The household energy community is mourning the death of Dr Doug Banks who passed away on 4 July 2008. His contributions to the provision of sustainable household energy in Southern Africa will be sorely missed. Dr Douglas Banks, Managing Director of Restio Energy, died on 4 July 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa. Doug was a long-time supporter of HEDON, and enthusiastic and hugely knowledgeable participant in the Sparknet project and the HEDON e-conferences - we have lost a champion of the poor and disadvantaged in the struggle to give fair and sustainable access to energy.
Doug was supervisor and mentor in both my undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, and he helped to lay firm foundations in my approach to working the the household energy sector. His commitment, respect and integrity when working with poor people stood out, and impressed me greatly as a young student, and I remember fondly doing my best to follow his lead in negotiating with village chiefs, and learning to understand - through an interpreter - what people were really saying, feeling and thinking. Memories of his 'pottery evenings', and dinners cooked over a biogas flame from his experimental digester outside his hut at the University's 'Wits Rural Facility' in 1991 are sure to last all my life.
Doug was Managing Director of Restio Energy since it was founded, then as RAPS Consulting in 2000, where he worked on a range of projects, including: Mini-grid feasibility study (for the National Electricity Regulator in South Africa), financial modelling of large scale rural energy businesses, technical, implementation, community consultation and procurement aspects of rural energy delivery (households and institutions). Doug also played a key role in the development of a GIS based electrification planning tool being used in South Africa. He was part of the founding and key management team of the NuRa Utility (implementing a large scale Solar Home System and thermal energy service in northern KwaZulu-Natal – by April 2006, 11 000 SHS installed, and 7 Energy Stores running) with responsibility for a number of areas including technical management and procurement. His other projects included risk assessment for rural energy delivery (Namibia), and rural energy programme design (Namibia and South Africa). He led the development phase of the innovative EnergyStream Energy Services Management System.
Prior to joining RAPS Consulting / Restio he worked at the Energy & Development Research Centre (EDRC, University of Cape Town) where he focused on household photovoltaic system finance and dissemination strategies, quality assurance and standards aspects of photovoltaic systems, renewable energy policy and options (including work in Mozombique), and decision criteria for rural electrification planning (gird and off-gird). He has also worked with rural communities on development and service related projects, as a staff member of the rural Facility of the University of the Witwatersrand. Douglas carried out research work on Stirling Engines for his PhD, and retained a strong interest in education and teaching- acting as an external examiner and supervisor for postgraduate students from time to time. He produced many publications in the field of rural energy and development.
Doug leaves his wife Helene and three young children, Rowan, Julian and Vivian.
A bursary/scholarship fund has been established in Doug's honour to encourage young Southern Africans to embark on careers in sustainable energy services. Find out more on the Restio website.
Dr Grant Ballard-Tremeer, Director Eco Ltd, and HEDON co-ordinator.
Restio is sponsor of PureSIG the HEDON Special Interest Group on the Productive Use of Renewable Energy. |
