https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/18/climate/china-greenhouse-gas-emissions-plateau.html Its CO2 emissions may soon reach a plateau – but not peak. "Last year alone, China installed more solar panels than the United States has in its entire history, and connected most of them to its electricity grid. "Almost two-thirds of big wind and solar plants under construction globally are in China, according to a report last week from Global Energy Monitor. That is more than eight times the wind and solar capacity being planned in the United States." Why the Era of China’s Soaring Carbon Emissions Might Be Ending Analysts are seeing promising signs from the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. Listen to this article · 4:59 min Learn more Share full article 116 A solar farm in China. Last year China installed more solar panels than the United States has in its entire history.Credit...Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times By Max Bearak July 18, 2024 China, the world’s biggest source of planet-warming greenhouse gases for most of the past two decades, is seemingly on the verge of bending its emissions curve from years of steep growth into a flat plateau. The implications for climate change could scarcely be greater. Since China’s emissions surpassed those of the United States in 2006, China’s global share has grown to almost a third — a huge number, even with population differences taken into account. A recent spate of data from China’s government, as well as reports by energy analysts, have provided positive signs that while China’s emissions may not decrease significantly, they also may not grow. China’s president, Xi Jinping, had pledged to reach that turning point by 2030. “The important thing to understand is that when China’s emissions stop growing, it likely follows that the world’s stop growing, too,” said Dave Jones, global insight director at Ember, an energy think tank. ADVERTISEMENT SKIP ADVERTISEMENT The biggest factor in the shift is changes to how China produces its electricity. In short, renewable sources are replacing coal, the most polluting fossil fuel. Last year alone, China installed more solar panels than the United States has in its entire history, and connected most of them to its electricity grid. Almost two-thirds of big wind and solar plants under construction globally are in China, according to a report last week from Global Energy Monitor. That is more than eight times the wind and solar capacity being planned in the United States. How Electricity Is Changing, Country by Country And in May, China generated 53 percent of its electricity from coal, its lowest share since its government began publishing energy data decades ago, while nearly all the rest of it came from non-fossil-fuel sources. “This indicated that China may have peaked” its emissions, said Belinda Schäpe, a China analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. ADVERTISEMENT SKIP ADVERTISEMENT However, some observers caution that “peak” was perhaps the wrong word to describe the current trend in China. “We’ve been talking about whether there’s been a peak for almost a decade,” said Li Shuo, the director of China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “Peaking assumes persistent emissions decline after it is passed. That’s not an assumption we can or should make.” Mr. Li said it was more likely that China’s emissions would plateau. And he cautioned that while growth in renewable energy was responsible for replacing coal in electricity generation, other factors — such as China’s recent real estate crisis and sluggish post-pandemic economy — have led to less consumption of energy overall, which might skew the data downward, but only temporarily. “If you look at China’s emissions profile of the past two decades, one particular source was hugely significant: real estate and construction, whose supply chain made up about a third of all emissions,” he said. “That’s cooling off.” More reliable signs have come from recent policy shifts, he said. In particular, a new ban on permits for steel factories that would use coal to

Blatante onwaarhede word aan onkundiges opgedis asof dit feite is. https://www.biznews.com/energy/2024/07/14/nuclear-sas-energy-future-andrew-kenny

