With future loadshedding being an almost certain possibility in South Africa, it is essential that we all adopt energy efficient behaviour. A great deal of energy is wasted in South Africa. From industries to households, we use more energy than is necessary to fulfil our needs - either because of old and inefficient equipment, or because of bad habits.
Small changes make a BIG difference!
Small saving measures count. If every one of us with access to electricity managed to save 1 kWh per month, this would add up to 348 million kWh. This is enough electricity to supply 580 000 people with 50 kWh a month for one year! The City of Cape Town currently supplies 50 kWh / 50 units a month of free basic electricity to low-income households and consumers on the Domestic 2 (low consumption) tariff. This applies to households that use no more than 400 kWh a month on average (over a 12-month period).
Loadshedding – what is it?
When there is insufficient power station capacity to supply the demand (load) from all customers, the electricity system can become unstable, possibly resulting in a national black-out. To avoid this, Eskom either increases supply or reduces demand. To increase supply, Eskom runs its power stations at maximum available capacity. To reduce demand, Eskom first calls on customer contracts that allow for supply to be reduced or interrupted for specific periods and durations. If this is not enough, Eskom is forced to cut supply to all other customers. This can be done through either ‘scheduled’ or ‘emergency’ loadshedding.
During scheduled loadshedding, parts of the network are switched off according to a predetermined schedule, so that the impact is spread equitably over the customer base. Shedding is predictable and allows for customers to plan accordingly. (Source: Eskom)
What is energy?
Energy is the potential to do work of some kind - to move something (a car or human), change something (from hot to cold), to activate something (lights or sound), or to stop something happening (brake).
Energy cannot be seen and has no physical substance. We only know it is there because we can see its effects – heat, light, power – and we only value it for what it can do for us. Sunshine provides the energy for all the processes that sustain life – charging our weather systems, generating heat and plant matter.
What is energy efficiency?
Energy efficiency is using electricity more efficiently or in reduced amounts – in other words, doing the same with less. Technically speaking, energy efficiency is an improvement in practices and products that reduces the amount of energy necessary to provide energy services such as lighting, cooling, heating, manufacturing, cooking and transport.
A simple way of improving energy efficiency is to change behaviour. This can be simple acts such as turning off the lights or equipment when they are not in use, or reducing the temperature setting when you use the washing machine (reducing the temperature in the washing machine from 60oC to 30oC will reduce the energy consumption by almost 50%). See practical steps to being energy efficient at home.
The efficiency of an appliance or technology is determined by the amount of energy needed to provide the energy service. For instance, to light a room with an incandescent (traditional) light bulb of 60 W for one hour requires 60 Wh. A compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) would provide the same light at 11 W and only use 11 Wh. This means that you save 49 Wh for each hour your light is turned on. A compact fluorescent light bulb is therefore over five times more efficient than an old-fashioned incandescent light bulb. The efficiency of appliances improves as new models are developed by the manufacturers. For instance an old refrigerator would use around 250-300 kWh per year, whereas the newest model would use around 100 kWh per year. Just by substituting current equipment and appliances with the best available technologies on the market, the overall energy consumption in South Africa would probably be more than halved.
Benefits of using energy more efficiently:
- It reduces your electricity bill
- It makes more available energy to provide supply to the remaining population
- It limits and reduces the environmental impacts and hazards to human health of current energy use
- It increases the resilience and efficiency of our economy
- It postpones the building of new power plants, and frees up capital for other investments
Enlighten yourself about energy efficiency by exploring the rest of our web pages:
Click here to download the 'ENERGY' section, or full version, of the Smart Living Handbook - a practical sustainability guide for people and households in Cape Town to make their homes safer and to save money and the environment.
Useful energy efficiency web resources:
Eskom - Demand Side Management
http://www.eskomdsm.co.za
National Department of Minerals & Energy: Energy Efficiency
http://www.dme.gov.za/energy/efficiency.stm
National Energy Efficiency Agency (Department of Minerals and Energy)
http://www.savingenergy.co.za
Power Alert
http://www.poweralert.co.za
Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA)
http://www.sustainable.org.za
Urban Sprout
http://www.urbansprout.co.za
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
http://www.aceee.org/consumerguide/index.htm
US Department of Energy: A Consumer’s Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at Home
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home
Acknowledgment: These “Energy Efficiency at Home” web pages are made possible by funding from the Danida Urban Environmental Management Programme (UEMP).
NOTE: Information on this page was acquired from a variety of sources (print and Internet) and the City of Cape Town cannot be held liable for any errors or misinterpretations whatsoever. The City of Cape Town is also not responsible for the content of external websites, nor does it constitute an endorsement of these websites. They are solely intended to provide additional information sources that may be helpful.