business the rest of the industry can follow.
This project focuses primarily on activities in the agricultural sector and the interlinked supply chains within this industry which include the farms, wineries, pack houses with cold storage and finally distribution. The carbon footprints of each of these boundaries need to be reported on for numerous reasons which include benchmarks, tracking and continuous improvement. This push to initiate a project like this originally came from retailers overseas who are trying to reduce their overall carbon intake and then the changing climatic conditions in the country which is detrimentally affecting the fruit and wine industry. The EU has limits on it's intake of carbon or the carbon flows from other countries, which means products entering the EU are being monitored on their carbon footprints more strictly and if it is too high then this will have a detrimental affect on future trade. This knock on effect will be felt even more so in the fruit and wine industry in South Africa. In the fruit industry if farmers do not export at least 70% of their products, they stare bankruptcy in the face which in turn means job losses, less contribution to overall GDP, slowed economic growth and the list goes on. As you can see, the consequences are massive and need to be taken seriously as soon as possible. And of course let's not forget to mention the carbon taxes coming into play by 2020 for the agricultural sector.
To move away from the agricultural sector, one industry has made great strides in transforming itself from the bad guy to the hero in reducing carbon emissions: cement. Alongside other major industrial sectors, the cement industry has a major obligation to contribute towards achieving the objective of reducing carbon emissions to stay within the global carbon budget, particularly since the traditionally resource-intensive cement making process has resulted in the industry being ranked among the world’s top contributors of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The global carbon budget has been calculated at 1000 billion tons starting from pre-Industrial revolution times. We have already used up half of that budget which means we are already experiencing a 2°C rise in average global temperatures compared to before the Industrial revolution.
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| Source: University of Cambridge, Program for Sustainability and Leadership |
To explain a bit more about what processes take place in the cement industry, let's start with the raw materials. Lime and other minerals are used as inputs which are mined from quarries (land use change). None of these materials are recyclable. Then the energy required to power the kilns for klinker production is considerable and the process releases large amounts of green house gasses into the atmosphere (coal burned in kilns and electricity from national grid). Energy conservation has become a big driver in the industry not just because of rising costs but also the availability of that energy due to Eskom not keeping up with industry expansion and dwindling supplies of cheap coal. Electricity emission factors in South Africa are also very high because it is derived from coal. Taking all this into account, it takes 200 kg of coal to produce 1 ton of klinker and the entire process releases 900kg of CO2 e into the atmosphere for every ton of cement produced. Consequently, the global cement industry has been identified as contributing more than 5% of the total global carbon emissions. To add to this, economic growth is invariably associated with an increase in demand for cement and other building materials and this has prompted the industry to find new ways to overcome the associated environmental challenges and so embrace the challenge of making cement production a sustainable process.
The widespread calls for 'green cement' has prompted the industry to follow approaches ranging from reforming international building codes to finding alternative solutions to the traditional high energy intensive cement. +AfriSam has been at the forefront of achieving this 'greening' of the industry. Project Green Cement which was initiated in 2000 to measure and then identify these hot spots and thereafter reduce CO2 emissions has resulted in the following:
- CO2 emissions per ton of cement has been reduced by more than 30%.
- world first carbon rating system on all cement bags.
- reduced electrical energy consumption by 25% and thermal energy consumption by 40%,
- using alternative raw materials with lower carbon footprints to produce a 'composite' cement.
- instead of using clinker which is highly environmentally unfriendly, using pozolanic mineral components which is made up of by-products from other industries such as Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) from the steel manufacturing industry, Pulverised Fly Ash (PFA) from coal-powered stations and silica fume, a by-product of silicon and ferrosilicon alloy production. A perfect example of industrial symbiosis.
Well done Afrisam! An example of a responsible and sustainable business the rest of the industry can follow.
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Sustainability trends in our daily lives: How we are taking on the challenge!
When it comes to environmental issues and man's impact on the planet, it feels like an overwhelming problem with no solution in sight. But an overarching solution which will fix all these problems is not available and could be near impossible considering the high complexity of the situation we are in. However, small incremental changes and solving local problems can have a large impact on helping to stem the ongoing damage. I have recently read a short article on how the world is moving towards creating more awareness on environmental issues and addressing the many challenges. Then on the news this month, Paris, France is experiencing extremely high air pollution levels. This has prompted the police to stop all cars entering and driving around the city and monitor their carbon emissions. All cars above a certain capacity are then stopped, drivers fined and then they have to take public transport into the city. http://motherboard.vice.com/read/today-pariss-air-pollution-is-worse-than-beijing. These stories are becoming more common and reaching the man in the street, which in turn raises awareness and eventual change. I hope this will become a snow ball effect.
Other trends wordwide when it comes to waste management:
Other trends wordwide when it comes to waste management:
- Climbers on Mount Everest must return to base camp with 8kg of trash under new rules aimed at removal of rubbish around the mountain.
- Japanese scientists have built robotic trash cans that detect rubbish discarded in the near vicinity and then prompt passers by to dispose of the litter.
- The Waste Free Oceans project in the EU which was launched in 2011 pays fisherman to use special trawl nets to collect waste floating in the sea. This initiative reminded me of the Ocean Cleanup Array which is not operational as yet, but once it is will be able to clean up the oceans of plastic debris in a 5 year time period. Up until now the Pacific garbage patch has been an insurmountable and growing environmental problem. There is also a solution to clean up our rivers which are the biggest contributors to plastic pollution in the ocean. James Dyson, the chief engineer at Dyson Ltd proposes the concept of the MV Recyclone. This water vehicle was featured in the Time Ideas Issue March 24 2014. The trawling mechanism would gather all plastic waste and process before off loading to a moving vehicle on land. Looking at the entire waste life cycle we can find solutions like these.
- Social media has also become a value add in the fight against trash. California based Litterati uses Instagram users to record litter in their communities, with the aim of using location and other data from the images to improve waste management. http://instagram.com/litterati . A brilliant local solution to get everyone in communities empowered to be part of the solution to the waste problem.
- One of the quickest ways to change behaviour in people is to reward and create incentives. Plastic Bank in Canada will set up a plastic recycling centre in Lima, Peru this April. The poor in the capital will then be able to trade plastic waste for food and clothing. This model could really work well in South Africa. Setting up recycling centres close to townships and slums could provide much needed employment opportunities and possible bartering for basic items. Maybe this could be an add on to the social grant system currently in practice and communities will be empowered to improve their own living standards? A possible business opportunity someone can take and fly with......with the assistance of government and NGO's?
- Pigs are very efficient waste processors. Egypt recognized this when in 2009 a mass culling of pigs took place due to a swine flu scare. Waste has since been piling up all around Cairo. And now the resumption of feeding organic waste to the growing pig population has lead to a decrease in waste levels. This can be rolled out globally as one way of processing organic waste and also keep meat on the menu (well pork that is) as a sustainable food source.