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/columnists/2024-07-15-ayabonga-cawe-sas-solar-panel-duty-is-appropriate-amid-threat-from-china/ Comments below On 2024/07/15 18:06, bernhard wrote: OPINION / COLUMNISTS AYABONGA CAWE: SA’s solar panel duty is appropriate amid threat from China We cannot be wedded to a monastic faith in free trade when counterparties are not burdened with same considerations BL PREMIUM 15 JULY 2024 - 05:00 Picture: 123RF/PETKOV In our third-year public economics class nearly 15 years ago we were told about an important feature that defined “public goods”. They were “non-rivalrous” in consumption, such that their availability or supply would not be affected by how many people used the good. Unlike land, water and other commodities on earth, which can be encircled and made “property”, the sun would seem to be non-rivalrous property. Yet, the trade in the tools that make harnessing energy from the sun possible is far more “rivalrous”. While I try not use this column to “talk shop”, but rather as a space to share, reflect and ruminate on the economic environment around us, it may be worth wading into what has by now become a messy, one-sided discussion on the appropriateness and envisaged effectiveness of the recently introduced solar panel tariff as an enabling, while protective, measure for domestic players to acquire specific capabilities in the value chain. While I am not in favour of autarky and argue that you do need a generous dollop of duty-free passage of particular imports (used in the production of exports, for instance), the decision on what to do ought to be driven by the balance of evidence rather than a monastic belief in the virtues of free trade. Absent of this evidence free traders forget the true costs of ascendancy and superiority in markets. China subsidies Behind every cheap tradable good lies a raft of taxpayer and consumer-funded support. So too lies the debris of those firms that could not compete. China subsidises the fossil-fuelled electricity (40% of the input cost) used by polysilicon foundries, and Europe subsidises agricultural value chains and protects its markets through a raft of technical (and at times non-scientific) barriers. What then is meant by one commentator’s advice to the new trade minister to “always defer to free trade”, when this seems better placed in a dusty textbook than the cauldron of real economic competition? We are in the throes of a global subsidy race underwritten by both left- and right-wing governments the world over, and parts of the commentariat proffer advice akin to “just give up”? Over two decades, at least since the White Paper on renewable energy in 2003, the democratic government has sought to pursue not only changes in firm and household consumption of fossil-fuelled energy, but also to marry such shifts to the commercialisation of research into renewables and industrial activities in component assembly and manufacturing for wind, solar, hydro and biofuels. A tariff in such a policy context, informed by these considerations and the typical trade case (infancy, substantive price disadvantages and low-capacity utilisation) is appropriate. To what degree it may be effective is something else altogether. The acknowledgment by electricity & energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa that the scale of public demand for renewables is critical to unlock the industrial, technological and skill upgrading opportunities associated with the transition, reflects an understanding of how we can best navigate this transition in a way that recognises we are not inanimate hostages of history. There are a few likely or expected behavioural responses from key solar exporters arising from the Biden administration’s tariffs, Brussels’ subsidy probe and other measures in key markets that will make access to Chinese solar exports difficult. Experience shows us that in such a context, along with the declining domestic demand and property crisis in China, it is likely that rising inventories in these sectors and in upstream raw material inputs and precursors may fin

OPINION / COLUMNISTS AYABONGA CAWE: SA’s solar panel duty is appropriate amid threat from China We cannot be wedded to a monastic faith in free trade when counterparties are not burdened with same considerations BL PREMIUM 15 JULY 2024 - 05:00 Picture: 123RF/PETKOV In our third-year public economics class nearly 15 years ago we were told about an important feature that defined “public goods”. They were “non-rivalrous” in consumption, such that their availability or supply would not be affected by how many people used the good. Unlike land, water and other commodities on earth, which can be encircled and made “property”, the sun would seem to be non-rivalrous property. Yet, the trade in the tools that make harnessing energy from the sun possible is far more “rivalrous”. While I try not use this column to “talk shop”, but rather as a space to share, reflect and ruminate on the economic environment around us, it may be worth wading into what has by now become a messy, one-sided discussion on the appropriateness and envisaged effectiveness of the recently introduced solar panel tariff as an enabling, while protective, measure for domestic players to acquire specific capabilities in the value chain. While I am not in favour of autarky and argue that you do need a generous dollop of duty-free passage of particular imports (used in the production of exports, for instance), the decision on what to do ought to be driven by the balance of evidence rather than a monastic belief in the virtues of free trade. Absent of this evidence free traders forget the true costs of ascendancy and superiority in markets. China subsidies Behind every cheap tradable good lies a raft of taxpayer and consumer-funded support. So too lies the debris of those firms that could not compete. China subsidises the fossil-fuelled electricity (40% of the input cost) used by polysilicon foundries, and Europe subsidises agricultural value chains and protects its markets through a raft of technical (and at times non-scientific) barriers. What then is meant by one commentator’s advice to the new trade minister to “always defer to free trade”, when this seems better placed in a dusty textbook than the cauldron of real economic competition? We are in the throes of a global subsidy race underwritten by both left- and right-wing governments the world over, and parts of the commentariat proffer advice akin to “just give up”? Over two decades, at least since the White Paper on renewable energy in 2003, the democratic government has sought to pursue not only changes in firm and household consumption of fossil-fuelled energy, but also to marry such shifts to the commercialisation of research into renewables and industrial activities in component assembly and manufacturing for wind, solar, hydro and biofuels. A tariff in such a policy context, informed by these considerations and the typical trade case (infancy, substantive price disadvantages and low-capacity utilisation) is appropriate. To what degree it may be effective is something else altogether. The acknowledgment by electricity & energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa that the scale of public demand for renewables is critical to unlock the industrial, technological and skill upgrading opportunities associated with the transition, reflects an understanding of how we can best navigate this transition in a way that recognises we are not inanimate hostages of history. There are a few likely or expected behavioural responses from key solar exporters arising from the Biden administration’s tariffs, Brussels’ subsidy probe and other measures in key markets that will make access to Chinese solar exports difficult. Experience shows us that in such a context, along with the declining domestic demand and property crisis in China, it is likely that rising inventories in these sectors and in upstream raw material inputs and precursors may find an outlet in open markets such as SA. For where else, absent relative tariff and other protection, would they send these goods, and at what price? To avoid protective measures in the devel

