FREE TO READ | Energy magazine focuses on renewables

As South Africans ruefully joke about an electricity provider that constantly begs its customers to use less of its product, the economy continues to take hit after hit from losses incurred during load-shedding. An answer is desperately needed, and renewables might be it.

In this issue of Energy, we ask if leveraging solar, wind, water and geothermal energy is SA’s answer to the energy crisis. While they may be a great resource, who funds these new projects, what do they look for in a project and how are the investments structured? We take a closer look at the various types of renewable energy available in SA.

We also examine what the Renewable Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme is, the technologies in the mix and what it will add to our grid.

Waste to energy projects, on the other hand, offer twofold benefits: waste elimination and energy generation, while solar and wind are only effective at certain times — until battery storage methods improve. Where do we stand at present with batteries, and what does the future hold?

We look into the potential offered by so-called “clean coal”, how it works and what makes it better in environmental terms than standard coal. Also, though electric vehicles are out of reach for many, SA is slowly creating the infrastructure for when these vehicles are finally priced for the masses.

All these subjects and more are covered in this issue of Energy.

Browse through the full magazine below (zoom in or go full screen for ease of reading):