In his State of the Nation address of 26 June 2014, President Zuma called for "a radical transformation of the energy sector, to develop a sustainable energy mix that comprises coal, solar, wind, hydro, gas and nuclear energy ". Not content with building Medupi and...
shale
What the frack: will shale gas develop or retard the Karoo? | by David Fig
The South African government lifted the moratorium on fracking on 7 September, opening the way for exploration of what's been sold as a massive shale gas resource beneath the beautiful, sparsely populated Great Karoo. Fracking (short for hydraulic fracturing) is a...
What the Fuck?
It is not usual to use an expletive in a publication like this, especially one as outrageous as the f word ... but WTF is going on with the post-apartheid state? First 34 mineworkers are killed, many, it would seem from new investigations, murdered in cold blood. And...
Rio+20: Sabotaging Sustainable Development | by Fazila Farouk
The messages of gloom and doom have been out there for some time now. Just about every other commentator is pronouncing on an impending failure of outcome for the Rio+20 Summit on sustainable development being hosted in Brazil this week. We are being told to temper...
Can capitalism survive the end of growth? | by Cy Gonick
Richard Heinberg. The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality New Society Publishers, 2011 Publisher & Coordinating Editor of Canadian Dimension Industrialized economies have grown most years since the mid-19th century. Globally, economic output per...
‘Golden Age of Gas’ threatens renewable energy, IEA warns | by Fiona Harvey
Agency says tripling output by 2035 from unconventional gas sources such as shale gas could end support for renewables A "golden age of gas" spurred by a tripling of shale gas from fracking and other sources of unconventional gas by 2035 will stop renewable energy in...
Who’s profiting from the water crisis? | by Joyce Nelson
Big business sees water scarcity as a money making opportunity. Joyce Nelson uncovers the dodgy dealings of the Aqueduct Alliance. In January 2010, investment banker Goldman Sachs, along with General Electric and a high-powered Washington thinktank called the World...
Against Shell’s fracking arguments | by Jonathan Deal
Three oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell, Falcon Oil & Gas, and Bundu Oil & Gas, see massive opportunities in the exploration of natural gas trapped in the underground shale formations in the Karoo, a semi-desert area in South Africa. The Karoo is a sparsely...
Another shale gas scandal – Fracking in the Quebec | by Kim Cornelissen
Virtually unknown only a couple of years ago, shale gas has become a very controversial issue. Considered the new oil, thousands of wells have to be drilled and fracked, contaminating millions of litres of water, to extract what is called ‘unconventional gas’. This...