On the capitalism front. I wrote an article in my blog at the beginning of this month about the move to natural capitalism. Another way to transform the current capitalism practices from purely focussing on bottom line profits and disregarding all else is through.....DIVERSITY. I know that I harp on about gender equality in the workplace but it has been proven to have major social and economic benefits. The economic engagement of women in particular is a driver of economic growth. The statement speaks for itself when you look at countries in the Middle East (Yemen, Afganistan etc), South East Asia and Northern Africa where widespread poverty and high birthrates predominate. Companies with diverse management teams consistently outperform those with less diverse teams. Greater diversity can power greater innovation and the questioning of conventional wisdom. If there were more women or even more diverse management teams (instead of the reckless, high flying traders and investment bankers) in Wall Street, would we have had the global economic meltdown in 2008? And that's why especially in the banks, corporates and large multinational organizations which have large influence and impact on numerous societies, the management teams and boards need to be more diverse.
Then lastly, the food and nutrition front. With the ballooning population we are struggling to find sustainable methods to feed all the mouths. Our long term health, confronting world hunger and environmental well being requires a totally new angle of approaching agriculture. Our current farm to table cooking is not sustainable. Our current expectations for dinner is what chef and author Dan Barber refers to as the First Plate: an enormous protein centric entree with a smattering of vegetables. Farm to table, or second plate which champions sustainably raised meat and vegetables but relies on the same architecture (think of local farms and restaurants who promote this: Spier, etc.). Both models lead to farmers over producing soil depleting crops like tomatoes and raising animals like lambs just to sell the chops. What Dan is advising is that our tastes will have to change....through the adoption of the concept of The Third Plate. This turns the current status quo of assembling a dish, writing a menu and sourcing ingredients on it's head. It encourages the following:
- changing your tastes to the health of the environment producing them instead of convention.
- to cook with the whole farm in mind, recognizing what we eat is part of an integrated system.
- to promote entire classes of crops and cuts of meat that have gone unrecognised.
- right kind of demand for what a farm can supply.
This new concept of cuisine can steer us into a pattern of eating that adds rather than subtracts, replenishes rather than drains. #TheThirdPlate
Quite a great deal to digest! In conclusion, we are making great strides in changing our behaviours and finding solutions to everyday life problems we have created. Sustainability is moving forward and seeping into our consciousness.
Saturday, 1 March 2014
Natural Capitalism: a viable alternative to traditional capitalism?
The past few years has seen a great outcry against the outcomes of traditional capitalism. The widening income disparity of the rich and poor (Gini coefficient) has lead to many movements including Occupy Wall Street and even Pope Francis's official statement on global capitalism in promoting exclusion and inequality. Beyond the impact on society, traditional capitalism has had disastrous effects on the environment and the earth's natural resources. We have lived with traditional capitalism for centuries (since the 1700's) with a few other economic movements making a mark such as socialism, Marxism and Communism. These economic ideologies with the exception of capitalism has ended mass hunger and destitution in many countries but is however not sustainable as can be seen in the old USSR, parts of Eastern Europe, Asia and South America to name just a few and still leads to exploitation of natural resources.
With this in mind, what new economic theory can be implemented which benefits the environment and society? There was recently a very valid and thought provoking article on the RMI website: Fixing the Broken Compass: Finding our way to natural capitalism. How to incorporate the protection of natural resources into current capitalism thinking is not working, therefore a total overhaul of the system is required. Starting with the basic fundamental concept of the economy: supply and demand meaning that what is scarce carries much more value. Thus, people are no longer scarce but nature is....a major shift from nature being abundant and people scarce.
With this mind a logical response would be to build pricing signals into the market to reflect the shifts of scarcity. Amory Lovins who co-authored the article on the concept of 'Natural Capitalism' in the Harvard Business Review, included a road map for solving environmental problems while also generating profit for businesses.
1. Carbon pricing and Cap & Trade
Acknowledging the investment risks in established and emergent energy assets is an incentive to shift the focus from traditional to natural capitalism. Thus an investment in clean energy projects instead of a coal fired power station is more stable in terms of returns and not prone to volatility in fuel prices. In 30 years a coal fired power station will be facing policy changes and punitive carbon pricing which makes it a very unattractive asset in a portfolio. And where will Medupi and Kusile be in the next 30 years? And of course the implementation of a carbon budget designed to restrict global warming to the 2 degress Celsius band, which means that up to 2 thirds of the existing fossil fuel reserves on the planet must remain untouched. This means a massive balance sheet risk to the biggest economies and corporations in the world today.
3. Market disruption and revolution
As with any market revolution, natural capitalism will require a retooling of the economy. New technologies will break through; new businesses will prosper; new skills will be in demand; new rules will emerge; and new fortunes will be made. At the same time, however, there will be losers: certain established technologies will be rendered obsolete; some established businesses will struggle; skills from a previous industrial age may become redundant; and a certain proportion of economic value will inevitably be eroded, even as new sustainable economies emerge to fill the gap.
Successfully honouring natural capital means we will need to stop falling back to the known and the proven. This will mean unwinding the supportive policies and presumptions that have made the current carbon extraction industries and businesses some of the most financially- productive in the world. We will also need to be prepared to write-off established assets that no longer produce true value because of their environmental impact. We will have to accept that formerly great icons of success, titans of an earlier age, may tumble. Ask those who ran mainframe computer companies or former telecoms monopolists about the cost of disruption and paradigm shift.
In 2009, Royal Dutch Shell executives Gert Jan Kramer and Martin Haigh argued that new forms of energy take a very long time to become material sources of global power supply. But there are signs that this reality is changing, too. The logic of the past, where growing energy supply generally required massive capital projects with correspondingly long lead times, is being overturned. This is also true in the information technology software industry. Watch out the big players like SAP and Oracle....less upfront expenditure and faster implementation times are becoming the norm.
Solar panels on the roof of a family home require a much simpler capital sign-off process than coal-fired power stations or fracking wells; they are modular, and are installed “as needed” in a few weeks. More dramatically, returns on investment in energy-efficiency projects often filter through within months, rather than decades, and these projects are gaining traction everywhere from China’s commercial sector to European and U.S. real estate markets. A single LED lamp is not a revolution – but large-scale roll-out of LED lamps is.
4. The Way Forward
The concept of natural capitalism is now centre stage at the GreenBiz forum recently hosted in the US and has become the top priority of sustainability executives. Current business models rely heavily on the availability of natural resources which are fast becoming exhausted. Mining, energy and forestry industries are most at risk. So our unit trusts and retirement annuities offered as products from investment and insurance houses are more and more including 'green' industries in their portfolios as the ROI carries less risk. The firm Trucost measures the costs of lost ecosystems, air and water pollution and ill health due to the business models of current companies. 50% of companies profits would go to these costs if enforced.
It makes more and more sense to include the conservation of the planet into business models but to convince an asset manager to invest in natural capital is currently a great challenge. You need to show them that this is not philanthropy but a viable business model. There is definitely already an industrial upheaval happening due to the high risk of high carbon business and customers increasingly embracing a future of more environmentally and socially responsible ventures. A framework is already emerging and sustainability executives need to follow an initiative spearheaded by the Natural Capital Coalition, which is developing guidelines it hopes will guide businesses in natural capital valuation exercises. A draft of these protocols should be available by March 2014, and the coalition is using a consultative approach with industry.