https://www.vryeweekblad.com/menings-en-debat/2024-07-12-suid-afrika-se-nuwe-kernkrag-renaissance/ Sommiges kan of wil nie onderskei tussen feite en propaganda nie.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/09/hurricane-beryl-ocean-temperatures Dis nie net die Kaapse kusgebied wat ongewone weer beleef nie. See especially the graphs of daily ocean temperatures from 1981 to 2024. For more than 12 months up to March 2024, every single day created a new record for that day of the year. While ocean temperatures around the world have been steadily marching upwards as the planet heats due the burning of fossil fuels, the past year has been “off the charts”, according to McNoldy. Last year was the ocean’s hottest on record, with marine heatwaves sweeping 90% of the globe’s oceans. This surge in heat has barely paused, with sea surface temperatures records tumbling every single day for 12 months in a row until March. A slice of the tropical Atlantic stretching from Central America to Africa called the main development region is the main spawning area for most hurricanes and this stretch has been “amazingly warm” in recent weeks, McNoldy said. In places across the northern Atlantic, temperatures have been as much as 5C (9F) above normal in the past month. While ocean temperatures around the world have been steadily marching upwards as the planet heats due the burning of fossil fuels, the past year has been “off the charts”, according to McNoldy. Last year was the ocean’s hottest on record, with marine heatwaves sweeping 90% of the globe’s oceans. This surge in heat has barely paused, with sea surface temperatures records tumbling every single day for 12 months in a row until March. A slice of the tropical Atlantic stretching from Central America to Africa called the main development region is the main spawning area for most hurricanes and this stretch has been “amazingly warm” in recent weeks, McNoldy said. In places across the northern Atlantic, temperatures have been as much as 5C (9F) above normal in the past month. Ocean temperatures in the region typically peak in September or October but the extra heat has delivered such conditions unusually early this year. “In the Caribbean Sea it has actually been warmer than its usual peak since mid-May, which is absolutely crazy,” said McNoldy. “If the ocean already looks like it’s the peak of hurricane season, we are going to get peak hurricanes.” Temperatures across much of the Gulf of Mexico, meanwhile, are “essentially as warm as bathtub water”, said Alex DaSilva, lead hurricane expert at AccuWeather. “Those warm waters are at the surface, and they extend hundreds of feet down. Warm waters act like jet fuel for hurricanes, and it won’t take long for temperatures to rebound in the wake of Beryl.” While ocean temperatures around the world have been steadily marching upwards as the planet heats due the burning of fossil fuels, the past year has been “off the charts”, according to McNoldy. Last year was the ocean’s hottest on record, with marine heatwaves sweeping 90% of the globe’s oceans. This surge in heat has barely paused, with sea surface temperatures records tumbling every single day for 12 months in a row until March. A slice of the tropical Atlantic stretching from Central America to Africa called the main development region is the main spawning area for most hurricanes and this stretch has been “amazingly warm” in recent weeks, McNoldy said. In places across the northern Atlantic, temperatures have been as much as 5C (9F) above normal in the past month. Ocean temperatures in the region typically peak in September or October but the extra heat has delivered such conditions unusually early this year. “In the Caribbean Sea it has actually been warmer than its usual peak since mid-May, which is absolutely crazy,” said McNoldy. “If the ocean already looks like it’s the peak of hurricane season, we are going to get peak hurricanes.” Temperatures across much of the Gulf of Mexico, meanwhile, are “essentially as warm as bathtub water”, said Alex DaSilva, lead hurricane expert at AccuWeather. “Those warm waters are at the surface, and they extend hundreds of feet down. Warm waters act like jet fuel for hurricanes, and it won’t take long f

