Renewed Energy - It's been a long time coming

2007 wrapped up on a note of uncertainty. Despite the pleasures of hooking up with good friends who had motorcycled ¼ way round the world (if you consider going N -> S as going round), and closing the year with champagne and swimming pools, the stress remained – what would the changes of 2008 be? There were bound to be many...

Work (or the lack thereof) was frustrating. Despite the great people I worked with, it became very clear that I did not want to be a software project manager. The energy crisis I had been waiting for since the mid-90s had hit South Africa, and my mind was caught up with concepts of “stewardship”, “renewable energy”, “sustainability”, “climate change” and “carbon trading”. I knew that’s where I ought to be, but in the Lord’s timing, how would I end up there? What work would I be doing in 2008? Would I be studying too? (I had registered for an MSc(Eng) in Sustainable Energy Engineering at UCT, but they seemed to be focused on anything but actually putting the course together!) How would I balance work, studies, community commitments, church, family, finances and loving my wife?

It was such a pleasure for the first two weeks of January to be in Lesotho. Nada and I went there on a mission trip with our church, Holy Trinity. How good it was to see that God had long gone before us, and up there in the beautiful, rugged, rural mountains, God had planted his church. At 3300m, it was breath-taking. Despite the hard-ships of such rural living (for us townies anyway!), it was a time of rest and reflection, and we returned invigorated to face a new year, trusting the Lord to provide (how hard that is to do!)

Within the first week of being back, my plans changed. It started with lunch.

The gentlemen who run the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies at Stellenbosch were kind enough to buy it. And to twist my arm. The Sustainability Institute, they said, is where I needed to be. Run under the auspices of Stellenbosch University, and with strong links to a number of faculties and departments in the university (particularly the Department of Public Management and Planning and the Centre for Sustainable and Renewable Energy Studies), they offer a B.Phil and M.Phil programme in Sustainable Development Planning and Management. The streams of studies include Sustainable Development, Development Planning, Sustainable Agriculture and, last but not least, Renewable and Sustainable Energy. You can guess which one I registered for, and I said bye bye to UCT.

The week gone by has been spent on Orientation with the Institute. What an amazing place, and amazing people. It is difficult to describe the feeling of being in a place where they have sought to optimise in all areas their use of energy, light and other resources. Their approach is to integrate thinking from multiple disciplines (Economics, Sociology, Finance, Engineering, Politics, Agriculture, etc) to produce a space to think about Sustainability.

And to me, Sustainability is about Stewardship, looking after this Earth that God has given to us, to the best of our ability.

So this year I will be doing six, week-long, intensive modules, and will be hoping to complete either the BPhil in 2 years or the MPhil in 3, on a part-time basis. Not only is it an intellectual exercise, it also is practical - I will spend some of my morning time working on the nearby organic farm, simply called after its owner, “Eric’s Farm”.

Which left me wondering what I might be doing with the rest of my time?

The same day as I Lunched, I had Drinks with the MD of Alt-E technologies, a Renewable Energy (RE) company that seeks to supply RE solutions to industry and government. They also have a strategy to move into the Energy Services and Independent Power Producer. They wanted me on board to head up the Western Cape area. How could I say no to that? I am now in the process of jumping ship, starting there from the beginning of March.

So I covet your best wishes and prayers, as I embark on this new adventure! I hope to have this blog kept up to date - which will not only assist me in keeping a journal (a requirement of the course), but allow you to see how things progress!