With this in mind, what new economic theory can be implemented which benefits the environment and society? There was recently a very valid and thought provoking article on the RMI website: Fixing the Broken Compass: Finding our way to natural capitalism. How to incorporate the protection of natural resources into current capitalism thinking is not working, therefore a total overhaul of the system is required. Starting with the basic fundamental concept of the economy: supply and demand meaning that what is scarce carries much more value. Thus, people are no longer scarce but nature is....a major shift from nature being abundant and people scarce.
With this mind a logical response would be to build pricing signals into the market to reflect the shifts of scarcity. Amory Lovins who co-authored the article on the concept of 'Natural Capitalism' in the Harvard Business Review, included a road map for solving environmental problems while also generating profit for businesses.
1. Carbon pricing and Cap & Trade
This is the easy and fast way to mobilize the market to take up the climate change challenge. A big driver is the Carbon Disclosure Project which partners with market forces to motivate companies to disclose the impact they have on the environment and to take action to reduce this impact. The amount of data the CDP has is staggering and they use this information to give insights to business strategy, investment and policy decisions. Lately, more and more organizations are placing an internal price on carbon to guide decisions on future investments on assets. Allocating financial value to carbon emissions is gaining momentum and will become the norm fairly soon.
2. Mitigating risk
Acknowledging the investment risks in established and emergent energy assets is an incentive to shift the focus from traditional to natural capitalism. Thus an investment in clean energy projects instead of a coal fired power station is more stable in terms of returns and not prone to volatility in fuel prices. In 30 years a coal fired power station will be facing policy changes and punitive carbon pricing which makes it a very unattractive asset in a portfolio. And where will Medupi and Kusile be in the next 30 years? And of course the implementation of a carbon budget designed to restrict global warming to the 2 degress Celsius band, which means that up to 2 thirds of the existing fossil fuel reserves on the planet must remain untouched. This means a massive balance sheet risk to the biggest economies and corporations in the world today.
3. Market disruption and revolution
As with any market revolution, natural capitalism will require a retooling of the economy. New technologies will break through; new businesses will prosper; new skills will be in demand; new rules will emerge; and new fortunes will be made. At the same time, however, there will be losers: certain established technologies will be rendered obsolete; some established businesses will struggle; skills from a previous industrial age may become redundant; and a certain proportion of economic value will inevitably be eroded, even as new sustainable economies emerge to fill the gap.
Successfully honouring natural capital means we will need to stop falling back to the known and the proven. This will mean unwinding the supportive policies and presumptions that have made the current carbon extraction industries and businesses some of the most financially- productive in the world. We will also need to be prepared to write-off established assets that no longer produce true value because of their environmental impact. We will have to accept that formerly great icons of success, titans of an earlier age, may tumble. Ask those who ran mainframe computer companies or former telecoms monopolists about the cost of disruption and paradigm shift.
In 2009, Royal Dutch Shell executives Gert Jan Kramer and Martin Haigh argued that new forms of energy take a very long time to become material sources of global power supply. But there are signs that this reality is changing, too. The logic of the past, where growing energy supply generally required massive capital projects with correspondingly long lead times, is being overturned. This is also true in the information technology software industry. Watch out the big players like SAP and Oracle....less upfront expenditure and faster implementation times are becoming the norm.
Solar panels on the roof of a family home require a much simpler capital sign-off process than coal-fired power stations or fracking wells; they are modular, and are installed “as needed” in a few weeks. More dramatically, returns on investment in energy-efficiency projects often filter through within months, rather than decades, and these projects are gaining traction everywhere from China’s commercial sector to European and U.S. real estate markets. A single LED lamp is not a revolution – but large-scale roll-out of LED lamps is.
4. The Way Forward
The concept of natural capitalism is now centre stage at the GreenBiz forum recently hosted in the US and has become the top priority of sustainability executives. Current business models rely heavily on the availability of natural resources which are fast becoming exhausted. Mining, energy and forestry industries are most at risk. So our unit trusts and retirement annuities offered as products from investment and insurance houses are more and more including 'green' industries in their portfolios as the ROI carries less risk. The firm Trucost measures the costs of lost ecosystems, air and water pollution and ill health due to the business models of current companies. 50% of companies profits would go to these costs if enforced.
It makes more and more sense to include the conservation of the planet into business models but to convince an asset manager to invest in natural capital is currently a great challenge. You need to show them that this is not philanthropy but a viable business model. There is definitely already an industrial upheaval happening due to the high risk of high carbon business and customers increasingly embracing a future of more environmentally and socially responsible ventures. A framework is already emerging and sustainability executives need to follow an initiative spearheaded by the Natural Capital Coalition, which is developing guidelines it hopes will guide businesses in natural capital valuation exercises. A draft of these protocols should be available by March 2014, and the coalition is using a consultative approach with industry.
The first sector-specific guides related to these protocols will be focused on food and apparel companies, and much of the methodology should be officially available by the end of 2015. Something South African sustainability consulting companies need to keep an eye on and consider incorporating in their toolsets for current and prospective clients.
Friday, 14 February 2014
Lifecycle assesments and how design can minimize the negative impacts on the environment and society
This TED Talk opened my eyes in looking at sustainability from the perspective of a products entire life cycle. I tweeted and shared a TED talk by +Leyla Acaroglu about how consumers choose between products based on our perception on what is environmentally sustainable. The choice we are daily confronted by is the paper vs. plastic grocery bag when we go shopping. However, by looking at the entire life cycle of the product, both are not environmentally sustainable. One leads to adding waste to landfills,pollution and danger to wildlife in the oceans and the other, natural environment degradation through clearing of virgin land for plantations.
As consumers we need to rethink the way we consume and the products we buy because every stage of the product life cycle has an impact on the natural environment. But of course consumer education only goes so far, as can be demonstrated by the uptake to recycle waste in Cape Town and the rest of South Africa. Only 3.3% of South Africa's urban population recycle waste according to a 2010 study by the CSIR. So instead of only focusing on user education we are need to look at certain product designs. How can product design and innovation change consumer behaviour without the consumer even thinking about it?
Leyla spoke about 3 products: the refrigerator, the kettle and the infamous cell phone. As an example, the refrigerator space worldwide is growing (1 cubic metre/year in the US) which means more energy usage AND more food wastage. So even a simple household appliance has an impact on so many other systems: electricity, agricultural practises, food wastage (more than 30% of food worldwide thrown out as waste!), packaging, landfill growth, methane and green house gasses......the list continues. There are so many other products one can discuss and how consumer use affects all the other systems adversely. Even on a social level, the rare earths and minerals required to build cell phones. The demand for these raw materials is even higher than the worldwide human birthrate which means more than 7 billion cell phones currently in use, not to mention the cell phones thrown out as e-waste. Never mind conflict diamonds, these minerals are now the conflict minerals used to fund the warlords in Central African Republic and other third world countries. The design, usage and disposal of these devices need to change and manufacturers need to factor this in to their sustainability strategies.