Daar is die afgelope tyd 'n baie dik laag reënbelaaide wolke oor die Wes-Kaap. Ek het gister die minste krag per dag opgewek sedert ek my stelsel geïnstalleer het, naamlik 0.5 kWh. Met baie swaar reën Oos van ons waardeur die DSTV sein moet beur, het ons 'n paar keer sinkronisasie verloor. Ek lees ook dat die Eersterivier weer sy walle oorstroom het. Hulle is nog besig om vorige stormskade aan die rivierwalle te herstel. PW

https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2024-07-07-south-africas-nuke-power-plan-hots-up/ If I remember correctly, more than half of Koeberg's key personnel (including the top 2 posts) have recently left, or are in process of leaving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJAikajZ3gU Installing a nuclear power reactor is a long term matter. Russia's aim with clients of its nuclear reactors is to make them dependent on its goodwill. This was demonstrated by Hungary, and parallels its strategy with other energy sources like fossil gas. Irina Filatova is or was a Professor at the State University of Moscow Higher School of Economics

Synthetic aviation & other fuels from heliostats & tower producing solar heat at ~1 500 C, which is converted thermochemically with CO2 and steam to synthesis gas (CO + H2) and from there to synfuels. Much as at Sasol, except that existing CO2 + solar heat instead of coal are the inputs. https://www.solarpaces.org/worlds-first-solar-jet-fuel-plant-dawn-inaugurated-by-synhelion/

https://newatlas.com/technology/wartsila-hydrogen-generator/

https://www.energyvault.com/products/evx dieterholm@... Tel 012 371 3389 Sel 083 287 3220 Posbus 58 Hartbeespoort 0216 Suid-Afrika

Uiteindelik! Nog 'n bietjie realisme. Sien artikel oor die oes van energie in die ruimte Interessante sin: PV kragopwekking in die ruimte en straling na aarde met mikrogolwe, is baie soos kernfusie - net nog 25 jaar verder agter. PW ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: IEEE Spectrum <ieee-spectrum@...> Date: Mon, Jun 17, 2024 at 6:04 PM Subject: Reminder: IEEE Spectrum June Issue Now Available To: <pwvanderwalt@...> JUNE 2024 I DOWNLOAD PDF I READ ONLINE Your June 2024 issue is here! Enjoy your exclusive PDF download, and access the magazine online to start conversations with fellow readers and IEEE Spectrum editors. Castles in the Sky A skeptic rebuffs beamed power from space The Forgotten History of Chinese Keyboards A Data Center in a Shoebox Can Generative AI Boost Well-being? And more! Download IEEE Spectrum Read IEEE Spectrum online The Story Behind Pixar’s RenderMan CGI Software Used to create Toy Story, the tools revolutionized animation Customize Your Clothes With an AR Tool Sharpen Your Knowledge of Six Emerging Technologies And more! Download The Institute Read The Institute online Magazine Archive Explore our Magazine Archive to read thousands of features, columns, and news articles from IEEE Spectrum and The Institute, exclusively for IEEE Members CONTACT & SUPPORT | Privacy | Unsubscribe

