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We are facing a major crisis in South Africa where we used to have more than enough power, 30 years ago, but the government neglected the maintenance of the net
by Synaesthesia 4y ago
We are facing a major crisis in South Africa where we used to have more than enough power, 30 years ago, but the government neglected the maintenance of the network, and now we cannot make enough electricity, nor even maintain the existing levels!
- Cthulhu_ 4y agoIt's happening elsewhere too; in NL, there's plenty of incentives to go green - cheap, subsidized solar, hard push from the EU to transition to electric vehicles in less than a decade , etc - but the grid capacity just isn't able to keep up, even with multi-billion investments, which results in some businesses not getting a connection to the grid or new green energy projects being delayed. Which is more an inconvenience than a problem for the general population, but still. The other thing that's happening is that while the energy companies, with help / subsidies from the local and EU government, build large offshore wind parks and the like, at the same time the capacity is bought up by large new datacenters from the likes of Microsoft and Google, meaning that they don't actually replace grey energy sources. Said datacenters also use up drinking water for cooling, for some reason.
- mistrial9 4y agosuper-wealthy polluters claiming that it is "too hard" to go green ?
- marricks 4y ago> capacity is bought up by large new datacenters from the likes of Microsoft and Google That is surprising but also makes a lot of sense. Companies go for the already built cheaper option to maintain that they’re going green while taking it from others! That’s actually kind of harmful and they should have to pay for building energy if they want the moral credit for it.
- marsven_422 4y ago[dead]
- inglor_cz 4y agoDidn't someone actually attempt to poison the manager that was asked to fix the problem?
- ycombinete 4y agoYes that was the last CEO Andre de Ruyter. That’s just the tip of the iceberg though.
- inglor_cz 4y agoThe level of dysfunction where an electricity guy needs tight personal security because he wants the power stations to actually run is just breathlessly crazy.
- boeingUH60 4y agoWhy would someone even poison him for that…They don’t like stable electricity or what?
- ycombinete 4y agoHe identified and thwarted a lot of corruption [0]. So it’s more that people don’t like their little cabals and mafias being disturbed in the process of creating stable electricity. [0] https://youtu.be/6gF2dYQ-NdM https://youtu.be/6gF2dYQ-NdM
- koheripbal 4y agoSouth Africa is the slow boiling frog.
- ParksNet 4y agoFunctioning electricity network + DEI = South Africa.
- boeingUH60 4y agoEvery black-majority country is like this…incompetence and corruption takes over. I always wonder what’s wrong with my race.
- stametseater 4y ago> Every black-majority country is like this…incompetence and corruption takes over. I don't think that's true. For instance, São Tomé and Príncipe is well run by all accounts I've read. I'm sure there are others, that's just one that comes to mind right now.
- boeingUH60 4y agoPopulation below poverty line - 66.7%; Unemployment - 15.9%, according to the World FactBook. Does not strike me as a well run country despite their little population. 1- https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/sao-tome-and-principe/ https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/sao-tome-an...
- stametseater 4y agoIt's a small archipelago nation with a tiny workforce and few natural resources, so they're more or less destined to be poor. I don't think that reflects poorly on the quality of their governance though. They've had a functional multi-party democracy for decades (a few small failed coups, but with numerous peaceful transitions of power between parties and no civil wars.) Their primary education system is pretty good and literacy rates are high. Perception of corruption is average and trending down. They rate well for free speech, political and economic freedom.