Just in time for 2010!

Over 1.5 billion people—one quarter of the world’s population—live in areas with no access to electricity, according to a recent UN report. Capitalizing on a sport's global appeal to address this problem, a group of Harvard University students developed sOccket, a soccer ball that turns energy from a kick into electricity.

The portable energy-harvesting device captures the impact energy normally dissipated when the ball is kicked, storing it to charge lights, cell phones and batteries. It works with inductive coil technology, similar to that found in flashlights that power up when shaken. For each 15 minutes of play, it can store enough energy to power a small LED light for three hours. sOccket could eventually help ease the reliance on toxic kerosene lamps in developing nations, thereby reducing the associated health risks.

World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1. The World Health Organization established World AIDS Day in 1988 to highlight the overwhelming number of individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS and honor those who have passed away. Over the years World AIDS Day has provided governments, faith based organisations, community organizations, and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the global AIDS epidemic.

Similarly, the South Durban Basin (SDB) Area Based Management in partnership with the City's Health Department, local NGOs, businesses and community members will be hosting a Youth Forum on 4 December 2009 at Clairwood Tamil Institute.  The purpose of the forum is to create awareness among the youth regarding HIV/AIDS.  This interactive discussion will centre around substance abuse, gender based violence and its link to HIV/AIDS.

The National Energy Efficiency Campaign for South Africa

Both the production of energy and its usage, impact on the atmospheric emission of harmful and odorous gases contributing to global warming.  Closer to home, pollution from coal-based energy plants contributes to land degradation, acid rain and smog. It also impacts the health of the communities living close to power stations, imposing high health-care costs.

Unsustainable energy consumption endangers our economy, too. Even though there was no load shedding this past winter the energy produced is not sufficient for the growing demand.  A healthy reserve margin sits at 17-20%, an amount that ensures that sudden changes in demand or supply and power-plant maintenance don’t cause blackouts. Currently South Africa has a reserve margin of only 8%.

We are not alone in the energy emergency we face. Energy sustainability has become an issue that no country, industry or individual can afford to ignore.

South African children are learning early about the benefits of saving electricity, and having fun at the same time, thanks to a new internet- and mobile-based game distributed and promoted by the national Department of Energy.

Save It! – which teaches children about energy efficiency in the home – was launched by Minister of Energy Dipuo Peters at the Tygerkloof Combined School in Vryburg, North West province, during August 2009.

The game, designed and developed by Johannesburg-based Airgames, is part of government’s national energy efficiency campaign implemented in 2008 to deal with energy supply problems in the wake of the power crisis of late 2007 and early 2008.

The campaign centres on energy demand management, which is driven by national power utility Eskom and seeks to influence the pattern of end-usage, thereby helping consumers to use their energy more efficiently and save costs.