What solutions do we have for this? By identifying the impacts of each of the life cycle stages of products on the environment and society we can start finding ways to re-design the products and product life cycles themselves to minimise then negative impact on the environment and us.
As consumers we need to rethink the way we consume and the products we buy because every stage of the product life cycle has an impact on the natural environment. But of course consumer education only goes so far, as can be demonstrated by the uptake to recycle waste in Cape Town and the rest of South Africa. Only 3.3% of South Africa's urban population recycle waste according to a 2010 study by the CSIR. So instead of only focusing on user education we are need to look at certain product designs. How can product design and innovation change consumer behaviour without the consumer even thinking about it?
Leyla spoke about 3 products: the refrigerator, the kettle and the infamous cell phone. As an example, the refrigerator space worldwide is growing (1 cubic metre/year in the US) which means more energy usage AND more food wastage. So even a simple household appliance has an impact on so many other systems: electricity, agricultural practises, food wastage (more than 30% of food worldwide thrown out as waste!), packaging, landfill growth, methane and green house gasses......the list continues. There are so many other products one can discuss and how consumer use affects all the other systems adversely. Even on a social level, the rare earths and minerals required to build cell phones. The demand for these raw materials is even higher than the worldwide human birthrate which means more than 7 billion cell phones currently in use, not to mention the cell phones thrown out as e-waste. Never mind conflict diamonds, these minerals are now the conflict minerals used to fund the warlords in Central African Republic and other third world countries. The design, usage and disposal of these devices need to change and manufacturers need to factor this in to their sustainability strategies.
What solutions do we have for this? By identifying the impacts of each of the life cycle stages of products on the environment and society we can start finding ways to re-design the products and product life cycles themselves to minimise then negative impact on the environment and us.
Sunday, 9 February 2014
Mechanical Biological Treatment plants: The new wave of waste management
I recently had a extended and extremely interesting discussion with an MD of a waste management equipment company in the Western Cape. As waste management is a high priority and an enormous problem in South Africa at the moment due to budget, space and environmental issues the urgency to explore other options is growing exponentially.
Instead of landfills and incineration, a better option which is more environmentally friendly and a more financially viable solution are Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plants which process MSW (municipal solid waste). An MBT plant is a waste processing facility that can include waste sorting with the main component being the biological treatment process (wikipedia). This plant is designed to process a mixture of domestic, commercial and industrial waste. There has been a big move towards the use of MBT plants in Europe due to legislation which bans the dumping of untreated waste in landfills and the move to compost a larger proportion of MSW . MBT plants are in operation in almost all European countries with Italy having more than 100 plants and Germany around 45.
So how does an MBT plant work? Below is a useful process diagram I got from Wikipedia:
In South Africa we only have an MBT plant in Durban which was funded by carbon credits on the futures market. The plant also has a CHP engine which generates electricity from the heat produced in the aerobic and anaerobic process. The CHP process is illustrated below:
The possibility of an MBT plant being built in Athlone in Cape Town is a hot topic this year. The partnership of Wastemart, Fountain Civils, Air Liquide and some key individuals has lead to this plant becoming a reality and a first for the Western Cape. The inputs and outputs of the plant are certain. The inputs being the MSW collected in the peninsula which has recyclables removed, so no sorting process is required in the plant. The ouputs are biogas which will be cleansed by Air Liquide and then compressed and sold, compost which either goes to landfill and/or sold to the agricultural sector and electricity generated via a CHP engine. The confirmation of the inputs and outputs will help with the raising of the R30 million investment required to build the plant. Operational costs will be covered by the financial model of the inputs and outputs.
A great deal of process stabilization will be required before and after the plant goes into operation and therefore many opportunities for industrial engineers to get involved. This plant will in my opinion will solve a great deal of issues currently experienced in the waste industry in the Cape and give key people exposure to this new and growing technology.
Instead of landfills and incineration, a better option which is more environmentally friendly and a more financially viable solution are Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plants which process MSW (municipal solid waste). An MBT plant is a waste processing facility that can include waste sorting with the main component being the biological treatment process (wikipedia). This plant is designed to process a mixture of domestic, commercial and industrial waste. There has been a big move towards the use of MBT plants in Europe due to legislation which bans the dumping of untreated waste in landfills and the move to compost a larger proportion of MSW . MBT plants are in operation in almost all European countries with Italy having more than 100 plants and Germany around 45.
So how does an MBT plant work? Below is a useful process diagram I got from Wikipedia:
Firstly if mixed waste is the input, then the waste stream must be sorted either via mechanical means (typically involves factory style conveyors, industrial magnets, eddy current separators, trommels, shredders and other tailor made systems) or by hand to removing recyclables like paper, plastic, glass & metals.
Then the left over organic waste is placed in large anaerobic digestors (wet organic waste) and/or placed in large pipes for bio drying depending on the system configuration of the plant. The anearobic digestors (decomposition of organic material via micro-organisms in absence of oxygen) produce biogas (methane & CO2) and compost. The biodrying process uses aerobic microbes to rapidly heat the waste. The output is a light, dry material which is used for Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). All of these outputs can be sold and used in other industries using the concept of #industrialsymbiosis.
The environmental benefits are the following:
- Small fraction of inert residual waste is output
- Reduction of the waste volume to be deposited to at least a half (density > 1.3 t/m³), thus the lifetime of the landfill is at least twice as long as usual
- Utilisation of the leachate in the process
- Landfill gas not problematic as biological component of waste has been stabilised
- Daily covering of landfill not necessary
- Process output can be used for compost, renewable energy (RDF, methane), sold to other industries (CO2 to beverage industry).
- Limiting green house gas emissions such as when waste is incinerated.
There have been a few groups who do not agree with the green credentials put forward by the concept of the MBT plants. But a combination of a few of these waste management technologies leave us much better off than the situation we are currently in using landfills and incinerators.
In South Africa we only have an MBT plant in Durban which was funded by carbon credits on the futures market. The plant also has a CHP engine which generates electricity from the heat produced in the aerobic and anaerobic process. The CHP process is illustrated below:
The possibility of an MBT plant being built in Athlone in Cape Town is a hot topic this year. The partnership of Wastemart, Fountain Civils, Air Liquide and some key individuals has lead to this plant becoming a reality and a first for the Western Cape. The inputs and outputs of the plant are certain. The inputs being the MSW collected in the peninsula which has recyclables removed, so no sorting process is required in the plant. The ouputs are biogas which will be cleansed by Air Liquide and then compressed and sold, compost which either goes to landfill and/or sold to the agricultural sector and electricity generated via a CHP engine. The confirmation of the inputs and outputs will help with the raising of the R30 million investment required to build the plant. Operational costs will be covered by the financial model of the inputs and outputs.
A great deal of process stabilization will be required before and after the plant goes into operation and therefore many opportunities for industrial engineers to get involved. This plant will in my opinion will solve a great deal of issues currently experienced in the waste industry in the Cape and give key people exposure to this new and growing technology.
