News Flash 10 May 2010
Putting the pressure on algae to create biofuel
If you’ve read even a little bit about potential sources of biofuel, you’ll know that algae is one of the big ones. During photosynthesis, the unicellular aquatic plant turns sunlight and carbon dioxide into oil and yields much more oil than other biofuel crops, such as corn or soybeans. Researchers at the University of Michigan have recently come up with a method of getting algae to give up its oil more quickly and efficiently than has previously been possible - they pressure cook it. Read More 29/4/2010
ECOGIZMO
Storing surplus green energy as natural gas
Throughout the world, electricity generation is based more and more on environmentally friendly wind and solar energy. The problem with such energy sources is their unreliability Read More 6/5/2010
Business Report Investors’ pleas for a renewable energy feed-in tariffs system have been made repeatedly in SA. The renewable industry wants attractive regulatory conditions, including favourable feed-in tariffs. Extracts from Creamer’s ‘Engineering News’ RENEWABLE ENERGY Areva keen to enter SA solar power industry RENEWABLE ENERGY Wind-energy developer teams up with E Cape traditional leaders POWER GENERATION Zambia to start building 120-MW hydro plant in July CLIMATE CHANGE Key developing country bloc puts climate ball back in rich-country court CLIMATE POST Van Schalkwyk heads race for UN climate chief CARBON CAPTURE Norwegian firm publishes CO2 storage guidelines Global risk management services foundation Det Norske Veritas (DNV) on Wednesday launched guidelines for "safe and sustainable" geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2), which it hoped would speed up the commercial deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS). The guidelines were freely available on the foundation's website, while the 'recommended practice' (RPs) documents, which DNV developed for qualification of capture technology, as well as the design and operation of CO2 pipelines,... Full Article 6/5/2010 ELECTRICITY Eskom sees power supply tight in 2011-12, after 2017 Extracts from Creamer’s ‘Mining Weekly’ COAL PRICES S African coal prices head towards $100/t level A July loading South African coal cargo traded at $97,25/tt FOB Richards Bay on screen platform globalCOAL on Monday, a rise of over $10/t from levels a week ago. South African FOB prices are rapidly heading for over $100/t, a level not seen for a year, traders and brokers said. "I would say that the prices in the physical are very much being paper driven and the odd cargo sold or paid at big numbers," said Paul Graham-Clarke of London Commodity Brokers.Full Article 26/4/2010 MINE TAX Western Australia miners call on Rudd to scrap 40% super tax COAL COAL says Vele construction on schedule for completion in Q3 COAL Exxaro 2010 coal output seen flat
SA moves towards clean energy future
They argue that attractive feed-in tariffs are necessary for the widespread deployment of renewable energy. 26/4/2010
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?from=rss_&fArticleId=5444907
French energy technology company Areva, best known for is work in the nuclear power industry, plans to develop a solar power business in South Africa, a senior executive said on Thursday. This comes after Areva acquired US-based solar thermal company Ausra in February, to expand its renewable energy business portfolio, which already included biomass-based power and offshore wind power generation. Full Article 29/4/2010
Franco-South African wind-energy operator InnoWind has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders (ECHTL) to pursue the development of a number of wind farms, with capacities of between 10 MW and 50 MW, in rural regions of the Eastern Cape. InnoWind said in a statement that this region of South Africa has significant potential for wind generation and was also a region earmarked by State-owned utility Eskom for infrastructure and new... Full Article 26/4/2010
Zambia will start building a 120 megawatt (MW) power plant in July as the country upgrades its power generation capacity to meet rising demand and help boost supply in the region, a senior industry official said on Monday. Project Director Robert Nsamba said construction of the $240 million power plant, which was initially planned to start in the first quarter of 2010, would now begin in July due to delays in securing the equity and debt to finance the project.Full Article 26/4/2010
Ministers representing the Basic group (Brazil, South Africa, India, China) urged all so-called ‘Annex 1' countries (rich nations) to raise their level of ambition on greenhouse gas mitigation. They also reiterated that it would be impossible for developing countries to implement mitigation actions in the absence of commitments by developed countries to the provision of finance for developing countries. The Ministers, who gathered for a third meeting in Cape Town on Sunday, emphasised that...Full Article 26/4/2010
South Africa's Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk is front-runner to replace Yvo de Boer as UN climate chief, sources familiar with the selection process told Reuters on Thursday. The run-off is between developing country candidates, reflecting their rising status in stalled UN climate talks to agree a successor to the existing Kyoto Protocol. De Boer, of the Netherlands, steps down on July 1 after almost four years. Full Article 6/5/2010
South Africa's power utility Eskom is confident it will be able to meet this year's power demand, including during the World Cup, but supply will be tight from 2011-2012 unless new capacity is brought on stream. Brian Dames, head of Eskom's generation business, said the Medupi and Kusile coal-fired power plants will provide a buffer once their first units come on stream in 2012 and 2014 respectively. The plants will each generate 4 800 MW. Full Article 29/4/2010
Western Australia mining companies on Thursday called on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to scrap the proposed 40% tax on resources profits. A group of miners, including iron-ore producers Fortescue Metals, BC Iron, Gindalbie Metals and Brockman Resources, said that the implementation of the proposed super profits tax (SPT) would have “serious ramifications” for investment in the sector, which in time would affect the downstream industries. Full Article 6/5/2010
Mining and development company Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) remains on track to complete the construction of its Vele project, in South Africa's Limpopo province, by the third quarter of this year, the company reported on Wednesday. In February, the South African Department of Mineral Resources granted CoAL a new order mining right, which CoAL MD Simon Farrell said was the final step required for development of the Vele project to start. Full Article 28/4/2010
Diversified South African miner Exxaro expects coal output to match last year at around 45-million tons to 46-million tons, while exports are seen falling due to rail constraints, a senior official said on Wednesday. Exxaro's coal unit head, Mxolisi Mgojo, said coal exports may fall to around four-million tons from 4,7-million last year due to bottlenecks on the rail lines leading to the port. Full Article 28/4/2010
