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Hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling (collectively known as “fracking”) are the recently combined technologies used in the extraction of oil and natural gas from shale bedrock. With the frequency and intensity of fracking on the increase, a significant amount of evidence has surfaced to demonstrate the danger of fracking to people, communities and the environment.
PetroSA are planning to use fracking in one of its natural gas fields about 110 kilometres offshore from Mossel Bay and to dispose of the returned fracking and flowback directly into the open ocean, without SA regulation or supervision.
Fractual – an organisation dedicated to informing South Africa about fracking, climate change and renewable energy has prepared a report to oppose PetroSA’s plans to frack. The report highlights a number of concerns that are organised into various themes, but what is apparent is the great need for further study and greater transparency about the impacts of fracking.
On the 1 November 2014, all seemed well at the Majuba Power Station with all units running at normal capacity. At approximately 12:30 the operating staff reported a visible crack on silo 20. All personnel were thereafter immediately evacuated. At 13:20 silo 20 collapsed. As a result of early evacuation no injuries have been reported and the area has been secured and protected. The output of the station was immediately reduced from 3 600 MW to 1 800 MW and is currently running at 600 MW.
Mr Chris Yelland the MD of EE Publishers has said that the silo was last inspected in September 2013, and should not have collapsed. he also said that a three-month long investigation into the collapse would probably take place to explain how it collapsed. The causes could include weakness in the concrete, corrosion in the steal, vibration-related issues, or stress caused by the conveyors.
What are the effects on the country?
Yelland has said the following: “Hopefully, in the interim, they can limp on at least at half capacity and, by using energy sparingly, the country could get by,” he said. “I have little doubt that in coming months we are likely to see more rotational load shedding.”
According to the mineral resources department, the search of shale gas in the Karoo could begin as soon as mid-2016. The deputy director general for mineral and policy Mosa Mabuza has said that hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, could start 12 to 18 months after licences are issued. It is being said that licences could be issued by July / August 2015.
There has been considerable opposition to plans to explore for what are believed to be considerable deposits of shale gas in the Karoo, including concerns about contamination of the region’s scarce water resources.
The exploration includes hydraulic fracturing, the same process used to extract the gas.
Ramontja said that after consultations with communities, the department would focus – over the period February to June next year – on re-processing applications to explore for shale gas.
“Our intention is that by July-August next year, we will be issuing exploration licences, beyond which the shale gas exploration shall duly commence.”
The greater Bloemfontein and Kimberly areas is being engulfed in a dust storm. Warnings of very strong winds have been issued. Although no major incidents have been reported, the University of the Free State have urged the community to stay in doors.
Pictures and stories have been flooding social media, the dust storm being described as resembling scenes from Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
Who will solve South Africa’s energy supply needs, and what form of energy are we expected to pursue?
The Department of Energy had first announced that it would be concluding a deal with Russian nuclear vendor Rosatom to build nuclear power stations in South Africa. This announcement was then followed by denials from the Energy Department claiming that wording in the statements issued both by the Energy Department and Rosatom to be incorrect, and the deal was “lost in translation”.
Since then the Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said on the 10 October 2014, that Zuma had granted Energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson authority under section 231 of the Constitution, to sign a nuclear energy co-operation with the French. Details between South Africa and the French would be discussed.
Although it has been recommended in the Integrated Resource Plan to investigate possible cheaper alternatives in energy supply the Energy Department deputy director-general for nuclear, Zizamele Mbambo, said last week that procurement of 9.6GW of nuclear energy would definitely go ahead.
A man was critically injured on Thursday, 09 October 2014, when a wall collapsed on him at a residence in Laurier Drive, Claremont, Cape Town. Spokesperson for ER24 Russel Meiring has said that there is no known cause for the incident as yet.
There are a number of questions that should be asked when an incident such as this occurs. Number one on that list is whether the wall has been built according to building requirements as stated in the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act.
It has been reported that more than 20 people have been injured when a fire broke out at Sasol’s synthol plant in Secunda, Mpumalanga.
Sasol spokesperson Elton Fortuin said “Around 23 employees were treated at the local medical station, mostly for smoke inhalation. No employees were hospitalised”.
In this instance emergency protocols were adhered to following the evacuation of employees, subsequently leading to no loss of lives.
Nobody expects an emergency or disaster – especially one that affects them, their employees, and their business personally. Yet the simple truth is that emergencies and disasters can strike anyone, anytime, and anywhere. You and your employees could be forced to evacuate your place of work when you least expect it. Know your duties as an employer and employee to ensure, that if an incident is to occur, you will react accordingly thus reducing potential damage to persons and property.
The latest edition of the Living Planet Report has been described as a report “not for the faint-hearted”. The report paints a grim picture for the future of our planet, with man-kind increasing its demands for the planets resources. Marco Lambertini (Director general – WWF) has said the following – “Put another way, in less than two human generations, population sizes of vertebrate species have dropped by half. These are the living forms that constitute the fabric of the ecosystems which sustain life on Earth – and the barometer of what we are doing to our own planet, our only home. We ignore their decline at our peril.”
Knowing we have only ONE planet, humanity has to make better choices that translate to clear benefits for ecology, society and the economy.
The true question then should remain – Is global sustainability an achievable goal?
Cape Town: A new nature reserve – the first in 20 years in the Western Cape – has been declared across 85 000ha of the Succulent Karoo region.
“We are celebrating an extremely vital moment in our country’s conservation history by protecting this seemingly desolate, largely under-appreciated area,” CEO of World Wide Fund for Nature SA, Dr Morné du Plessis, said in a media release.
