South Africa's Power Shortage

South Africa's Power Shortage
11:10PM, Monday, 28 Jan, 2008
To all of my readers in South Africa, please take heart. You are not alone in the Brave New World of power blackouts and shortages. In my wife's home town of Buenos Aires, Argentina they currently go without power 4 hours a day. Here in Northern California, the hottest selling item at Costco and other major stores is portable power generators. From 1978 until 2008, California's population has grown from 20 million to 40 million. Despite that population increase, no new oil refineries have been built. Only a small number of new power plants have been built. The company behind electric power production is currently in bankruptcy. The only thing saving California from disaster is the fact that the economy has evolved from a manufacturing and mining base (where South Africa is now) to a service economy. This comes with a reduction in the electricity required to keep the economy going. Every dark cloud has a silver lining. I have had a close relationship with South Africa since 1981. There is some good news here. The government is always very sensitive to the demands of its foreign investors. Despite all of the complaints about a high current account deficit and the sad large pockets of remaining poverty, South Africa enjoys a budget surplus and some large foreign exchange surpluses. You also have many wealthy and well capitalized companies. The money and the will now exists to find a solution. Please look for a Project Apollo-type programs to solve this problem. Please look for a large number of engineers and other technical people coming from all over the world to help South Africa solve this problem. As an individual or family, you can do a lot to alleviate the power shortage. South Africa is blessed with incredible sunshine and wind power. Now is the time to consider solar for your home and business. Now is the time to consider wind power as a source of power for your home and your business.

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