• Email this page
• Print this page
• Home
• About Us
• Annual Review 2007

Annual Review of Fossil Fuel Foundation in 2007

• FFF has had a phenomenally busy year – with 11 conferences and 7 courses aligned with Wits and other universities.
   
• Hosted and arranged the first Botswana conference in July to which well over 200 people came. This started a regional trend and due to that success, an annual Botswana coal conference has been requested and will be planned for each year, in partnership with colleagues in Botswana.
   
• In recognition of the coal activities in Botswana, the personnel in that country have asked to initiate a Regional Branch of the FFF in Botswana and this is currently underway under guidance of Mr Mike Nightingale.
   
• Following on the regional trend, the first KZN conference was held in August, in the backwoods of northern Natal at the Natal Spa. Almost 90 people attended that conference and once again the request was made to host an annual event in that province in order to provide the networking and technical exchange that is needed in the resurgent coal mining and utilisation sectors of that region.
   
• The Second Junior Coal Mining Ventures Conference was held in May and to this almost 100 people attended. The papers presented highlighted the plight and needs of this sector of the mining industry, as well as the successes that had been achieved. The FFF was once again requested to an host an annual event of this nature for the benefit of the sector and to arrange specific themes each time that would be of benefit to the
  community, including various services, legal and technical support issues etc.
   
• The fourth Optimisation of Industrial Boilers was held in Pretoria in November and this was well attended and increasingly so, as the years have progressed!
   
• On a more global level, the FFF was asked to co-host the IEA NEET – DME Conference earlier in the year, to which a number of specialists from abroad and many local ones attended. This was a huge conference and the FFF was given due recognition for the part it played!
   
• Of great environmental interest is the conference just held on CO2 sequestration. The FFF was approached to host this event under the chairmanship of Dr Tony Surridge of SANERI , the main purpose being to collate all activities in CO2 storage in South Africa and then to formulate a national state-of-the-nation statement of what SA is a doing about this important topic. A second conference specifically on advanced research in this topic is sheduled for April (after the CSLF). 
   
• Another event, entitled “What you always wanted to know about coal and were too shy to ask” was the brainchild of one of the Council members (with tongue in cheek!) and a one-day event was held at which the constitution of coal was presented and its applications to utilisation. 130 people attended and others were turned away at the door! Due to the huge demand, this informal format for the exchange of information (and different specific topics) will be continued as a series in this next year.
   
• On a more serious note, the Annual Prestige Award for Outstanding life-long service to the coal industry was awarded this year to Mr John Marriott of Sasol, now retired. His contributions lead to this country’s world class and unique coal-to-liquids industry. This was announced at the first FFF Ball (rather than a banquet) this year.
   
• Of great interest this year has been the initiation of the proposed SA Coal Roadmap project – a concept initially conceptualised by Greg Tosen 4 years ago, then taken up by Roger Wicks, Steve Lennon and Sipho Nkosi 18 months ago. This has lead to the FFF being appointed to manage a national Task Team and Interim Steering Committee whose task it has been to develop a proposal for a SA Coal Roadmap to present to industry and government in order to get national, governmental and industry-wide buy-in. Several national meetings of interested parties has resulted in overwhelming support for the concept and significant offers of support towards its development. This project is in the final stages of birth and we hope to report more shortly.
   
• The FFF is planning now to branch out into further new areas of endeavour and service, including the development of a Students’ Chapter and membership which, it is hoped, will provide young graduates and diplomates with support services and information transfer more quickly than would normally be the case. Also, the development of a Professional Directory of Who’s Who in the South (Southern?) coal, energy, petrochemical and metallurgical fields is underway.
   
• In summary, the FFF has grown phenomenally over the past years but never more so than over the past year. The circulation database stands at over 3 500, representing wide sectors of the coal, oil, gas, CBM, CO2, carbon industries – producers, users, government, academics, engineering manufacturers and environmentalists, and this grows with every conference. The staff has increased significantly (see in the brochure on the seats), we have a strong financial team, a strong conference organising team, an excellent membership secretariat, a brilliant projects secretariat – and two co-directors with one financial director to keep the FFF on its feet! This stability has ensured the increased professionalism in all that we do - and our financial state has consolidated (stabilized?). This professionalism and the service provided by our staff needs to continue in similar vein. There is much to do in current times in this country including capacity building in the fuels and energy sector – capacity building and technotransfer being two of the Foundation’s primary objectives. And, as an independent, impartial, multidisciplinary and formally constituted body, the Fossil Fuel Foundation is well placed to provide the service and support that the country and possibly the region as a whole requires.

Back to About Fossil Fuel Foundation