Researchers in the US have successfully used recycled plastic to create rapidly-charging energy storage devices. The research team is composed of engineering professors and students at the University of California Riverside (UCR), and they have been working on using sustainable resources – ranging from glass bottles to portabella mushrooms – to create improved energy storage materials for some years now. Their latest development involves the ‘upcycling’ of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic. PET is widely used in consumer products, most prominently in soft drink (in US parlance, soda) bottles.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has urged stakeholders in the electricity industry to engage on an ongoing basis to avoid litigation, following a court ruling this week referring a dispute between the Minister and the City of Cape Town over the procurement of electricity from independent power producers back to the parties to seek a settlement. The City of Cape Town has, since 2015, been in dispute with the national government and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa regarding its right to contract directly with IPPs, after it failed to receive a response from the Energy Minister to its request for a Ministerial determination under Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act to enable it to do so.
South Africa’s electricity utility Eskom said on Thursday it would implement rotational powercuts from 8am to 10pm due to an increase in breakdowns of its generation units, warning that the blackouts could continue into the weekend. “The delay of the return to service of two units at Duvha and Tutuka and the breakdowns of four units at Kriel, Tutuka and Kendal have resulted in the need for load-shedding today,” it said in a statement.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) reported on Wednesday that load-shedding during 2020 had already surpassed that of 2019, which had hitherto been the country’s worst-ever year for load-shedding. In addition, it again warned that, absent urgent action, the risk of load-shedding would worsen and persist for at least two more years, but possibly to 2025.
State-owned power utility Eskom on August 12 reported that the national grid was, once again, severely constrained as the result of seven units being offline for various reasons.
The utility noted that five of its units that were due for a return-to-service had been delayed, while a further two have either been shut down or tripped.
The City of Cape Town, which approached the High Court in 2017 for an order allowing it to procure renewable energy from independent power producers (IPPs) without first securing the consent of the Energy Minister, has been directed by the court seek a settlement with the Minister and the regulator. Should it fail to secure a settlement, however, the city would be entitled to return to the court to have the matter heard again.
Much progress still needs to be made on the road to a more sustainable world, with South Africa facing hotter and drier summers, and continued high levels of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions when compared with the rest of Africa, says South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI). “The country needs to focus on energy efficient ways to cool down our cities and towns,” comments SANEDI energy efficiency cool surfaces project officer Denise Lundall.
Local sectoral professional organisation Women in Nuclear South Africa (Winsa) announced on Friday the election of its new president. She is radiation protection professional Tebogo Motlhabane, a scientist with the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI). She replaces Nomathemba Radebe, a senior advisor in quality assurance at Eskom, who held the presidency since 2015. Winsa is part of the global Women in Nuclear (Win) network. The election was conducted online, with voting starting during the virtual special annual general meeting on July 30. The online polls were closed on August 6 (Thursday). The post of president was also contested by Mologadi Kekane who is one of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation’s radiation protection managers. Kekane now becomes Winsa’s deputy president.
Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), which recently disbursed loans worth R4.5-billion to two Gauteng metropolitan councils to support ongoing infrastructure delivery amid coronavirus-induced liquidity constraints, reports that it is gearing up to support several other municipalities to help close funding gaps that have arisen during the pandemic. Between June and July, the State-owned development finance institution disbursed a R3-billion loan to the City of Johannesburg and R1.5-billion to the City of Tshwane for the roll-out of infrastructure programmes, including the construction and upgrade of electrical, water, sanitation, refuse, road and stormwater facilities, as well as to support human settlements projects.
The development and peaceful use of nuclear technology could further underscore its value by helping to meet Africa’s developmental needs, says African Commission on Nuclear Energy (Afcone) executive secretary Messaoud Baaliouamer. He says the safe and peaceful use of nuclear technology has already proven to be beneficial in human health, such as in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of noncommunicable diseases.
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