Author Archive for: Engineering News

Investment in clean energy technologies will climb to $2-trillion this year, almost double the amount spent on fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Two-thirds of the record $3-trillion invested in energy sources in 2024 will be devoted to sectors such as renewables, electric vehicles, nuclear power, grids, storage and efficiency, even as higher financing costs hinder projects, the Paris-based agency said. The remaining $1-trillion will go to coal, gas and oil — a level that’s still too high to conform with global climate goals.

The Financial Times, in partnership with Statista, has published its list of Africa’s 125 Fastest Growing Companies for the Year. In the top spot for manufacturing was Balancell Energy, a South African business that designs, engineers and manufactures smart lithium-ion batteries for multiple applications.

Distributed energy solutions company Decentral Energy has installed a 1.3 MW stationary gas engine and diesel generator at a fast-moving consumer goods manufacturer’s premises, in Rosslyn, Pretoria.

The solution enables the factory to expand and reduce its carbon footprint, while allowing independence from the national grid.

Although Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are key to decarbonisation, current NDCs only amount to 1 300 GW, or 12%, of the renewable energy capacity needed to meet the objective of tripling renewable energy as set at the COP28 conference.

At COP28, nearly 200 countries pledged to triple the world’s renewable power capacity this decade, which is one of the critical actions to keep alive hopes of limiting global warming to 1.5 ˚C.

Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront is pioneering the integration of small, low-noise vertical-axis wind turbines into its green electricity supply mix, following the installation of four 1-kW units within the mixed-use property’s Silo District and another 3-kW turbine near to the complex’s Breakwater parking. The LS Double Helix turbines have been sourced from LuvSide, of Germany, which has in parallel established LuvSide South Africa in partnership with Energy Systems Africa to pursue new market opportunities for its vertical- and horizontal-axis solutions.