Wind power is blowing hot – for now
Wind power has been blowing hot for over a decade as one of the leading renewable-energy sources.
View ArticleHydroelectricity powering on
Hydroelectric power is one of the oldest and best established sources of renewable energy, and world hydropower capacity has been growing at a steady rate of about 3% a year since the 1960s. The bulk...
View ArticleCoega refinery a costly cul-de-sac
National oil company PetroSA recently renewed its media blitz promoting Project Mthombo, its proposed giant oil refinery at Coega, in the Eastern Cape.
View ArticleAirlines struggle with energy turbulence
News of airline carriers experiencing financial headwinds has been coming thick and fast of late. There are two main reasons for this: stalling global economic growth and the heavy burden of...
View ArticleConventional oil peaked in 2008 – IEA
In November, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) for 2012. For the most part, the international financial press seized on one element of the report –...
View ArticleThe oil price outlook – 2013 and beyond
The price of crude oil on international markets dominates financial news headlines for good reason: it’s the world’s most-traded commodity. With a multitude of complex and dynamic factors at play,...
View ArticleTwilight of the industrial metabolism
Human socioeconomic systems have evolved over thousands of years in concert with a changing natural environment. Every society is sustained by flows of energy and materials and can, thus, be seen as...
View ArticleThe dynamics of energy transitions
One of the defining features of the twenty-firsy century will be a transition from fossil fuels to other energy sources. To try to understand how this process might unfold, scholars have turned to past...
View ArticleCan Malawi leap-frog the fossil fuel age?
Malawi represents an interesting case study in energy transitions and also helps to put South Africa’s energy challenges in perspective. Our northern neighbour has barely begun to enter the fossil fuel...
View ArticleInterest in LENR device resurges as independent report is released
Last year I wrote two columns about developments in the field of low-energy nuclear reaction (LENR) technologies. After a relatively quiet few months, with no major news, May yielded a resurgence of...
View ArticleInnovative jatropha biofuel production in Malawi
Enthusiasm surrounding conventional biofuels such as maize-based ethanol has waxed and waned over the past few years, particularly in the African context, where food security is a major issue. On a...
View ArticlePeak oil is no myth
In late May, I participated in the tenth annual conference of the international Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (Aspo), a network of scientists, scholars, industry experts and analysts...
View ArticleConventional biofuels won’t take us far
Liquid biofuels are often touted as a partial solution to oil scarcity and climate change. But what are the realistic prospects?
View ArticleLENR appears to be gathering steam
In February, this column introduced a contentious possible new energy source called low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR) or lattice-assisted nuclear reactions (LANR) – a process that was formerly called...
View ArticleWind power is blowing hot – for now
Wind power has been blowing hot for over a decade as one of the leading renewable-energy sources.
View ArticleHydroelectricity powering on
Hydroelectric power is one of the oldest and best established sources of renewable energy, and world hydropower capacity has been growing at a steady rate of about 3% a year since the 1960s. The bulk...
View ArticleCoega refinery a costly cul-de-sac
National oil company PetroSA recently renewed its media blitz promoting Project Mthombo, its proposed giant oil refinery at Coega, in the Eastern Cape.
View ArticleIs fracking getting oil out of a tight spot?
The International Energy Agency (IEA), in its 2012 World Energy Outlook, projects that oil supply will continue to rise until 2035 without encountering geological or technical production constraints....
View ArticleShale gas on the front burner again
October saw the gazetting by the Department of Mineral Resources of the regulations set to govern exploration for and production of shale gas in the Karoo basin, and the public has been invited to...
View ArticleIEA highlights shifting energy landscape
Last month, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its 'World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2013' report. The WEO is a yearly publication that reviews recent developments in energy markets and also...
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