a greener athloneWe've seen some unexpected media releases in our time, but this one takes the cake. So here it is verbatim:

ATHLONE POWER STATION LOCATION TO BE CONVERTED TO WIND FARM

South Africa’s leading energy supplier has announced that, in conjunction with the City of Cape Town, it will be converting the old Athlone coal fired power station into a wind farm filled with eight new 1.5MW wind turbines.

It indicated that the implosion of the old power station is a symbol of its commitment to clean energy and plans to convert all existing coal fired powered stations into renewable energy sources by 2016.

It is possible to do something that has a real impact on the nuclear furture of South Africa.

These words arrived in my inbox this morning, sent by Peter Becker to members of the .

The deadline for submissions on the Environmental Impact Assessment for Eskom's proposed Nuclear-1 project EIA: 12/12/20/944) is tomorrow. You can make a difference. And here's how. Send an email to bongi.shinga[at]acerafrica[dot]co[dot]za. In the body of your email, if you don't have the time to actually comment, say something along the lines of:

one of the energy efficient winnersAn energy efficient planet is something that we should all be concerned about, and it should take its rightful place in mainstream business.

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have been a step in the right direction but it’s also become apparent that existing lamp designs are not really compatible with new energy efficient technologies.

This is where the challenge lies for designers. Eskom is challenging resourceful designers to come up with innovative Lumière (lamp) designs that have functionality and flair, efficiency and aesthetic appeal for the 2010 “Energy Efficient Lighting Design Competition”.

There are two categories in which designs can be submitted. The first category invites

A new species found in Papua New Guinea: Long-nosed tree frog is one of the new species discovered in Foja mountains rainforest on the Indonesian island of New Guinea. Photograph: Tim Laman/NG

Wind turbine built at Coega

ELECTRAWINDS Belgium has started construction of its first wind turbine in the Coega Industrial Development Zone in Port Elizabeth.

The wind turbine will be completed in time to provide energy for the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium during the World Cup.

Electrawinds has invested R1.2billion in the Coega Wind Farm Project to build 25 turbines. Each turbine has a capacity of 1.8MW which translates into an annual yield 5700000kWh, enough energy to power about 1700 households. The electricity generated by the wind farm will be fed into the national grid and distributed by Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan municipality to households within the metro.

Ministers charged for water pollution

Criminal charges over the pollution of the country's water supply were laid against three Cabinet ministers at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria on Friday.

After laying the charges, TauSA chairman Louis Meintjes said the organisation had been forced to approach the police after Minister of Agriculture Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Mining Minister Susan Shabangu and Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica, had repeatedly failed to address the problem.

"We want them to act and get the water clean... a snowball that gets too big is a runaway snowball," he said.

Meintjes said mines which used seven percent of the country's water supply were responsible for 75 percent of water pollution.

He said Sonjica should have acted in line with the National Water Act and that Shabangu should have known that mining, water supply and food security were directly linked.

He said the act provided that it was criminal for ministers to knowingly or unintentionally allow for natural resources to be jeopardised.

"If it's not the ministers, who is responsible?" - Sapa

Developers downplay King Shaka leaks
By Gugu Mbonambi

Developers of the new multi-billion-rand King Shaka airport admit that there are "minor leaks" in the airport's fuel pipeline, but deny

is nuclear the way forward?This was forwarded to us by Earthlife Africa and makes for a good argument against nuclear power

Our government is on record as wanting a “fleet” of nuclear reactors in South Africa. Yet, we have abundant resources that we can use to save energy and generate electricity sustainably and safely. In doing so we can create many safe, sustainable and decent work opportunities that will place our country at the cutting edge of progressive energy policy and production. This would keep more money in the country instead of sending it overseas to France, Japan or the USA. Instead, what do we have?

cats reducing biodiversity?Sewage the next Eskom
By Sapa and Moleboheng Tladi
The Green Drop report has found that more than 75% of South Africa's sewage treatment plants are not up to standard.

Of 852 waste water treatment plants, 403 weren’t even in good enough nick to be assessed. Of the remainder, only 203 scored better than 50%.

Of the 403 that weren’t assessed, the report highlighted municipal managers not feeling competent enough, and municipalities not adhering to the call to be assessed.
Those that managed to get more than 50% on the standards set by the Green Drop report were mostly based around Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria.

Only 3.8% of the total plants actually got the Green Drop status, which is broadly equivalent to international standards.

The Department of Energy has finally issued the invitation for the much touted “broad consultation process” concerning its “IRP2” – basically the electricity / energy plan for this country for the next 20 years, with many plans for nuclear power – a day BEFORE their deadline.

By the time we at urban sprout got this e mail, the deadline had passed! This invitation was e-mailed to us this morning, but that will not deter us from registering as stakeholders yet again to voice our opposition and reasons for opposition to the proposed inclusion of nuclear in the proposed energy mix for South Africa. You can also e-mail to register and make your presence known.

Koeberg nuclear station
koeberg is one of the proposed sites for the new nuclear power station Eskom plans to build. The last chance for the public to voice their opinions will be on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings, as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment process. All residents of Cape Town are urged to attend at least one of these public meetings.

Candle lit dinnerNow, I was going to write a witty article about things that you can do in the dark during Earth hour this year. However, whilst googling for inspiration, I came across this comprehensive list from the Granville online by Hilary Henegar. So I decided that I would just share the article with you...

21 things to do in the dark

1. Get romantic with your favourite environmentalist.

2. Play poker by candlelight. Or in the dark.

3. Do yoga or tai chi.

4. Hold a séance. Pull out the Ouija board and invoke the spirit of Jacques Cousteau.

5. Think. Ponder the significance of light, and its absence, to human civilization.