The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Solar Team were declared the winners of the first ever Ilanga Cup Solar Challenge, which took place at the 4.2-km-long Red Star Raceway, in Delmas, on July 21. “We would like to congratulate the TUT Solar Team for winning the first event of the Ilanga Cup. The weather was not solar car friendly but the team persevered,” Ilanga Cup director Robert Walker said.
Stage 1 load-shedding will be implemented from 16:00 to 24:00 on Friday evening. Load-shedding will then be suspended as the generation system has recovered sufficiently at this point. “Eskom thanks the public and all stakeholders for their patience and understanding during this difficult period of load-shedding. While we are able to suspend load-shedding at this point, Eskom cautions that the power system constraints continue to persist,” Eskom said in a statement. Eskom has 3 693MW on planned maintenance, while another 14 261MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
Clean energy provider Sosimple Energy is protecting businesses in South Africa against rising electricity prices, helping them to save money through its solar installation offerings. The offering, which requires no investment and no costs for maintenance or insurance, provides businesses with an opportunity to save more than 20% on their electricity costs.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has questioned the skills of Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, saying he isn’t the type of leader Eskom needs at the moment. In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, the minister, who is also the national chairperson of the African National Congress, said that the power utility currently needs a “fixer”, and De Ruyter isn’t necessarily that person due to a skills mismatch.
Amid unstable power supply, the development of a wood bioeconomy could help support South Africa’s energy needs while ensuring that the country meets its carbon emission reduction targets, says University of Pretoria Graduate School of Technology Management senior lecturer Schalk Grobbelaar. The country intends to limit greenhouse gas emissions to between 398 t of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) and 510 t CO2-e by 2025 and to between 350 t CO2-e and 420 t CO2-e by 2030.
While South Africa offers the rest of Africa practical examples of sustainable infrastructure development, there is still much that needs to be done before the country achieves a sustainable transition, says Stellenbosch University Centre for Sustainability Transition professor Desta Mebratu Belay. The country is reaching for a more sustainable future, but two years after Cabinet approved 62 strategic infrastructure projects (SIPs), including in the energy, water and sanitation sectors, almost one-quarter of these projects, worth R340-billion, were delayed or on hold as of late May.
Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) has declared its pilot solar energy project a success. MBSA piloted the project in order to evaluate the solar yield for the East London manufacturing plant, in the Eastern Cape.
Measuring instruments supplier Wika Instruments has launched its new Emission Control Gauge, referred to as the Emico gauge pressure measuring assembly, to ensure safety for people and the environment in critical processes, says Wika product specialist Sagadevan Kanniappen.
The global transition to a lower-carbon environment presents Africa with an opportunity to boost its economies, including the mining and industrial sectors, as well as beneficiation capabilities and job creation, by playing a greater role in supplying the so-called green minerals required for low-carbon technologies. Green minerals are those used in vast quantities in modern electric systems, such as renewable-energy products, batteries and power distribution, and include copper, cobalt, lithium, manganese, graphite and nickel.
Digitally transforming water supply and treatment plants can elevate the water and wastewater sector’s operational effectiveness for increased sustainability, says energy management and automation specialist Schneider Electric Anglophone Africa software leader Johan Potgieter. In South Africa, the provision of essential water and wastewater services is significantly challenged, while rapid population growth and urbanisation boost demand, owing to ageing infrastructure, rapid technology change, industrial shifts, increasingly stringent regulations and intensified environmental concerns about water treatment systems, he notes.
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