{"id":11688,"date":"2020-07-24T11:09:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T11:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/?p=11688"},"modified":"2021-12-01T12:42:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:42:45","slug":"load-shedding-diaries-a-cup-of-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/blog\/11688\/load-shedding-diaries-a-cup-of-coffee\/","title":{"rendered":"Load shedding diaries: a cup of coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

The kettle finishes boiling at precisely the same moment the hum of my ancient refrigerator cuts out at 4:00pm. I’ve gotten really good at boiling the kettle in time for a stint of load shedding. Since I can’t work without power, I make a cup of coffee, find a sunny spot in the garden and sit. Pouting. Happy for the sunshine, but pouting in it still. <\/p>\n\n

Load shedding has been particularly traumatic since moving to Westdene; in its infamous return in late 2019 (Eskom still has not learned how to keep coal dry in the inevitable rain)<\/strong>, my block somehow found itself locked into two schedules – 6B and 7A. It was indeed a dark time; although it barely holds a candle to the anti-Soweto crusade Eskom has embarked on in an attempt to service its debt.<\/p>\n\n

Load shedding blues<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

When South Africans complain about load shedding, I usually repeat the same line: “If only there were a giant ball of burning gas in the sky that we could use to power society reliably!” I often flail my arms in apoplectic desperation – for dramatic effect, of course. It still escapes me that renewable energy<\/a> is not more widely used, more easily accessed, more affordable, better funded; that we don’t use it as a baseline for what our supply should be, rather than deferring to models dependent on extraction and burning. <\/p>\n\n

“If only there were a giant ball of burning gas in the sky that we could use to power society reliably!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

I sip my coffee loudly. What else is one left to ponder during load shedding? The true cost of coa<\/a>l, maybe?<\/strong> The amount of water coal power sucks up in a second? How the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries thought relaxing South Africa’s sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions limits was a good idea – during a respiratory pandemic? The red tape and politicking that surrounds renewable energy? How quickly these thoughts can dampen the sunshine.<\/p>\n\n

Looking toward the sun<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

In any case I am optimistic, despite the general sense of dread that accompanies load shedding<\/a> on some of the coldest days Johannesburg has seen in years. It’s good to bask in some sunlight for a bit. Such a simple and understated pleasure: some warmth in the winter.<\/p>\n\n

I come inside thinking about a second cup of coffee, delighted to find that the kettle hasn’t cooled down. We need a future where these things are reliable. On a coldest winter day, keeping warm with a cup of coffee. The clearest path to that future has to be in renewable energy. In it we are all together and warm; sitting in the sunshine, holding a cup of coffee. <\/p>\n\n


That is the real vision of environmental justice, and Greenpeace Africa is fighting for this vision every day. You can fight with us by joining a movement of people committed to ending environmental injustice. Sign our pledge here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n \t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tEnd Climate Change\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n Get Involved\n <\/a>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve gotten really good at boiling the kettle in time for a stint of load shedding. Since I can’t work without power, I make a cup of coffee, find a sunny spot in the garden and sit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":11726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"p4-page-type":[],"class_list":["post-11688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11688"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49993,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11688\/revisions\/49993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11688"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=11688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}