Thursday, 30 January 2014
Top Clean energy development trends for 2013
With the memory of 2013 slowly fading, a great deal of articles are out there on what the trends of the previous year were. A very interesting blog was on the RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute) website on the Top 10 Clean Energy Developments of 2013. I love articles on trends as it gives us an idea of what might be the next big thing and thus prepare us on what to expect and the impacts thereof. Now, this blog was written for the US, so I will draw some comparisons to what is happening in SA. As we all know, all the new technologies and trends originate in the US with the miriad of start up renewable energy ventures. Most of them receive private funding from companies like Google Ventures but a great deal from government as well. And where there is money there will be a buzz!
I have yet to find any papers on clean energy trends in South Africa for the last year. The biggest news for last year was the finalization of the 3rd round of the REIPPP . As part of the Integrated Resource Plan of reaching 10 000GWh of renewable energy, the Department of Energy has called on private investors to bid for the tariffs and socio-economic development objectives for the sites identified. There has been a flurry of activity with many international and local EPC and design companies getting involved in this new industry.
So back to the trends. The trends hitting the US now will reach us soon, so I will comment on them and on how they will and should affect South Africa:
1. Renewables become cheapest option
The current cost of energy from coal powered stations in South Africa is 97c/KwH while the cost per KwH from renewables so far is around the 89c/KwH mark. So does this mean that we citizens will be paying less soon? I hope the industries who consume the most power will also partner with renewable ventures and start producing their own energy or use a great deal more of renewable power ie: aluminium smelters, mines etc. The Green Energy Efficiency Fund (GEEF) which falls under the IDC is encouraging local industry to pursue this agenda and with legislation hopefully being enforced and monitored more closely, this will become the status quo.
2. Utilities look toward new business models
The paper Disruptive Challenges by Peter Kind of the Edison Electrical Institute (EEI) which forecasts the change of business models of utilities from the old fossil fuel paradigm to renewable energy service providers is happening already. In Europe, one of the largest utilities - RWE has changed its old business model to a being a 'prosumer' with a distributed renewables model stating that “Based on funds sourced largely from third parties, we will position ourselves as a project enabler, operator and system integrator of renewables.”
For South Africa, we only have a single utility (at the moment). Eskom's business model incorporates all the power generation types, from coal to nuclear and renewables. So there has definitely been a slight change to the model but still not to the point where a larger proportion of renewables are involved.
3. Energy storage goes mainstream
In 2013, the state of California in the US passed an energy storage mandate (AB 2514), a first-of-its-kind legislation that will give a significant push to the renewable storage market. I am not that familiar with the technology to do this (not being an Electrical engineer) but the procurement targets are 700MW at transmission level, 425MW at distribution level and 200MW at customer sites. The state of Maryland also joined the storage craze by installing its first commercial, islandable solar-PV-and-battery microgrid. And solar PV companies are adding storage to their offerings by incorporating batteries into their residential systems.
The energy storage landscape in South Africa has progressed substantially in the last year. Anglo American Platinum has partnered with Ballard Power to produce a domestic fuel cell system, a methanol-fueled product designed for use in off-grid residential applications. Ian Curry, from Basil Read Energy, gave a very insightful presentation at the 2013 African Utility week on the need for the inclusion of efficient energy storage systems into the current IRP 2 plan which will open the door for new energy opportunities. And one of the industry players is AEG, which has recently developed BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) which consists of lead acid and lithium ion technologies and can be connected to any grid to mitigate risks associated with renewables such as peak shaving, peak demand shifting, frequency regulation and load leveling.
4. Electric Vehicles have bumper year
Internationally the EV industry has boomed. Worldwide EV car sales were up 300% from 2012, while in Norway electric cars were the top-selling cars two months in a row. Tesla stocks surged as the Tesla Model S received a rare near-perfect score from Consumer Reports, after the fire hazard issue experienced earlier in the year. And EVs became more affordable as automakers slashed prices for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles such as the plug-in Prius, Chevy Volt, and Ford Focus. Sadly, this has not been the case in SA. With the fuel price reaching record levels this February (R14/litre) one should see a drastic decline in petrol cars but the entry price of these EV's will mean slow sales growth. The Nissan Leaf was launched last November in SA at a retail price of R446,000, and throughout the lifecycle of the car, it is actually cheaper than a petrol or hybrid at R487,000 compared to R484,000 and R505,000 respectively. Makes sense, but the initial input costs are quite high if you look at entry level vehicles starting at around R100,000. And the culture of our country, where bigger and faster with that characteristic petrol engine roar is preferred, will also be a stumbling block.
5. Transportation apps are on the rise
This trend has hit SA and is growing. Generally, people who drive a car also have a smart phone. This means transport apps are used daily to assist us to get through the traffic and get us on the shortest routes. Waze is a very popular app in SA and it looks as if Ridescout is taking off in the US. These apps are also moving towards searching and comparing transport options from buses, taxis, car pools and biking. This move will also push South Africans to use more public transport options like the very popular and safe (crime is a big issue here!) Gautrain in Gauteng and the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system being rolled out in Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg.
6. Cities get serious about building efficiency
Many states in the US now have legislation which requires bench marking and energy disclosure of large buildings. This is the first step to improve a buildings efficiency. Here, no legislation has been passed but we do have the Green Building Council (GBCSA) which is a big advocator for change in the building industry and has many rating and bench marking tools such as the Green Star SA rating. And new tools are being developed for existing buildings which is being rolled out this year. So watch this space, as legislation should be on the horizon!
7. The emergence of deep energy retrofits
A deep energy retrofit is a multi-pronged approach of a whole building analysis and construction process that achieves much larger energy cost savings than that of a simpler or traditional energy retrofit. This was a hot topic in the US last year and will be spreading soon to other countries (obviously also depending on legislation). So far, the only building in South Africa which has undergone a deep energy retrofit is the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. This partnership with the World Green Building Council has led the property to make annual operational savings of R7,680,000 in energy costs and R744,000 and R1,200,000 in water consumption and waste management costs respectively.
8. China tackles air pollution
From the article on which this blog is based (see above), China has made great moves to counteract the deadly air pollution affecting it's cities. From new legislation to curb emissions to the construction of a Nissan Leaf production facility in Beijing which will bring down the price of EV for locals and the announcement in Beijing that 40% of all new vehicles must be electric (EV) or PHEV (Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle). In South Africa we certainly do not have the levels of air pollution as in China but our environmental legislation is very comprehensive. We have in place The National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, Act No. 39 of 2004 which is comparable to other international norms and standards. The Vaal Triangle, which faces complex and pressing air pollution challenges, has been designated as the first ‘priority area’ under the Air Quality Act. The National department of Environmental Affairs and Toursim has since 2009 implemented quite a few interventions to improve the air quality but the progress made in this area has so far not been made available.
9. Companies put a price on carbon
Large public companies and even oil companies in the US are now setting internal prices on their carbon pollution. To name a few are Walt Disney and Delta airlines. This will become a trend as 27 US companies and 2 foreign companies have joined this move in the last year as stated by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). As of now, no carbon pricing strategy as yet been implemented in any South African companies. The concept of carbon pricing and carbon tax is still being discussed in order to incorporate into Energy Policy.
