Now is not the time to experiment with novel forms of energy
30 May 2022 - 16:40
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An Eskom worker checks power lines. Picture: MARIANNE SCHWANKHART
Eskom foreshadows load-shedding of stage 8 or worse. The governing ANC cannot seem to grasp the crisis, so enmeshed is it in long-term plans and an agonisingly slow commissioning of green (and some carbon) energy from private parties.
However, Eskom is failing far faster than this tedious process is moving. What does the government think will save us? The ANC must act. It is a no-brainer that we need at least 10GW of additional power, and soon.
No developed country has ever run out of electricity. To avoid being the first, Eskom must commission energy that can be brought online in the shortest possible period. Now is not the time to experiment with novel forms of green energy, or worry about carbon footprints. We know gas works. Most energy in developed countries is now gas. The technology is tried and tested.
We need to pursue parallel paths: continue with the various stages of commissioning green energy, but add an emergency gas build programme. It’s not either-or, it’s both, even though this will drastically increase state debt. We need a state of emergency to set aside impediments to offshore exploration and environmental concerns.
What is the use of a clean environment and a lid on debt if the country collapses into anarchy when the power fails? The ANC has never before moved fast. But we have never before faced collapse. We now face an existential crisis. And still the government sleeps.
Willem Cronje Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Government sleeping as Eskom spells doom
Now is not the time to experiment with novel forms of energy
Eskom foreshadows load-shedding of stage 8 or worse. The governing ANC cannot seem to grasp the crisis, so enmeshed is it in long-term plans and an agonisingly slow commissioning of green (and some carbon) energy from private parties.
However, Eskom is failing far faster than this tedious process is moving. What does the government think will save us? The ANC must act. It is a no-brainer that we need at least 10GW of additional power, and soon.
No developed country has ever run out of electricity. To avoid being the first, Eskom must commission energy that can be brought online in the shortest possible period. Now is not the time to experiment with novel forms of green energy, or worry about carbon footprints. We know gas works. Most energy in developed countries is now gas. The technology is tried and tested.
We need to pursue parallel paths: continue with the various stages of commissioning green energy, but add an emergency gas build programme. It’s not either-or, it’s both, even though this will drastically increase state debt. We need a state of emergency to set aside impediments to offshore exploration and environmental concerns.
What is the use of a clean environment and a lid on debt if the country collapses into anarchy when the power fails? The ANC has never before moved fast. But we have never before faced collapse. We now face an existential crisis. And still the government sleeps.
Willem Cronje
Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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