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: IEEE Spectrum <ieee-spectrum@...> Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2024, 10:00 Subject: Tech Alert: Could Advanced Nuclear Reactors Fuel Terrorism? To: <pwvanderwalt@...> Plus how Vannevar Bush engineered the 20th century ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ‍͏ ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ To view this email as a webpage, click here. [ Image ] [[https://discover.online.purdue.edu/programs/electrical-computer-engineering.php?utm_source=ieee&utm_medium=techalert_banner&utm_campaign=ECE-MSECE-OL]] [ Image ] JOIN IEEE [ Image ] 20 JUNE 2024 [ Image ] [[https://spectrum.ieee.org/high-assay-low-enriched-uranium?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=techalert-06-20-24&utm_content=httpsspectrumieeeorghighassaylowenricheduranium]] Could Advanced Nuclear Reactors Fuel Terrorist Bombs? > Five influential engineers warn of the proliferation risks of low-enriched uranium. [ Image ] [[https://spectrum.ieee.org/vannevar-bush?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=techalert-06-20-24&utm_content=httpsspectrumieeeorgvannevarbush]] How Vannevar Bush Engineered the 20th Century > His fingerprints were on the Manhattan Project, the World Wide Web, and more. [ Image ] [[https://spectrum.ieee.org/flying-robot-bug?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=techalert-06-20-24&utm_content=httpsspectrumieeeorgflyingrobotbug]] Here's the Most Bug-Like Robot Bug Yet > It can take off, hover, land, crawl, and even flip itself over. [ Image ] [[https://spectrum.ieee.org/autonomous-vehicles-great-at-straights?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=techalert-06-20-24&utm_content=httpsspectrumieeeorgautonomousvehiclesgreatatstraights]] Autonomous Vehicles Are Great at Driving Straight > But humans still do better at turns and in the twilight. [ Image ] [[https://spectrum.ieee.org/turn-off-ai-overview-google?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=techalert-06-20-24&utm_content=httpsspectrumieeeorgturnoffaioverviewgoogle]] I Fixed Google Search With This One Weird Trick > The search added AI overviews on top of older extras, but you can get rid of all that. [ Image ] [[https://engage.ieee.org/Climate-Tech-Alert-Sign-Up.html]] SPONSORED WHITEPAPERS Report: US on the Verge of a Clean Hydrogen Boom > Uncover how policy and funding are catalyzing the hydrogen industry's growth, and what this means for the future of energy in our latest whitepaper. [ Image ] [[https://1.reutersevents.com/LP=37089?extsource=6328_mediapartner_ieee_eshot_wp1]] NPE Global Patent Litigation - 2024 Report > This new report seeks to provide an update on the current state of global litigation involving NPEs. [ Image ] [[https://clarivate.com/lp/2024-non-practicing-entity-global-litigation-report/?]] Transform Supply Chains with AI Insights > Empower Your Supply Chain: Learn How AI Can Drive Efficiency & Innovation Across Industries with Xometry's Guide. Dive In Now! [ Image ] [[https://xometry.pro/en-uk/guides/ai-supply-chain-organisation/?utm_source=IEE&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=en-uk-ai-supply-chain-optimisation-whitepaper-apr-2024]] Forwarded from a friend? Click here to subscribe to IEEE Spectrum Newsletters. [ Image ] [[https://www.ieee.org]] This email was sent by IEEE Spectrum 3 Park Avenue New York, NY 10016 USA If you would like to manage your current Spectrum Newsletter preferences or sign up for other Spectrum Newsletter communications, pleas

