Eskom shelves Koeberg II nuclear power station
Posted on December 5th, 2008 by Richard Catto 2,333 views
Eskom announced today that the bid to build a second nuclear power station on the site of the existing Koeberg nuclear power station has been ended and that they are not going forward with the project at this time. The reason given by Eskom is that the project is too costly for them.
It has been estimated that the project was going to cost Eskom in the region of (US$10-12 billion) R100-120 billion. However this is not news to Eskom. In September 2007, an article in Engineering news makes it clear that Eskom was aware that it would definitely cost more than the R80 billion they were spending on developing another coal fired plant at Lephalale.
Yesterday, the World Bank approved in principle a loan of US$5 billion to Eskom over the next 5 years.
So if Eskom knew the project was going to cost about R100 billion over a year ago, and they expressed total confidence then that this new reactor was going to be built as soon as possible, and they have been approved a massive loan for the amount they asked, why this ridiculous decision then to abandon the project?
I can only speculate that the real reason is that South Africa plans to renege on Kyoto 2012, when carbon taxes come into effect that would make coal fired power stations more expensive than nuclear power stations. If South Africa reneges and refuses to pay the carbon tax, then coal fired stations are a much cheaper option and Eskom will probably divert most of its budget into building as many coal fired power stations as it can.
Tags: Eskom
Filed under Eskom | 1 Comment »
“Pick up your guns and shoot!”
Posted on December 5th, 2008 by Richard Catto 1,528 views
I read with some sense of irony how Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, has called for the removal by force of Robert Mugabe.
Perhaps the Nobel Foundation will have to create a new category, the Nobel War Prize?
But seriously now, Robert Mugabe has got to go.
Tags: mugabe, Nobel Peace Prize, Tutu
Filed under Zimbabwe | 2 Comments »
Google FriendConnect
Posted on December 4th, 2008 by Richard Catto 1,246 views
Back in May 2008, ChrisM blogged on iMod about Google FriendConnect and there was a bit of a discussion there about whether or not the service will be useful or not.
I signed up for it back then and it has taken Google until last night to finally let me know that, “yeah, okay, you can join our FriendConnect program”. So I’ve added it to the footer of this blog, because that’s the only blog real estate I am prepared to throw at it right now.
I don’t know if it’s going to be a hit or not. I’ve previously had mybloglog and blogcatalog widgets on this blog which to me seem to be pretty much the same thing. Who knows, maybe people will dig Google’s FriendConnect widgets more and this will be the next big social network thing?
I’ve added it to let my readers decide whether or not they find it a useful tool. If it gets used a lot, it’ll stay, otherwise it will probably be removed, like so many other blog things which come and go like tumbleweed.
You can sign into the FriendConnect social network at the bottom of this page using a google, yahoo, aim or openid account.
Tags: FriendConnect, Social networking
Filed under Social networking | 1 Comment »
Christmas gifts from Faithful to Nature
Posted on December 3rd, 2008 by Richard Catto 1,397 views
Cape Town news has negotiated a free Christmas gift for all my readers who purchase from Faithful to Nature.
With every order placed, you will receive a free “butter bath kiss”. Orders above R350 can also choose between three different varieties of a “spa bar” to receive free.
To receive your free gifts when ordering from Faithful to Nature, please use the following procedure:
- Register and login
- Choose the products that you want by clicking the Add to bag button
- Click the Checkout link in the Shopping Bag aread (top right) and enter delivery and payment details
- On the final page of the checkout process, in the Gift Message area type in CAPETOWNNEWS
Here are TEN great products (of many) that Faithful to Nature is offering. I’m sure you will find it easy to find the perfect Christmas gifts on their site!
Tags: Christmas shopping, Faithful to Nature
Filed under Admin | No Comments »
Simple Onion and Bean soup recipe
Posted on December 3rd, 2008 by Richard Catto 2,318 views
Looking to make a quick and simple nutritious soup?
Here’s one I threw together last night with some odds and ends you might already have in your pantry.
Ingredients
3 onions (chopped)
1 can of baked beans
1 packet of Cream of Chicken soup powder or Brown onion soup (or whatever flavour you want)
4 slices of bread
Method
Fry the onions in butter, in your soup pot, until they are translucent. Add the can of baked beans and mix in well. Toss in the packet of soup powder and mix in well. Add boiling water a little at a time, stirring it in well until you have the desired consistency. Stir well and let that simmer.
Soak the slices of bread in milk. You can get this going beforehand, if you like, but it doesn’t take long for bread to absorb milk. Break the bread up with your hands and add to the soup. This gives the soup more body and adds interest to your meal. Stir the bread in well and simmer your soup until its done.
This makes a delicious soup with lots of interesting bits in it!
Tags: baked beans, onion, soup
Filed under Food, Recipes | 5 Comments »
