Garbage is another story. Most authorities in this part of the world send it to Mossel Bay for processing. It used to go by rail before the line was washed away, but now it goes by road, which I fid slightly uncomfortable. I’d like to see a methane collection operation started, but there may be problems with economies of scale,I suspect. On the subject of garbage, look for a Canadian film called “Garbage: The Revolution Starts at Home”. Go to http://www.garbagerevolution.com for more details.

I think what’s missing is political will to make these sorts of initiative successful. I believe that small initiatives within fairly rigidly enforced broad guidelines are most likely to succeed. This applies to electricity generation too, I suspect. in a country which has 2000m of relief, there have to be opportunities for small scale hydro electricity. What about the large numbers of kilowatts that get thrown away when water from the Orange River is transferred to the Fish River in the Eastern Cape, for instance? May not be practical, but I haven’t seen anyone say that they’ve checked.