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Letters

Time for SA to face the facts

24th June 2011 The article titled 'SA’s resource-intensive economic trajectory unsustainable' (see page 14 of this edition), is much more important than many would care to know, in particular the National Planning Commission warning that “the costs of such a transition would not fall evenly and export sectors... →

Remarks on nuclear might become one of many confuted quotes

17th June 2011 If carbon dioxide causes the earth's temperature to rise 5 oC, there will be an urgent need to switch from fossil fuels to nuclear power, being the only alternative stable source. →

Willis’s article depressing

10th June 2011 I found the article by Peter Willis on Occam's Razor, in the May 20, 2011, edition of Engineering News rather depressing. Someone more modern than Occam changed the KISS principle to read 'keep it as simple as possible, but no simpler' quite a while ago. Unfortunately, this has not been the case... →

30 000 more engineers by 2014 a pipe dream

3rd June 2011 Oh, my gosh, what dreamers! Thirty thousand more engineers by 2014? Like the five-million new jobs? What fiction. Where do these people get these dreams, or do they live on another planet? →

Loco story inaccurate

1st April 2011 In Volume 31,Number 8, on pages 6, 14 and 21, the statement is made, referring to the two recently imported locomotives that they are "the first diesel-electric locomotives to be imported into sub-Saharan Africa". →

Stick to your knitting, Dr Kemm

4th February 2011 Dr Kelvin Kemm has fallen into his own trap. He entertainingly describes how a TV documentary (National Geographic’s sea-level rise projections way off the mark, January 14,2011) moved from credibility to incredibility in the space of five seconds. He performed this shift himself by moving from a... →

Mike Roussos got it wrong on solar water heaters

28th May 2010 Editor –  Mike Roussos’ article, ‘Could the cost of SA’s solar geyser push outweigh the benefits?’, published on page 63 of the April 30–May 6, 2010, edition of Engineering News, calls for a reply. →

One sided and ill informed

2nd April 2010 Editor – I enjoy Terry Mackenzie-Hoy’s column, Electrically Speaking, but I must object to a recent one, which dealt with the issue of ‘tenderpreneurs’. →

Gasification the answer

15th January 2010 The article entitled ‘Waste to energy could alleviate pressure on SA landfills’, published on Engineering News on November 18, 2009, refers. →

Pro-rich stance

21st August 2009 Editor –  I note that, generally, you support the economic majoirty, and not the democratic majority, in your publication. →

Don’t give Eskom R385bn

3rd July 2009 Eskom is asking for R343-billion over five years just for expansion – presumably for additional generation capacity and distribution grids. This is far from desireable, not only because of the cost to the consumer and the taxpayer, but also because there is little or no faith that the parastatal... →

Father Jack will be  sorely missed

3rd July 2009 It is with great sadness that I received the news that Father Jack O’Brien had passed away. He has been an inspiration to me and, I believe, to many others, over many years. He struck me as a person of tremendous wisdom and kindness. He will be sorely missed. →

Solar Power Claims Exaggerated

22nd May 2009 Editor – At a recent conference, Tony Golding, deputy director for energy efficiency at the Department of Energy, said residential energy use could be halved by using solar power to heat water. →

'Columnist's views on CPD wrong'

16th January 2009 Editor – We at the Engineering Council of South Africa (Ecsa) have taken note of Terry Mackenzie-Hoy's article, 'Another electrical column guaranteed to offend everybody' (Engineering News, December 5, 2008). →

Winkler wrong on climate change

12th December 2008 Harald Winkler is quite mistaken when he says that global temperatures are rising even faster than predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007 (Hot Spot, Engineering News November 21 to 27, 2008). On the contrary, global temperatures have plunged in the last two... →

Eskom's 'blame-shedding' game

14th November 2008 I see that power utility Eskom is still locked in 'blame-shedding' mode. Usually, a supplier is sued for renaging on delivery. →

Kemm waxes lyrical on nukes

7th November 2008 Editor – Despite all the hot air being blown out of nuclear smokestacks, Kelvin Kemm continues to puff nuclear energy as the panacea for the global energy crisis. More sober minds, such as Amory Lovins, of the Rocky Mountain Instititute, disagrees completely. →

Rwanda Article Fallout

3rd October 2008 Editor – May I register my concern with an article published in Engineering News on Auugust 29, 2008, entitled 'Invesrors' uneasiness with Rawanda holding back Lake Kivu gas-fired power project', which is being interpreted in Rwanda as an attack on the country. →

Data Indicate Otherwise, Dr Kemm

3rd October 2008 Editor – In his July 4, 2008, column, Dr Kelvin Kemm writes: "The answer is simple – 2007 turned out to be the coolest year for 30 years. It is also the case that there has been no global warming since 1998. In fact, since 1998, there has been steady cooling." No citation for these data is... →

