download a PDF of the full September 2010 issue - Watt Now ...

WWatt EnergyEnergy efficiency must be controlledSteadily increasing energy consumption and the environmentalimpact from rising carbon emissions demand thatdevelopers take seriously the importance of designing andbuilding energy efficient offices, commercial buildings andhomes.“It is not just enough to make use of equipment that savesenergy or to implement low-energy lighting,” says Nico vander Merwe, product manager building systems at SchneiderElectric South Africa.He says proper controls need to be in place to ensure thatthese measures make a real reduction in energy consumed. Ifsustainable gains are to be made, every device or feature thatconsumes energy must become part of the solution.Van der Merwe adds that an important element of energyefficient homes, offices and commercial buildings is changingthe attitudes of individuals so that their behaviour is alignedto energy saving.“We have technology to control energy use in buildings andthe lighting systems used can account for 30 percent of theelectricity consumption at a typical commercial enterprise.This is compounded by huge data-centres that have increasedelectricity consumption and so forth,” he says.A Schneider Electric international white paper reveals thatin most countries, each domestic dwelling, whether a standalonehome or an apartment, will generate more than six tonsof carbon dioxide a year, which is enough gas to fill six hot-airballoons.He says energy efficient products can save between 10 and40 percent of the electricity consumed in residential andsmall commercial buildings. These products include dimmers,time-switches, movement/presence detectors and light-sensitiveswitches all controlled by management systems.Angola, Tanzania investin water powerAngola is planning to invest billions of dollars in rebuilding itsdam infrastructure so that it can generate sufficient electricityfor the local population and to export electricity to neighbouringstates, claims Joao Borges, Secretary of State of Energy.He says that Angola’s rivers have the potential to generate about18 GW of energy but the country is only able to produce aboutfive percent of that figure because the dams and infrastructure weredamaged during the civil war that lasted for more than 25 years.Angola is one of Africa’s largest oil producers and has the necessaryfunds to invest in rebuilding the dams and improving the electricitygrid.Most of the water that flows through Angola’s rivers flows directlyinto the sea, providing little additional benefit to the local population,says Borges. Meanwhile Tanzanian authorities have announcedthat they have signed a $700-million contract with Borodino Groupto builda 222-MWhydroelec tricpower plant by 2018.The new project willmeet about 25 percent of thecountry’s energy needs where only14 percent of the 40-million people inTanzania are connected to the electricitygrid. Most of Tanzania’s electricity comes fromhydroelectric power plants although it does have a300-MW generation plant based on natural gas. The governmentsays it needs to spend about $1,5-billion to improvepower production in the country.September 2010 45