Envirotorq Case Study

INTRODUCTION

As outlined by Baert, (2012, cited in James, 2014, p.17), positioning refers to a process by which certain characteristics are attributed to an individual, group or some other entity. Meaning that positioning relates to how an individual, group or entity would like to be perceived by others. The aim of the essay is to identify, explain and apply the first vertex of the positioning triangle. Firstly the essay will discuss the company creating the campaign. Secondly, a discussion of the selected environmental threat will take place. Thirdly the positioning goal, type and pre-positioning domain will be discussed. The essay will use a green awareness campaign in order to illustrate the above. Lastly, the concepts mentioned will be applied to vertex 1 of the positioning triangle using an environmentally friendly campaign, campaigning against Fracking in South Africa.

1. EnviroTorq

1.1 Company details

EnviroTorq is a Non-Profit organisation that was established in order to join a large and growing community of environmentally conscious people and organisations whose aim is to combat the continual degradation of Mother Earth. It was formed to defend the environment which cannot defend itself as well as be a sound and forceful voice for those that are affected by potential environmental threats.

1.1.1 Name

Enviro stands for the environment and torq, which is a play on the word torque stands for high performance and according to Houlk, Poth and Snider (1984) define it as the ability of a force to cause rotation. In other words, EnviroTorq is a high performing company that is forceful in creating awareness of issues that may affect the environment negatively.

1.1.2 Logo

The colours are green, red and black. Green indicating the environment, red indicating power and force and the brown fist, which is the part of the logo, to indicate the land as well as unity. Unity is important as EnviroTorq executes its activities within a community of environmentally conscious people and organisations as well as executes its activities for those that will be affected by any degradation of their environment.

1.1.3 Slogan

The slogan “A force for environmental sustainability” describes why the company exists and as well as the company’s intention.

EnviroTorq lends its self to any cause that affects the environment and those depending on the environment to live negatively. One the causes that EnviroTorq is passionate about is hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking

        Figure 1: EnviroTorq name, logo and slogan

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2. FRACKING

Fracking or hydraulic fracturing is method used to extract gas deep within the ground. Its extraction requires drilling deep into the earth for between 4 and 6km, through underground fresh water supplies (Netshishivhe, 2014, p. 1). Fracking is a process in which fractures in rocks below the earth's surface are opened and widened by injecting chemicals and liquids at high pressure for the purpose of extracting natural gas or oil. These fluids are being pumped under high pressure into a well whose casing has been perforated by projectiles shot from a specially designed gun to create fractures in the rock, thus increasing its permeability (Van der Walt, 2016). During this process, the sand keeps the cracks open after withdrawal of the fracturing fluid and allows the gas to flow into the perforated casing. This takes place deep underground below the shallow fresh water aquifers at high pressures, sufficient to create fractures in the host rock.

According to Manfreda (2014) and Netshishivhe (2014), fracking is not a new technology and can be traced back to 1862 in United States where civil war veteran Col. Edward A.L. Roberts saw what could be accomplished when firing explosive artillery into a narrow canal that obstructed the battlefield. This gave rise to modern day fracking which didn’t begin until the 1990s. Fracking has enabled the United States to become the world’s largest oil and gas producer.

2.1 Fracking in South Africa

In South Africa, the idea of fracking is being explored as a possible addition to the country’s energy mix. Shale gas could help South Africa to diversify their energy mix as the use of coal is subject to increasing constraints. The formal interest of fracking started in 2008 in South Africa with the area of interest being the Karoo (Fig, 2013), (Fakir, 2015) and Netshishivhe (2014).

Spanning nearly 400 000km2 in the geographic midriff of South Africa, the Great Karoo must be one of the quietest places on Earth (South Africa.net, 2017). The Karoo is a semi-desert area situated in the Western and Northern Cape in South Africa. It is characterised by harsh temperatures and sparse vegetation of low, bushy trees. It is a vast open area that has always attracted tourists and artists and the area is estimated to have 40-72 trillion cubic feet, according to an estimate done by the Petroleum Agency of South Africa and the Council for Geosciences (Fakir, 2014), although this number cannot be confirmed. A few companies have made bids to explore shale gas in the country, namely Royal Dutch Shell, Bundu an Australian company as well as Falcon as U.S company. These companies have made bids to explore the Karoo. The three mentioned companies have been given permission by the Petroleum Agency of South Africa to undertake preliminary technical studies in the Karoo (Fig, 2013).

The attention that has generated around the topic of fracturing has been mainly focused on the environmental impacts as well as the impact fracking may have on human society. Given the fact that fracking is relatively new in South Africa it has been pointed out that not enough information as well as a sound environmental assessment exists in order for fracking to be given the ‘go ahead’.

Heeding to public outcry over shale mining, in 2011 Susan Shabangu, the then Minister of Minerals and Energy declared a moratorium on the issuing of exploration licences. She then appointed a task team to enable a decision on the lifting of the moratorium. Further development was frozen until the lifting of the moratorium after a cabinet meeting held in September 2012 (Fig, 2013, p. 23).

3. DISCUSSION OF FRACKING IN SOUTH AFRICA

According to the study by Fakier (2015) published by the World Wide Fund for nature the purpose of fracking in South Africa is to allow for diversification in the country’s energy mix  in order to meet the demand for energy, thus promoting industrialisation for economic growth. There have also been various claims made by both private firms and state agencies regarding the promise of shale gas as a cheap source of energy in South Africa. The next part of the essay will be discussing the estimated benefits and disadvantages of fracking.