Mackenzie-Hoy's relevant column

By: Creamer Media Reporter 12th September 2008 Editor – I must say I take great delight in reading Electrically Speaking, Terry Mackenzie-Hoy's column. I find the articles in this column very funny and relevant, especially considering that he relates experiences from his past, many of them from a good few years ago. And I have to laugh... →

GM FOOD ARTRICLE INACCURATE

29th August 2008 Editor – It is not Monsanto that sees the food crisis as an opportunity to promote genetically modified (GM) seeds – according to an assertion by Andrew Taynton in the article in the June 20, 2008, edition of Engineering News, 'Organic crops better than GM food'. →

competitive selection

22nd August 2008 Editor – The South African skill pool is currently affected by a major withdrawal of accomplished and talented people from within our borders to foreign capitals worldwide. →

Increase Skills Levy to 4%

22nd August 2008 Editor – The article entitled ‘Africa growth ambitions undermined by lack of skills investment’, published on August 8, refers. →

'Put SA's problems before your interests'

15th August 2008 I would like to respond to your editorial entitled 'How should South Africa reverse its export decline' (volume 28, number 28). →

GLOBAL WARMING NO SIMPLE SUBJECT

By: Creamer Media Reporter 25th July 2008 Editor – The Opinion & Analysis article on page 71 of the Engineering News edition of July 4–10, 2008, entitled 'There is no evidence man-made CO2 causes climate change', refers. →

ORGANIC CROPS BETTER THAN GM FOOD

20th June 2008 The article entitled ‘Biotechnology could help solve food crises, Monsanto asserts’ (Engineering News,May 30, 2008) has reference. →

Inverter systems should be banned

13th June 2008 Editor – Your article, ‘Micro power, macro mpact’ (Engineering News, May 22, 2008), refers. →

CARTOON DRAWS NAIVE LINK

13th June 2008 Editor – The cartoon and associated commentary on the 'ripping of the rainbow' (Engineering News, May 30, 2008) draws a naive link between the recent xenophobic occurrences and the existence of the racial segregation policy of the former government. But, perhaps, this has become the politically... →

PHOTOVOLTAICS are PRONE TO THEFT

6th June 2008 Editor – Your article, ‘Micro power, macro impact (Engineering News, May 16, 2008) refers. →

FISH POISONING ARTICLE INAPPROPRIATE

6th June 2008 The article entitled 'Poisoning fish as part of nature conservation', by Mackenzie-Hoy (Engineering News, May 23, 2008) is disturbing as it makes inappropriate comparisons and contains factually incorrect information. I feel it is necessary to clarify this disinformation. →

Kemm’s ‘facts’ divert from truth

By: Creamer Media Reporter 25th April 2008 A recent article in Tech Track, by Dr Kelvin Kemm, defies belief in how a respectable publication can print ‘facts’ that divert so wildly from truth. In ‘Let’s not approach global warming with naive wide-eyed wonder’, Kemm states: “But by far the largest part of Antarctica, like all the rest, has... →

BIOFUELS ARTICLE ‘VERY DISTURBING’

11th April 2008 The article about biofuels, ‘Long road ahead before African biofuels take off’, is very disturbing because there is no consideration to the eventual devastation of food crops which growing sugar cane on good agricultural land will cause, together with the inducement that crop growers will have... →

ANC SHOULDN’T BLAME ESKOM

21st March 2008 Editor – The African National Congress’s (ANC’s) saying that electricity Eskom is being irresponsible for saying it cannot supply electricity to developments is rather rich, sinceit is the ANC government tha ignored Eskom’s warnings about the country’s power needs. →

IRRATIONAL RATIONING

By: Creamer Media Reporter 21st March 2008 Editor – In ‘Irrational rationing’, Terence Creamer mentions the proposed Coega aluminum smelter, and then also other smelters. →

DROP VAT RATE

22nd February 2008 South Africa needs to boost the economy and bring down inflation. The easiest way to do this would be to drop the value-added tax rate by 1% or 2%. This would have many benefits. Government has had big overflows with regard to income tax and so it can afford this. The economy is similar to a big... →

INSTALL GEYSERS IN EVERY HOME

22nd February 2008 I have heard that Eskom is spending millions of rands to supply and install ripple-flow equipment in order to shut off power at certain times during the day. This is not a new idea – many of the older houses had this equipment installed. →

LET’S TURN TO RENEWABLE ENERGY

22nd February 2008 We need someone to advise our government that we need the following types of things: →

SOLAR NOT THE ANSWER

8th February 2008 Sir – I am appalled at the news that solar and wind power units will be installed at all major intersections throughout the country. These systems should be independent of Eskom pwer. →

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