The iconic Greenpeace ship – the Rainbow Warrior – will be on South African shores in February to highlight solutions to South Africa’s current electricity crisis! The public is invited to celebrate the return of the Rainbow Warrior to South African shores.
The ship will visit Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban during the month of February, and will host a number of fun and engaging activities during the month. Check out the open boat dates below – when the ship will be open to the public for free tours between 10h00 and 15h00 – in a city near you:
- 10, 14 and 15 February – Cape Town, V&A Waterfront, Quay 6, Jetty 2
- 22 February – Port Elizabeth Harbour (look out for the signs)
- 28 February and 1 March – Durban Harbour, N-Shed
The South African government is currently pushing ahead with new nuclear investments, which may cost as much as R1 trillion, and will take a minimum of 15 years to build. With this ship tour, Greenpeace plans to highlight the fact that nuclear energy is a dead end, and that removing the barriers to renewable energy investments is the real solution to the current electricity crisis. Renewable energy is already delivering on time and on budget, and it’s a no brainer that we should be making it easier for everyone to invest in solar panels for our rooftops, particularly when we are faced with the realities of loadshedding almost every day.
The CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) recently reported in a new study that South Africa’s first wind and solar projects created R800 million in net financial benefits last year – that’s huge! Now is the time to invest in renewable energy!
Alan Straton
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Nice gesture but the argument is flawed. At this stage of the game the only systems that can reliably supply a country’s baseload needs are fossil fuel (eg. coal) or nuclear stations. Renewables are making inroads but don’t yet have the muscle to punch on their own. Rooftop PV panels are fine for homes and lightweight commerce but won’t power heavy industry which is what drives our economy. That aside, our biggest enemy in this formula is time. We are fast running out of it.
We are getting there – the chief executive of South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA), Moeketsi Thobela, is quoted as saying; “The period between end-2013 and October 2014 saw an exponential increase in electricity generation from solar PV.”
SAPVIA said solar’s contribution would rise further as projects under the second and third rounds of the programme (The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme or REIPPP) become operational between now and 2016, with a total of 1,484MW in the pipeline.
Thobela said the rapid deployment of PV and other renewables “on time and on budget” under the REIPPPP made the case for the programme to be accelerated as a bulwark against blackouts and loadshedding in South Africa.
Watch this clip – http://carteblanche.dstv.com/player/761604/ – the first couple of minutes feature someone using heavy machinery.