10. Industry gets efficient
The move to get industry to become more energy efficient and reduce energy intensity is underway in the US and currently 123 companies constituting 1750 plants have joined this program. In December last year the South African Department of Energy tabled a tax incentive program for industries that make measurable improvements in their energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The regulations for this incentive are due to be published soon which means a great opportunity for the ailing manufacturing and resource sector to up profits. Anglo American Platinum is leading the way with their ECO2MAN programme which includes the measuring, monitoring, reporting and target-setting for energy and emissions management.
I am excited about these developments and with all the opportunities these trends present, I should hopefully become involved in this industry soon. Let's see what the trends are in 2014 and watch this space for a similar article this time next year!
I have yet to find any papers on clean energy trends in South Africa for the last year. The biggest news for last year was the finalization of the 3rd round of the REIPPP . As part of the Integrated Resource Plan of reaching 10 000GWh of renewable energy, the Department of Energy has called on private investors to bid for the tariffs and socio-economic development objectives for the sites identified. There has been a flurry of activity with many international and local EPC and design companies getting involved in this new industry.
So back to the trends. The trends hitting the US now will reach us soon, so I will comment on them and on how they will and should affect South Africa:
1. Renewables become cheapest option
The current cost of energy from coal powered stations in South Africa is 97c/KwH while the cost per KwH from renewables so far is around the 89c/KwH mark. So does this mean that we citizens will be paying less soon? I hope the industries who consume the most power will also partner with renewable ventures and start producing their own energy or use a great deal more of renewable power ie: aluminium smelters, mines etc. The Green Energy Efficiency Fund (GEEF) which falls under the IDC is encouraging local industry to pursue this agenda and with legislation hopefully being enforced and monitored more closely, this will become the status quo.
2. Utilities look toward new business models
The paper Disruptive Challenges by Peter Kind of the Edison Electrical Institute (EEI) which forecasts the change of business models of utilities from the old fossil fuel paradigm to renewable energy service providers is happening already. In Europe, one of the largest utilities - RWE has changed its old business model to a being a 'prosumer' with a distributed renewables model stating that “Based on funds sourced largely from third parties, we will position ourselves as a project enabler, operator and system integrator of renewables.”
For South Africa, we only have a single utility (at the moment). Eskom's business model incorporates all the power generation types, from coal to nuclear and renewables. So there has definitely been a slight change to the model but still not to the point where a larger proportion of renewables are involved.
3. Energy storage goes mainstream
In 2013, the state of California in the US passed an energy storage mandate (AB 2514), a first-of-its-kind legislation that will give a significant push to the renewable storage market. I am not that familiar with the technology to do this (not being an Electrical engineer) but the procurement targets are 700MW at transmission level, 425MW at distribution level and 200MW at customer sites. The state of Maryland also joined the storage craze by installing its first commercial, islandable solar-PV-and-battery microgrid. And solar PV companies are adding storage to their offerings by incorporating batteries into their residential systems.
The energy storage landscape in South Africa has progressed substantially in the last year. Anglo American Platinum has partnered with Ballard Power to produce a domestic fuel cell system, a methanol-fueled product designed for use in off-grid residential applications. Ian Curry, from Basil Read Energy, gave a very insightful presentation at the 2013 African Utility week on the need for the inclusion of efficient energy storage systems into the current IRP 2 plan which will open the door for new energy opportunities. And one of the industry players is AEG, which has recently developed BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) which consists of lead acid and lithium ion technologies and can be connected to any grid to mitigate risks associated with renewables such as peak shaving, peak demand shifting, frequency regulation and load leveling.
4. Electric Vehicles have bumper year
Internationally the EV industry has boomed. Worldwide EV car sales were up 300% from 2012, while in Norway electric cars were the top-selling cars two months in a row. Tesla stocks surged as the Tesla Model S received a rare near-perfect score from Consumer Reports, after the fire hazard issue experienced earlier in the year. And EVs became more affordable as automakers slashed prices for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles such as the plug-in Prius, Chevy Volt, and Ford Focus. Sadly, this has not been the case in SA. With the fuel price reaching record levels this February (R14/litre) one should see a drastic decline in petrol cars but the entry price of these EV's will mean slow sales growth. The Nissan Leaf was launched last November in SA at a retail price of R446,000, and throughout the lifecycle of the car, it is actually cheaper than a petrol or hybrid at R487,000 compared to R484,000 and R505,000 respectively. Makes sense, but the initial input costs are quite high if you look at entry level vehicles starting at around R100,000. And the culture of our country, where bigger and faster with that characteristic petrol engine roar is preferred, will also be a stumbling block.
5. Transportation apps are on the rise
This trend has hit SA and is growing. Generally, people who drive a car also have a smart phone. This means transport apps are used daily to assist us to get through the traffic and get us on the shortest routes. Waze is a very popular app in SA and it looks as if Ridescout is taking off in the US. These apps are also moving towards searching and comparing transport options from buses, taxis, car pools and biking. This move will also push South Africans to use more public transport options like the very popular and safe (crime is a big issue here!) Gautrain in Gauteng and the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system being rolled out in Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg.
6. Cities get serious about building efficiency
Many states in the US now have legislation which requires bench marking and energy disclosure of large buildings. This is the first step to improve a buildings efficiency. Here, no legislation has been passed but we do have the Green Building Council (GBCSA) which is a big advocator for change in the building industry and has many rating and bench marking tools such as the Green Star SA rating. And new tools are being developed for existing buildings which is being rolled out this year. So watch this space, as legislation should be on the horizon!
7. The emergence of deep energy retrofits
A deep energy retrofit is a multi-pronged approach of a whole building analysis and construction process that achieves much larger energy cost savings than that of a simpler or traditional energy retrofit. This was a hot topic in the US last year and will be spreading soon to other countries (obviously also depending on legislation). So far, the only building in South Africa which has undergone a deep energy retrofit is the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. This partnership with the World Green Building Council has led the property to make annual operational savings of R7,680,000 in energy costs and R744,000 and R1,200,000 in water consumption and waste management costs respectively.
8. China tackles air pollution
From the article on which this blog is based (see above), China has made great moves to counteract the deadly air pollution affecting it's cities. From new legislation to curb emissions to the construction of a Nissan Leaf production facility in Beijing which will bring down the price of EV for locals and the announcement in Beijing that 40% of all new vehicles must be electric (EV) or PHEV (Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle). In South Africa we certainly do not have the levels of air pollution as in China but our environmental legislation is very comprehensive. We have in place The National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, Act No. 39 of 2004 which is comparable to other international norms and standards. The Vaal Triangle, which faces complex and pressing air pollution challenges, has been designated as the first ‘priority area’ under the Air Quality Act. The National department of Environmental Affairs and Toursim has since 2009 implemented quite a few interventions to improve the air quality but the progress made in this area has so far not been made available.
9. Companies put a price on carbon
Large public companies and even oil companies in the US are now setting internal prices on their carbon pollution. To name a few are Walt Disney and Delta airlines. This will become a trend as 27 US companies and 2 foreign companies have joined this move in the last year as stated by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). As of now, no carbon pricing strategy as yet been implemented in any South African companies. The concept of carbon pricing and carbon tax is still being discussed in order to incorporate into Energy Policy.
