The BIG Hoax - Saving fossil fuels....?

Question

In South Africa at the moment there is the regular implementation of LOAD SHEDDING - i.e. in order to save COAL - the government switches our Electricity off for 3 hours per day.

Now before anybody draws unsubstantiated conclusions about South Africa - we don't live in HUTS and have LIONS running around - we have an incredible infrastructure - Internet, email, Gold stocks, 6 lane highways, some of the best universities in the world etc.

My question is - is the above mentioned Load shedding a HOAX and potentially a PILOT PROJECT for the rest of the WORLD?

Surely if people have their Electricity taken away from them - they will start to appreciate the FACT that fossil fuels are running out and WILL start looking for ALTERNATIVE fuel sources....?

Answer 1

Why do you think it is a hoax?   (Other than the fact that it is incredibly inconvient and it would be AWESOME if it was just a big joke.)

Surely you know that energy prices have been skyrocking.  Oil hit a new high last week.  Natural gas costs (at least in the US) have doubled or tripled in the last five years.  

In the US, we have had voluntary load shedding for years - and rolling blackouts several summers ago (in part because our utilities are typically private corporations and would be terrified implement something like mandatory load shedding).

I don't think its a hoax or an evil scheme or a trick.  I think its an unfortunate situation, and is true.

Unless you weren't looking for a real answer.  In which case please change my answer to "Those evil utilities will stop at nothing to make a profit.  They're clearly keeping all the cheap, clean, renewable technologies a secret, just to s***w us!"

Answer 2

The hoax is that we will run out of fossil fuels. The fossil fuels are from fossil plants not animal. Plants take in CO2 and give us O2 . The plants holds on to the C it is the food for the plant. The plant dies and the leaves etc. wash down the river to the delta where it deteriorates to oil ,gas ,and after a long time to coal. Mother nature has several recycle systems working,like the water cycle. It actually comes down to the more CO2 the plants get the more fossil fuels the plants will make.

Answer 3

bogus government move

Answer 4

We in Ontario have been importing larger and larger parts of our electrical supply, and are somewhat concerned that our supply could be cut off as other areas start to experience shortfall.

So Ontario is rebuilding its nuclear electrical system to hopefully allow us to go on squandering power.

We see sales of coal to China starting to put our coal fired plants in jeopardy of not having enough fuel to increase supply of electricity.

So we have been building big wind farms. But they give us next to no power on the days  our demand is highest those hot windless smoggy days when everyone is trying to power air conditioners. They do provide us with heat on those cold windy winter nights that are also heavy demand days.

Our hydro electric production is in jeopardy as the amount of water in the Great lakes is declining... we can not draw more from that source.

Next step is adding 14 GigaWatts of new nuclear power that will not even allow for any further increase in demand.

Answer 5

The South African government must be very short sighted and/or in a temporary coal supply crisis.  

Load shedding would only save on the amount of coal used by the power plants.  When the power is off there is still a cost in  lower productivity for the nation.  Businesses and any individuals who can not or will not go with out would have the added cost of generating there own energy during the load shedding.  Yes, one would hope the added generation would be from an alternative source but in reality it would come from diesel or gasoline generators adding even more green house emissions.

So to answer your questions:

No, it would not be a hoax, and I sure hope the rest of the world could come up with a better plan then fend for yourself.

Yes, people will appreciate the fact that fossil fuels are running out but I think the majority of people will just be angry with the South African government for not supplying its energy needs and blaming it on short coal reserves.

South Africa and solar energy should be a winning combination.

Answer 6

load shedding is only a temporary move to possibly reduce the amount of coal needed to run a power plant. the problem is that coal fired plants still need the boilers to be kept hot to provide steam to the turbines that turn the generators that produce electricity. in reality load shedding is a feel good measure that doesnt do much in reality.

Answer 7

The biggest problem with fossil fuel is that it is too cheap.  So we will keep using it wastefully until there is none left.  Many method have been tried to get people to conserve but here in America with all the shouting people still buy and drive SUV's, build bigger houses and move to areas that need even more electricity for air conditioning.  I think America should try load shedding for awhile.  We did some of it for awhile but that was related to distribution problems.  Now we need to be more aggressive.  I would not favor shedding during the day which could cause enormous problems for business, but say from 5 to 8 people could go outside and sit and chat with their neighbors at a barbecue.