https://www.news24.com/fin24/opinion/carol-paton-mantashe-the-most-expensive-cabinet-minister-ever-who-laid-waste-to-the-economy-20240620 Carol Paton | Mantashe, the most expensive Cabinet minister ever, who laid waste to the economy Carol Paton CommentsGift article Bookmark 16:34 Gwede Mantashe. (Xabiso Mkhabela/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Gwede Mantashe has done more damage to the economy than any single individual in our short democratic history. His failure to procure new energy and lighten regulation cost the economy 1.5 percentage points in 2023. SA's level of investment in mining exploration has never been this low in 60 years. Next week, he hopes to be reappointed to the Cabinet, writes Carol Paton. For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page. Few, in our short democratic history, have cost the economy as much as Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe. In his five-year reign over energy, the economy's lifeblood, Mantashe has brought a paltry 150MW of new power generation onto the grid. This failure has cost the economy massively. In 2022, load shedding cut 0.7 percentage points off GDP growth, according to the Reserve Bank. In 2023, the growth impact was 1.5 percentage points. As we will show, it is a failure that could have been mitigated or even averted. In mining, Mantashe took five years to achieve his most significant outcome: In January, he signed a contract with a consortium to establish SA's first digitised cadastral system. It will be several years before it is up and running. Under his watch, investment in mining has plummeted to levels last seen in 1960. SA's ranking in the Fraser Institute annual survey stood at 56 out of 86 countries as an attractive investment destination. By 2023, it had dropped to 62 and was rated among the 10 worst mining investment destinations. The Minerals Council estimates that if the backlog of mining and exploration licence applications could be cleared, tens of billions of investment would be released. When Mantashe was appointed in May 2019, both mining and the energy sector were in trouble. But his actions and inaction caused billions of rands of further damage. Here is the evidence. Energy As the Minister of Energy, Mantashe has the exclusive power to commission new energy for the grid. At the time he was appointed, SA was gripped by an energy shortfall that was constraining economic growth. When the government energy plan - the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 - was published in October of that year, officials in his department stated that the country would face an energy gap in the immediate term. This was quantified by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation speech a few months later to be 6 000MW. Alarmed and increasingly stressed by the impact of load shedding, the business community urged Mantashe to procure additional capacity immediately. The quickest route to do so would be a new round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP). The time between procurement through the REIPPP and energy coming online has been between two-and-a-half years and just over three years, from the time the request for bids is advertised through all the various stages, from preferred bidder to financial close to construction. But Mantashe, who made no secret of his dislike of renewable energy, refused to procure. "I will not treat renewable energy as an emergency," he told journalists. The emergency procurement In July 2020, as load shedding continued, Mantashe finally announced an "emergency" procurement round. But, rather than opt for the quickest solution and build more wind and solar, his department designed a complex tender that required that the new projects would have to provide dispatchable energy between 05:30 and 21:00. This was called the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Programme (RMIPPP) or the emergency procurement. Preferred bidders were named in March 2021. As renewable energy is variable, the tender design meant that standalone solar and wind projects would need to be backed up either

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: The Spark from MIT Technology Review <newsletters@...> Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2024, 18:03 Subject: 🔒 Carbon lockdown To: <pwvanderwalt@...> Where we can store carbon dioxide, and why it matters Subscribe & save 25% The Spark By Casey Crownhart • 6.12.24 Hello hello, welcome back to The Spark! There’s often one overlooked member in a duo. Peanut butter outshines jelly in a PB&J every time (at least in my eyes). For carbon capture and storage technology, the storage part tends to be the underappreciated portion. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) tech has two main steps (as you might guess from the name). First, carbon dioxide is filtered out of emissions at facilities like fossil-fuel power plants. Then it gets locked away, or stored. Wrangling pollution might seem like the important bit, and there’s often a lot of focus on what fraction of emissions a CCS system can filter out. But without storage, the whole project would be pretty useless. It’s really the combination of capture and long-term storage that helps to reduce climate impact. Storage is getting more attention lately, though, and there’s something of a carbon storage boom coming, as my colleague James Temple covered in his latest story. He wrote about what a rush of federal subsidies will mean for the CCS business in the US, and how supporting new projects could help us hit climate goals or push them further out of reach, depending on how we do it. The story got me thinking about the oft-forgotten second bit of CCS. Here’s where we might store captured carbon pollution, and why it matters. When it comes to storage, the main requirement is making sure the carbon dioxide can’t accidentally leak out and start warming up the atmosphere. One surprising place that might fit the bill is oil fields. Instead of building wells to extract fossil fuels, companies are looking to build a new type of well where carbon dioxide that’s been pressurized until it reaches a supercritical state—in which liquid and gas phases don’t really exist—is pumped deep underground. With the right conditions (including porous rock deep down and a leak-preventing solid rock layer on top), the carbon dioxide will mostly stay put. Shooting carbon dioxide into the earth isn’t actually a new idea, though in the past it’s largely been used by the oil and gas industry for a very different purpose: pulling more oil out of the ground. In a process called enhanced oil recovery, carbon dioxide is injected into wells, where it frees up oil that’s otherwise tricky to extract. In the process, most of the injected carbon dioxide stays underground. But there’s a growing interest in sending the gas down there as an end in itself, sparked in part in the US by new tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. Companies can rake in $85 per ton of carbon dioxide that’s captured and permanently stored in geological formations, depending on the source of the gas and how it’s locked away. In his story, James took a look at one proposed project in California, where one of the state’s largest oil and gas producers has secured draft permits from federal regulators. The project would inject carbon dioxide about 6,000 feet below the surface of the earth, and the company’s filings say the project could store tens of millions of tons of carbon dioxide over the next couple of decades. It’s not just land-based projects that are sparking interest, though. State officials in Texas recently awarded a handful of leases for companies to potentially store carbon dioxide deep underwater in the Gulf of Mexico. And some companies want to store carbon dioxide in products and materials that we use, like concrete. Concrete is made by mixing reactive cement with water and material like sand; if carbon dioxide is injected into a fresh concrete mix, some of it will get involved in the reactions, trapping it in place. I covered how two companies tested out this idea in a newsletter last year. Products we use every day, from diamonds to sunglasses, can be made with captured carbon dioxide. If we assume that