10. Industry gets efficient
The move to get industry to become more energy efficient and reduce energy intensity is underway in the US and currently 123 companies constituting 1750 plants have joined this program. In December last year the South African Department of Energy tabled a tax incentive program for industries that make measurable improvements in their energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The regulations for this incentive are due to be published soon which means a great opportunity for the ailing manufacturing and resource sector to up profits. Anglo American Platinum is leading the way with their ECO2MAN programme which includes the measuring, monitoring, reporting and target-setting for energy and emissions management.
I am excited about these developments and with all the opportunities these trends present, I should hopefully become involved in this industry soon. Let's see what the trends are in 2014 and watch this space for a similar article this time next year!
Friday, 24 January 2014
A driver for sustainability: How can an individual change the world?
We are all aware of the degradation of the environment, the rapid rate of the extinction of species, rising sea levels, depleting fishing stocks, overpopulation.....the list is endless and with that my anxiety levels rise exponentially too. As a simple citizen and 1 of more than 7 billion humans on earth we are so overwhelmed by these problems and our impending doom that inaction is the our only reaction. In South Africa we are bombarded by bad news constantly which in turn makes us a very traumatised nation. Personally I think lowering the crime statistics and the addressing the horrific treatment of children in this country a long with trying to make sense and solve other societal ills is the top priority for this country, and with that other 'environmental' issues are sidelined. But, we are all interlinked....society, our environment and the economy.
My passion is driving the sustainability concept for all systems, and my main focus is on environmental issues. And even if we tackle an environmental problem, the issues in the other 2 systems will and should also improve. Activism and entrepreneurship (whereby individuals can get involved) are big sustainability drivers and in the past year there have been many paradigm shifts in the way they can spur formidable change.
In an article on the CSRWired Blog called "Paradigm shifts transform waste, entrepreneurship, activism" by Danielle Lanyard, what she calls 'effective activism' and entrepreneurship has made great strides in empowering people to make sustainability a way of life.
Under the 'Effective Activism' banner, religion is being roped in to amplify this message of caring for the planet and being accountable for the consequences of daily actions. 'Green Faith' is a program currently being deployed in places of worship and religious schools in the US to promote stewardship of the planet and environmental resources. Individual activism is also a growing trend and tackles many environmental challenges such as the Pacific Garbage Patch. An environmentalist in the US, Boyan Slat, has initiated the 'Ocean Cleanup Array' program which involves engineers, students, modelers and other experts in finding solutions to clean up the ocean using the latest technology. Paradigm shifts in entrepreneurship are also fuelling the change, these being programmes such as 'The Responsible Entrepreneur' and 'Fledge' who supply mentoring and consulting services to entrepreneurs who want to incorporate social and environmental responsibility into company strategy.
And now back to South Africa. The sustainability message is still on the back foot here and as mentioned earlier on, not a national priority. But there are still quite a few drivers out there. On the effective activism side we have the Justice and Peace department of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference who advocate for environmental justice as part of the Catholic faith. Rolling this thinking out to other churches and religions would have high impact. Then the individual activists such as Braam Malherbe, who received the 'Eco Warrior' award in 2012 for his many initiatives and involvement in counter poaching operations, the Table Mountain national park fire fighting unit and the EWT MyPlanet Rhino Fund. And the 'Treasure the Karoo Action Group' led by Jonathan Deal who has come up against big corporates. These individuals have a big impact.
On the entrepreneurial front a few initiates such as the EthicsXchange which facilitates open dialogue with industry leaders about all ethical issues. Otherwise no other programmes such as 'The Responsible Entrepreneur' or 'Fledge' as in the US. Maybe an idea to start a similar initiative here in SA?
So we are on our way to doing good and spreading the word. Let's hope sooner than later for the sake of the future.
My passion is driving the sustainability concept for all systems, and my main focus is on environmental issues. And even if we tackle an environmental problem, the issues in the other 2 systems will and should also improve. Activism and entrepreneurship (whereby individuals can get involved) are big sustainability drivers and in the past year there have been many paradigm shifts in the way they can spur formidable change.
In an article on the CSRWired Blog called "Paradigm shifts transform waste, entrepreneurship, activism" by Danielle Lanyard, what she calls 'effective activism' and entrepreneurship has made great strides in empowering people to make sustainability a way of life.
Under the 'Effective Activism' banner, religion is being roped in to amplify this message of caring for the planet and being accountable for the consequences of daily actions. 'Green Faith' is a program currently being deployed in places of worship and religious schools in the US to promote stewardship of the planet and environmental resources. Individual activism is also a growing trend and tackles many environmental challenges such as the Pacific Garbage Patch. An environmentalist in the US, Boyan Slat, has initiated the 'Ocean Cleanup Array' program which involves engineers, students, modelers and other experts in finding solutions to clean up the ocean using the latest technology. Paradigm shifts in entrepreneurship are also fuelling the change, these being programmes such as 'The Responsible Entrepreneur' and 'Fledge' who supply mentoring and consulting services to entrepreneurs who want to incorporate social and environmental responsibility into company strategy.
And now back to South Africa. The sustainability message is still on the back foot here and as mentioned earlier on, not a national priority. But there are still quite a few drivers out there. On the effective activism side we have the Justice and Peace department of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference who advocate for environmental justice as part of the Catholic faith. Rolling this thinking out to other churches and religions would have high impact. Then the individual activists such as Braam Malherbe, who received the 'Eco Warrior' award in 2012 for his many initiatives and involvement in counter poaching operations, the Table Mountain national park fire fighting unit and the EWT MyPlanet Rhino Fund. And the 'Treasure the Karoo Action Group' led by Jonathan Deal who has come up against big corporates. These individuals have a big impact.
On the entrepreneurial front a few initiates such as the EthicsXchange which facilitates open dialogue with industry leaders about all ethical issues. Otherwise no other programmes such as 'The Responsible Entrepreneur' or 'Fledge' as in the US. Maybe an idea to start a similar initiative here in SA?
So we are on our way to doing good and spreading the word. Let's hope sooner than later for the sake of the future.
Tuesday, 21 January 2014
The Afterlife of a Landfill
Waste is the current status quo of our consumer society's output. So yes, we can't change our current processes to the extent of being 'waste-free' as in nature, because the costs associated with it and the many other reasons such as consumer mindset will not materialize for now (maybe in 50 years time a possibility). So currently we seek to solve the problems we have around our continuous and growing output of waste. The numbers are staggering, the US alone generated more than 250 million tons last year, South Africa 42 million cubic metres.
Waste management has evolved over the years. From the 'basic waste management' of cleansing: waste storage, collection, transport and environmentally acceptable disposal. This is a fundamental strategy and a departure point for the current strategy of sustainability within waste management where waste solutions are implemented. These solutions encompass the ‘cradle-to-cradle’ approach (from the source of production beyond the typical ‘after-life’ management – e.g. via disposal). This concept requires that finished products and goods need to be designed in a way that they can be easily de-manufactured and dismantled for material recovery and recycling, in other words being almost 'waste-free' as mentioned above. These concepts are not easy to achieve, however, and will require a radical mind shift in our society on the consumer level (demanding waste-wise products) as well as on industrial level (increasing cleaner production technologies).
