Новости за 29.03.2021

With 86% of the country’s electricity produced from coal, South Africa continued to have the highest reliance on the energy mineral among all G20 countries in 2020, with the global average standing at 34%. The ‘Global Electricity Review 2021’, published on March 29, indicates that the G20 country with the second highest coal dependency is India, which generates 71% of its electricity from coal.

UK-based global major defence industrial group BAE Systems has reported that it is adapting flight control systems for use in the UK’s next generation submarines, the Dreadnought-class. Submarines, like aircraft, manoeuvre through three dimensions and not, as surface ships do, only in two dimensions.  There will be four Dreadnought-class vessels (HMS Dreadnought, Valiant, Warspite, and King George VI), each of which will be 152.9 m in length and will have a submerged displacement of 17 200 t, making... Читать дальше...

Think tank the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) is launching a new project to support South Africa’s just transition to a low-carbon, inclusive and climate-resilient future. Funded by the UK’s Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions programme in South Africa (South Africa-UK PACT), the year-long initiative will see a number of project partners coming together under a consortium led by SAIIA’s Futures programme.

Afgri Animal Feeds, has completed its acquisition of the Martin & Martin dry pet food facility, a South African pet food manufacturing facility based in Isando. Afgri Animal Feeds is a division of Philafrica Foods and QSA Holdings, which is in turn a Queally family European holding company.

A six-year service level agreement between sugar manufacturer Tongaat Hulett and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) has benefitted 68 growers and contractors, with 652 jobs created in KwaZulu-Natal. The service level agreement, which was signed in 2014 between Tongaat and Sefa and which draws to a close this month, was based on a capital commitment of R50-million by Sefa in the form of concessionary loan finance to Tongaat’s black growers and contractors.

The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, working with the National Arts Council (NAC), is undertaking a forensic investigation to discern where additional funds can be sourced to cover the shortfall created by the mismanagement of funds of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP) budget allocation, Minister Nkosinathi Mthethwa announced on March 29. He said the fiscus does not permit the disbursement of additional funds at this point.

South Africa’s Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, will co-chair a high-level Ministerial panel this week on ‘Ensuring People-Centred Transitions’ as part of a global ‘Net Zero Summit’ being hosted jointly by International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Birol and COP26 President Alok Sharma. The panel is one of five to be convened as part of the virtual summit, which will take place on March 31 and will be livestreamed globally.

Europe-based global major aerospace group Airbus has announced the start of its Advanced Superconducting and Cryogenic Experimental powertraiN Demonstrator (Ascend) project. This would examine the potential application of cryogenics and superconductivity to future alternative aircraft power plants.  Ascend would involve the design and construction of a technology demonstrator system, which would be undertaken, at its E-Aircraft System House, over the next three years. This was located at Ottobrun... Читать дальше...

Working in collaboration with conservation organisations, BioTherm Energy’s Excelsior wind energy facility, in the Western Cape, is pioneering the wind industry’s approach to conserving avifauna. The programmes that are being implemented go beyond looking at the potential impact of the wind farm on birds through mitigation, but are also aimed at a net gain in priority species, including Cape Vulture, Black Harrier, Verreaux’s Eagle and Martial Eagle.

The SA Air Force's fleet will soon become obsolete, fences at some of the main border posts are wholly inadequate, and battlefield surveillance capabilities are minimal. There is also a lack of sufficient and adequate air support in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to respond to emergencies where the terrain does not allow quick movement on land.

Industry organisation Fruit South Africa (Fruit SA) has appointed Vangile Titi-Msumza chairperson, while Anton Kruger will take up the role of vice chairperson, effective April 1. Titi-Msumza is succeeding Justin Chadwick.

The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries has published draft amendments to the regulations on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the Waste Sector for public comment by April 22. Implementation of the EPR Regulations, published in November last year, was postponed to May 5 this year to address concerns raised by affected producers.

Jaguar Land Rover South Africa (JLRSA) has partnered with the Automobile Association (AA) to train a group of line managers on electric vehicle-specific roadside assistance and vehicle recovery. JLRSA’s training academy in Pretoria opened its doors to the AA to share its technical expertise on a range of electrified vehicles (EVs), and while the practical lessons involved Jaguar’s all-electric I-Pace, plug-in hybrid Range Rovers and mild-hybrid Land Rovers, most of the procedures taught are applicable to EV products from any manufacturer.

UK-based global industrial technology group Rolls-Royce reported on Monday that it had formally started making the biggest aeroengine in the world, the UltraFan. This is intended to be the basis for a new family of engines that would power both single-aisle and widebody airliners and would provide a fuel efficiency improvement of 25% compared with the first generation of the company’s Trent engine family. The assembly of the first module of the new engine had commenced at Rolls-Royce’s DemoWorks in Derby, in the UK. Читать дальше...

Full fleet management system Hino-Connect will be installed as standard on the entire range of trucks offered by Hino South Africa (SA), including the Dyna, 300, 500 and 700 models, as from April. The project is a joint venture with mobility solutions provider Cartrack.

A report released by business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) last week indicates that  the country is failing to get infrastructure investment to play a critical role in driving the economy, CEO Busi Mavuso says in her weekly newsletter. “The facts on the ground are sobering: for the past five years infrastructure investment has been shrinking, driven primarily by a decline in investment by the public sector.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel has called for deeper partnerships and the use of both demand- and supply-side measures to strengthen South African manufacturing capability and enable the country to benefit from opportunities in the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South African (Brics) markets. He spoke during the Brics Manufacturing Conference, which was hosted in Sandton last week.

Domestic natural gas and helium producer Renergen has obtained laboratory results on the helium concentrations from recently drilled wells P007 and MDR1, which has returned a helium concentration of 3.15%. Wildcard well P007 returned a concentration of 4.38%.

The giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal has been at least partially refloated, the first step toward getting one of the world’s most important trade arteries moving again. The Ever Given was successfully refloated at about 04:30 local time in Egypt and the vessel is currently being secured, maritime services provider Inchcape Shipping Services said in an email. It followed a new attempt to dislodge the ship involving 10 tug boats, according to the Suez Canal Authority.

Suspected Islamist insurgents attacked a convoy of fleeing civilians, including foreign workers, as fighting continued in a northern Mozambique town that is near a number of gas projects, security and diplomatic sources said. At least one person was killed and a number wounded in Friday's attack, according to three sources and three organizations with employees inside a hotel where people have been taking refuge in the town of Palma.

A South African-developed stationary hydrogen fuel cell is doing well as it is put through a testing phase at the Impala Platinum (Implats) refinery, group executive: refining and marketing Sifiso Sibiya has revealed. The stationary hydrogen fuel cell at Implats’ precious metals and base metals refinery in Springs, on the East Rand, in Ekurhuleni, currently receives hydrogen from energy company Sasol.

Anglo American Platinum executive head: project and environment Prakashim Moodliar has outlined what the company refers to as its smart power project, which is the development of the hydrogen fuel cell and battery-powered module, retrofitted on to a large haul truck, for deployment at the Mogalakwena platinum group metals mine in Limpopo. Moodliar said in response to AP Ventures founding partner Kevin Eggers that the project’s proof of concept was being developed after work began on site in August last year.