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!

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.

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.

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.