New PV capacity commissioned in one year (2023) was over 345.5 GW. Almost as much as the cumulative nuclear generating capacity from over half a century, which was around 390 GW in 2022 https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/plans-for-new-reactors-worldwide . Taking this and the 2545 TWh of nuclear power generated in 2022 https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/plans-for-new-reactors-worldwide into account, the mean capacity factor of the world's nuclear reactors in 2022 was 2545000/390x24x365 = 0.745 = 74.5%. Rather less than the 90-95% so often claimed as typical for nuclear reactors. Press Release: Photovoltaic Barometer 2024 Solar photovoltaic had an outstanding year in 2023. IRENA reported that over 345.5 GW of capacity was installed globally compared to 199.1 GW in 2022 and 145.1 GW in 2021 (net maximum capacity installed and connected at the end of the calendar year). View this email in your browser Solar photovoltaic had an outstanding year in 2023. IRENA reported that over 345.5 GW of capacity was installed globally compared to 199.1 GW in 2022 and 145.1 GW in 2021 (net maximum capacity installed and connected at the end of the calendar year). Thus, installed global capacity to date rose to 1 412.1 GW. The European Union and United States enjoyed unheard of increases in their solar photovoltaic capacities. Yet, they pale by comparison with the unbridled rise of photovoltaic in China, which installed 216.9 GW in 2023, more than the previous year’s total global market. With net maximum capacity standing at 53.1 GW in 2023 as quantified by EurObserv’ER, the European Union is the world’s No. 2 market, ahead of the United States, which added 27.1 GW. Installed and cumulated solar photovoltaic capacity* in the European Union at the end of 2023** (MWac) * Net maximum electrical capacity, off-grid included. ** Estimation. Source: EurObserv’ER 2024. Note: 22 MW decommissioned in Germany, 2 MW in Portugal, 0.5 MW in Malta, 0.1 MW in Sweden. The data concerning the decommissioned capacity is not always available. Evolution of photovoltaic capacity installed* (in GW) and gross photovoltaic electricity production (in TWh) from 2010 to 2023** in the EU 27 Net maximum electrical capacity. ** Estimation. Sources : Years 2010-2021 (Eurostat), Year 2022 and 2023 (EurObserv’ER). Eurostat is currently developing two monitoring indicators for photovoltaic capacity: maximum net DC capacity and maximum net AC capacity. However, most European Member States have only provided the AC capacity and if only one indicator is available for one country, that figure is used. EurObserv’ER follows this rule. FURTHER INFORMATION ANNUAL REPORT: “The State of renewable energies in Europe”, 22nd edition, www.eurobserv-er.org/22nd-annual-overview-barometer DATABASE: www.eurobserv-er.org/online-database GRAPHS: www.eurobserv-er.org/press-corner-graphs-and-tables TWITTER: twitter.com/EurObserv_ER PRESS RELEASES: www.eurobserv-er.org/download-press-releases The next barometer will cover solar thermal and CSP. DISCLAIMER This barometer was prepared by Observ‘ER in the scope of the EurObserv‘ER project, which groups together Observ’ER (FR), TNO (NL), Renewables Academy (DE), Fraunhofer-ISI (DE), VITO (BE) and CBS Statistics Netherlands (NL). The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. This E-Mail was sent to bernhard@..., click here to unsubscribe

Long range EVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 6 (range ~361 miles, i e ~578 km) now cost less than an average new car in US. But still more than most in SA can afford. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-07/long-range-evs-now-cost-less-than-the-average-us-new-car