News
CSIR researchers collaborated with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the National Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and GFA Consulting Group to develop two planning tools to support South Africa’s transition to a green hydrogen economy.
Green materials expert Prof. Suprakas Sinha Ray says one of the most promising applications for chitin derivatives is in fireproof fibres and plastics, which could be incorporated into firefighter gear and building materials.
Chitin is a hardy biological molecule that fortifies the exoskeletons of crustaceans and insects.
“South Africa’s seafood industry processes tons of shellfish every year, producing mounds of chitinous waste that could be absorbed into our circular economy and repurposed,” says Ray.
Through chemical engineering, chitin can be converted into chitosan, a polymer that can be woven into other common synthetic polymers, such as those used to produce fabrics or PVC pipes. Read more...
On Monday, 17 March 2025, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) hosted a media briefing to release its annual report on power generation statistics in South Africa. The report analyses loadshedding statistics and the energy availability factor for the period 1 January to 31 December 2024. Media statement.
Members of the media were invited to the briefing as follows:
The CSIR will be in the media, and you don’t want to miss out on the conversation. Join the conversations to discover an opportunity for collaboration.
More than 80 ocean climate scientists, engineers and technicians are now skilled in advanced robotics, modelling, satellite remote sensing, ocean chemistry and more, thanks to over a decade of investment in Southern Ocean climate research by the CSIR and the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI).
“We now have these very mature capabilities in South Africa to understand the Southern Ocean and how it impacts climate, and that understanding is then implemented into Earth systems models,” says Dr Sandy Thomalla. “With better Earth systems models, we can feed back into society by supporting policy and governance around adaptation and mitigation strategies.” Read more...
The CSIR has developed a sustainable bioprocess to manufacture a fungal-based protein product for a South African business called MycoSure.
Dr Ghaneshree Moonsamy, a fungal expert at the CSIR’s Biomanufacturing Industry Development Centre (BIDC), says protein production in a bioreactor offers many sustainability and cost advantages over livestock and crop protein production.
She says MycoSure will be leveraging this technology using fungal protein, for the first time in Africa, to help address global food security. Read more...
The Northern Cape province’s town of De Aar will become one of the very few in South Africa to drill and pump its boreholes strategically using scientific maps of underground aquifers. Harrison Pienaar, an aquifer expert at the CSIR, is calling on all South African waterboards, mayors, municipal managers and communities to conduct cost-effective groundwater surveys, ensuring compliance with the national directive to diversify municipal water supply.
Like the rest of the Northern Cape (NC), the parched and sunbaked town of De Aar in the Emthanjeni Local Municipality relies almost entirely on groundwater. Read more...
The announcement was made at the 2nd Vaccine and other Health Products Manufacturing Forum, which took place from 4 – 7 February 2025 in Cairo, Egypt.
These RCCNs will focus on biomanufacturing workforce training and development, which includes various programmes, ranging from hands-on training, scholarships, vocational training, internships, fellowships and funding for training infrastructure. The initiative aims to cultivate a new generation of skilled professionals equipped to make an impact
In a strategic move to advance the mining sector through innovation, the CSIR recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), a Canada-based organisation dedicated to mining innovation and commercialisation.