Could you please forward this message to our minister of electricity, Dr. K.D. Ramokgopa. Thank you.

Dear Dr. Ramokgopa

First of all, my congratulations on your appointment as minister! I wish you God’s richest blessings on your work.

I am a retired chemist and I would like to help you find a quick solution to our energy crisis. I have a college diploma in chemistry and a diploma in Datametrics as well as and many years of experience in the field of data analyses. As a hobby, during my retirement, I looked at some data on climate change. My findings on climate change in South Africa are reported in detail here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tps2cd4kuds8o6g/SUBMISSION%20by%20Henry%20Pool.docx?dl=0

Sadly, I did not receive any reply on my submission from the relevant department. I thought that was rather impolite? Fact is, that I could not really find any significant climate change in South Africa over the past 40 years. As far as global warming is concerned, I also found some rather inconvenient truths:

https://breadonthewater.co.za/2021/11/25/an-inconvenient-truth/ 

The above was to just give you some background about me and what I think of the so-called ‘man-made climate crisis’. 

Now, some people, apparently Mr. DeRuyter amongst them, seem to think that we can simply solve our energy crisis with ‘renewables’ like wind and sun.

Unfortunately, it is not so easy; generating electricity is far more difficult than people realize. Coal power stations are huge; you can park a couple of Boeings inside one, easily. But the public wants a quick-fix to an electricity shortage so they jump at apparent solutions, such as solar panels and wind turbines. These renewable energy devices are not equal to a huge coal power station, not by any stretch of the imagination. There is also the added problem that solar is only available for part of the day, and not at all at night. Wind is only available when the wind blows, and you don’t know when that will be. That means that with this type of renewable energy, you still need decent back-up. I am sure that you will agree with me that we simply do not have the luxury for this in South-Africa.

On the issue of using coal (1) for energy I am neutral. However, although carbon-dioxide is not a poison, we know that Sulphur and sulphureous compounds are very poisonous as they can interfere with our breathing. This therefore has to be removed from the exhaust when you burn coal. I understand that they want to scrap the old coal power stations where this is not being done, and where it is not feasible to modify with Sulphur sweeping. My recommendation is not to scrap any of the old coal-fired power stations but to rather re-fit them to run on gas. Apparently, there is a gas pipe running from Mozambique to Sasolburg and it cuts right through the areas where these coal-fired power stations are situated.

Note that gas (2) burns clean and there is no Sulphur so it does not need any Sulphur removal. Also, if you do the calculations, there is a saving of 50% in the emission of CO2 per kWh generated. If you want me to, I can look up the official reports on that. Fact is that with gas as fuel there is a saving of 50% in carbon emission when compared to coal. Note that a country such as The Netherlands, who already have much wind and solar, they still need gas-fired power stations as a back-up.

However, if you would prefer to go 100%  carbon-free,  you should clearly consider the nuclear (3) option. Actually, we are fortunate in South-Africa that a lot of work has already been done on smaller nuclear reactors, like the Pebble Bed Nuclear reactors. The latest development, the HTMR-100 does not need water cooling as it is gas cooled with Helium. My thinking is that they could also be placed in, at or near the old coal-fired power stations so that you can still use the existing network for the distribution of power.

If money is a problem, I can also help you by giving you an idea on how to raise money for such a project:

Let’s go nuclear! | Bread on the water

Dr. Ramokgoda, I hope that you will take note of this letter and that perhaps I will hear from you?

Best wishes,

Henry Pool 

Cel. 0836297690

https://breadonthewater.co.za/blog/

Cel. +27 (0)836297690

henrypool7@gmail.com