waterfall by !pharaohsgirl from deviantartIt's National Water Week

It's national water week this week so why don't you consider your water usage, and see how you can help to conserve water. Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said that "It is therefore important for us to pull out all the stops to ensure that our visitors enjoy safe and clean portable water, whose quality rates among the best in the world." More

Koeberg shutdown to lessen World Cup risk

ESKOM will later this week and next month conduct two shutdowns at the Koeberg nuclear power plant for pre-emptive maintenance work on one of its cooling systems in a move to avoid power supply problems during the Soccer World Cup.
Eskom must ensure reliable electricity supply during the tournament, to be held in less than three months’ time.
The utility said its programme to ensure security of supply during the World Cup included assessment of potential risks at all its power stations. “Risks that are identified are categorised in terms of their significance and the priority to undertake actions to mitigate the risks,” Eskom said. More

Eskom solar scheme endorses inefficient products

Some of the products accepted by the Eskom subsidy scheme are not fit for solar water heating purposes, Sky Power, a supplier of solar water heating systems, said on Friday.

According to the company, about 39 percent of the products listed on the scheme deliver less than 60 percent of the energy required to sufficiently heat the water.

Sky Power MD Barry Cribb said based on a calculation of the energy required to raise the water temperature by 40 degrees Celsius, 54 of the 139 products listed deliver between 18 percent and 59 percent of the required energy from solar input.

He said the balance of the energy required needs to be provided electrically.

"Remarkably 33 of those 54 products are SABS mark approved. It would appear therefore, that no minimum performance criteria are applied," he noted. More

Plan to cull Egyptian Geese in Durbanville

The ancient Egyptians considered them sacred, but the City of Cape Town is looking at killing some of Africa's most well-known and widespread indigenous birds to reduce their numbers.

It says the Egyptian geese that have taken up residence around the Sonstraal and Vygeboom dams in the Durbanville area need to be brought back into "sustainable equilibrium" with their environment.

"A final decision on the method ... has yet to be taken by the City of Cape Town," City Parks area manager Altus de Wet said.

The city would follow an "inclusive process" in this regard, and all relevant role players would be consulted prior to a final decision being made. More

SA's Industrial Development Corporation to get 19% stake in Kenyan windfarm

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) said on Wednesday it will offload a 70 percent stake in its wind energy project to South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation and London-based energy firm Aldwych International.
LTWP is building a 300 megawatt wind farm in Kenya, with the first 50 MW feeding into the national grid by the end of June 2011.
"The structure we are looking at is that by the time we reach financial close and we move into construction phase, the shareholding of Lake Turkana Wind Power will be 51 percent Aldwych, 19 percent for IDC South Africa and a 30 percent by KP&P, the original owners," said LTWP's Carlo Van Wageningen.More

Bus Rapid Transport needs police escort in Joburg

Johannesburg - Police had to escort the roll-out of the latest phase of Johannesburg's Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system on Monday while taxi drivers withdrew their services in protest against the system, leaving commuters stranded.

According to City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane, the Nancefield depot in Soweto was blocked with rocks and stones.

Police had to be sent to the Merafhe station after receiving reports that commuters were being blocked from using the trains as an alternative to the strained BRT system.

"It is worrying that when a government which has been elected by people is trying to provide service... there are individuals who would want to hold the process to ransom," he said. More

48% of Americans believe seriousness of global warming exaggerated

Washington - A growing number of Americans, nearly half the country, think global warming worries are exaggerated, as more people also doubt that scientific warnings of severe environmental fallout will ever occur, according to a new Gallup poll.

The new doubts come as President Barack Obama is pressuring the Congress to produce legislation significantly cutting smokestack emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for climate change problems.

With congressional elections less than eight months away, many lawmakers are hesitant to take on a controversial energy and environment bill, especially if voter interest is waning.

Amid eroding public sentiment and in response to escalating attacks from global warming skeptics, the Union of Concerned Scientists on Thursday released a letter they said was signed by more than 2 000 climate scientists and economists, including some Nobel prize winners, urging the Senate to pass a bill. More

Rainforest not so affected by climate change?

A new study, funded by Nasa, has found that the most serious drought in the Amazon for more than a century had little impact on the rainforest's vegetation.
The findings appear to disprove claims by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that up to 40% of the Amazon rainforest could react drastically to even a small reduction in rainfall and could see the trees replaced by tropical grassland.
The IPCC has already faced intense criticism for using a report by environmental lobby group WWF as the basis for its claim, which in turn had failed to cite the original source of the research.
Scientists have now spoken out against the 40% figure contained in the IPCC report and say that recent research is suggesting that the rainforest may be more resilient to climate change than had been previously thought.
It comes just days after the UN announced an independent review into the panel's procedures following a series of scandals over its most recent report which was found to contain factual errors and claims which were not based on rigorous scientific research. More

Deep sea volcanoes play key role in preventing climate change

Singapore - A vast network of under-sea volcanoes pumping out nutrient-rich water in the Southern Ocean plays a key role in soaking up large amounts of carbon dioxide, acting as a brake on climate change, scientists say.

A group of Australian and French scientists have shown for the first time that the volcanoes are a major source of iron that single-celled plants called phytoplankton need to bloom and in the process soak up CO2, the main greenhouse gas.

Oceans absorb about a quarter of mankind's CO2 from burning fossil fuels and deforestation, with the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica among the largest ocean "carbon sinks". More

Bees own central heating

Scientists have long attributed the success of the honey bee to the division of labour within the hive.
But thermal imaging research for a TV series has identified a previously unknown skill performed by a specialist bee that is vital for a colony's survival.
'Heater bees' use their bodies to provide a 'central heating' system, it has emerged.
The 'heaters' are responsible for maintaining the temperature in the hive where young bees, known as pupae, are sealed into wax cells while they grow into adult bees.
By changing the temperature of each pupa they can determine what kind of bee it will become.
Those kept at 35C mature to become the intelligent forager bees that leave the nest in search of nectar and pollen. Those kept at 34C emerge as 'house keepers'.
More