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To capitalise on green transition, Africa urged to add value to critical minerals

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.
July 22, 2022 by

Telemetry critical for sustainable water infrastructure development

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.
July 22, 2022 by

Technology beneficial for lighting sector

Technological advancements have become prominent in commercial and industrial lighting applications, which has created additional benefits for the sector, says lighting manufacturer Regent Lighting Solutions MD Randal Wahl and technical sales manager Chris Gijzelaar. Technological trends include high-tech control systems, Bluetooth applications, near-field communication (NFC), emergency lighting, flexible lighting systems, light control using lenses to project light where required, tuneable white and circadian-rhythm lighting (human-centric lighting, or HCL), as well as dark light for low glare application.
July 22, 2022 by

Company to pilot zero-emissions heavy duty hydrogen trucks

Industrial and specialty gases supplier Airgas has signed an agreement with zero-emissions hydrogen fuel cell powered commercial vehicles supplier Hyzon Motors to pilot two heavy duty hydrogen fuel cell trucks, including one 100 kW fuel cell truck and the first Hyzon 200 kW hydrogen fuel cell powered truck to be tested commercially.
July 22, 2022 by

Enel connects 147 MW Soetwater Wind Farm to national grid

Renewable energy developer Enel Green Power (EGP) has connected the 147 MW Soetwater Wind Farm, located in a remote part of the Karoo Hoogland local municipality in the Northern Cape, to the national grid as it achieves commercial operation. The plant will be able to generate 585 GWh/y, potentially averting the emission of about 600 000 t/y of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere a year. The wind farm features Vestas V136 4.2 MW wind turbines, the largest on the African continent to date, the company adds.
July 21, 2022 by

With half of SA’s exports at carbon-tariff risk, new report calls for 190 GW renewables push

With almost half of South Africa’s exports at risk as the country’s key trade partners prioritise imports from low-carbon economies, a new report urges South Africa to roll-out at least 190 GW of renewables by 2050 to sustain its economic competitiveness and lay the basis for employment creation. Titled ‘It all Hinges on Renewables’, the report has been published jointly by the National Business Initiative, Business Unity South Africa and the Boston Consulting Group.
July 21, 2022 by

Fossil fuel projects will not secure any part of $8.5bn just transition funding

Climate envoys from those developed countries that have entered into a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with South Africa have confirmed that their governments will not fund fossil-fuel projects, even if such projects form part of the broader investment plan currently being compiled by South Africa. Speaking following the latest round of JETP discussions, UK climate envoy John Murton said the investment plan, or JETP-IP, would be larger than what could feasibly be supported and catalysed using the initial $8.5-billion being offered by France, Germany, the UK, the US, and the European Union (EU) over the coming three to five years. In addition, it could include non-renewables generation technologies.
July 21, 2022 by