The action of workers in the energy sector to block the progress of renewable energy generation through protest or court action makes as much sense as print journalists protesting against the existence of the internet or fixed-line telecoms employees wanting to ban cellphones. Thanks to rapid technological development over the past decade, renewable energy is here. It is cheaper; it is cleaner; and consumers of the world prefer it. There remains, of course, a need for a base-load energy supply for when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow. In SA that is not very often, but nonetheless it is still the case that for reasons of economic efficiency, a nonintermittent energy supply is required. The options here are coal, nuclear energy or gas and there has been much debate about which of these SA really needs and in what proportions. There will be more debate about this when the Department of Energy publishes the Integrated Resource Plan for which we have waited for five years....
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