So, in the meantime until we reach this utopia, we will settle on putting our waste to good use. And one of the good uses is energy production. Yes, generating the very much needed electricity in South Africa.
Modern landfills are works of art. To cope with the increasing volumes of waste, engineers need to sculpt and compress these landfills to increase their capacity. But to get even more use out of them the US is collecting the methane gas emitted from rotting waste and burning it to generate electricity or using technologies to turn it into other valuable materials like crude oil or ethanol. At existing landfills in the US this method of using methane for energy production has created nearly 15 billion kwh, enough to power about 1 million households! There are more than 600 energy projects that pipe the gases from landfills to the surface in every state except two. Landfill gas has thus become an environmentally efficient way to produce power, alongside wind and solar. +Sustainable Waste Solutions is one of the companies which focus on using technologies to extract methane and then generate and sell the power back into the grid. In this case they use an 'Energy from Waste' recovery facility to convert the waste to energy. I must still do some research to see if there is any such company or technology currently in use in South Africa. We do have a lot of space still but that will become a precious commodity soon, and therefore to start investing and researching these technologies is a must.
What is happening to landfills in the US is now spreading to the rest of the developed world. Belgium is now partnering with a US based waste company to harness gases from a landfill dating from the 1960's, which reminds me of the mine dumps being re-processed in South Africa lately to create more land space. Even Sweden is now importing garbage from Norway for incineration to feed the growing energy demand. To think that even garbage has monetary value!
I often get depressed seeing all the landfills around Cape Town, but to know that there are ingenious ways to re-process and get value out of them is a great relief. To be 'waste-free' is still a pipe dream for now, but at least we are inventing ways to use the garbage for good and to protect the environment from further degradation.
Waste management has evolved over the years. From the 'basic waste management' of cleansing: waste storage, collection, transport and environmentally acceptable disposal. This is a fundamental strategy and a departure point for the current strategy of sustainability within waste management where waste solutions are implemented. These solutions encompass the ‘cradle-to-cradle’ approach (from the source of production beyond the typical ‘after-life’ management – e.g. via disposal). This concept requires that finished products and goods need to be designed in a way that they can be easily de-manufactured and dismantled for material recovery and recycling, in other words being almost 'waste-free' as mentioned above. These concepts are not easy to achieve, however, and will require a radical mind shift in our society on the consumer level (demanding waste-wise products) as well as on industrial level (increasing cleaner production technologies).
So, in the meantime until we reach this utopia, we will settle on putting our waste to good use. And one of the good uses is energy production. Yes, generating the very much needed electricity in South Africa.
Modern landfills are works of art. To cope with the increasing volumes of waste, engineers need to sculpt and compress these landfills to increase their capacity. But to get even more use out of them the US is collecting the methane gas emitted from rotting waste and burning it to generate electricity or using technologies to turn it into other valuable materials like crude oil or ethanol. At existing landfills in the US this method of using methane for energy production has created nearly 15 billion kwh, enough to power about 1 million households! There are more than 600 energy projects that pipe the gases from landfills to the surface in every state except two. Landfill gas has thus become an environmentally efficient way to produce power, alongside wind and solar. +Sustainable Waste Solutions is one of the companies which focus on using technologies to extract methane and then generate and sell the power back into the grid. In this case they use an 'Energy from Waste' recovery facility to convert the waste to energy. I must still do some research to see if there is any such company or technology currently in use in South Africa. We do have a lot of space still but that will become a precious commodity soon, and therefore to start investing and researching these technologies is a must.
What is happening to landfills in the US is now spreading to the rest of the developed world. Belgium is now partnering with a US based waste company to harness gases from a landfill dating from the 1960's, which reminds me of the mine dumps being re-processed in South Africa lately to create more land space. Even Sweden is now importing garbage from Norway for incineration to feed the growing energy demand. To think that even garbage has monetary value!
I often get depressed seeing all the landfills around Cape Town, but to know that there are ingenious ways to re-process and get value out of them is a great relief. To be 'waste-free' is still a pipe dream for now, but at least we are inventing ways to use the garbage for good and to protect the environment from further degradation.
Tuesday, 14 January 2014
Biomimicry: the answer to all our sustainability problems?
My family and I attended the 'Da Vinci - The Genius' exibition in December and what stood out for me the most was the concept of biomimicry. In all of his inventions he used natural concepts and designs (that have evolved and been perfected over millions of years!), from the gliders to ball bearings to underwater vehicles. Even today, many of problems we face are solved and can be solved by investigating how nature has adapted and done it for millenia.
My biggest bug bear in this era is the waste we humans generate which is in total contrast to what nature does. In the book +TheBlueEconomy, each process uses the principles of nature and biomimicry so no waste is generated. Nature knows no waste as every particle is used and benefits everything else in the value chain. The series Trashopolis on pay TV (DSTV in South Africa) is a documentary which investigates each large city on earth on how the waste is handled. Mexico City was discussed last night and it was scary. The biggest landfill in the world! 400 hectares of rubbish. But what gave me relief at the end (otherwise I would not have been able to sleep last night) were the ways the city was dealing with the problem. From recycling the different materials to injecting the organic waste with bacteria to make compost. So a positive outcome that slows the growth of the landfill, as each citizen still generates around 1,5kg of waste each day but we still languish in waste! From a big picture/system point of view, tackle this problem from the source....but this is however another discussion on it's own.
Biomimicry is applicable in the medical industry, building and construction, even information technology. Since we are part of nature ( and some might disagree with me), let's do what she does and work with her. We are after all, one.
Leonardo was a genius, for me because he recognized what nature had created and designed. If only we stop re-inventing and re-designing from scratch....because it is all there already.
My biggest bug bear in this era is the waste we humans generate which is in total contrast to what nature does. In the book +TheBlueEconomy, each process uses the principles of nature and biomimicry so no waste is generated. Nature knows no waste as every particle is used and benefits everything else in the value chain. The series Trashopolis on pay TV (DSTV in South Africa) is a documentary which investigates each large city on earth on how the waste is handled. Mexico City was discussed last night and it was scary. The biggest landfill in the world! 400 hectares of rubbish. But what gave me relief at the end (otherwise I would not have been able to sleep last night) were the ways the city was dealing with the problem. From recycling the different materials to injecting the organic waste with bacteria to make compost. So a positive outcome that slows the growth of the landfill, as each citizen still generates around 1,5kg of waste each day but we still languish in waste! From a big picture/system point of view, tackle this problem from the source....but this is however another discussion on it's own.
Biomimicry is applicable in the medical industry, building and construction, even information technology. Since we are part of nature ( and some might disagree with me), let's do what she does and work with her. We are after all, one.
Leonardo was a genius, for me because he recognized what nature had created and designed. If only we stop re-inventing and re-designing from scratch....because it is all there already.
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