Media Releases
The Drakenstein Municipality, through its Water Services Development Master Plan, ensured that citizens had access to efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable water and sanitation services that promote improved livelihoods and economic development. These efforts were acknowledged through the city receiving Green Drop status from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) for its Hermon Wastewater Treatment System.
“The Southern Ocean has managed to protect all of us from some of the most extreme impacts of climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions and the heat generated by these emissions through the greenhouse effect. But this protection comes at a cost to the natural ecosystems of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean,” says Ryan-Keogh.
During his TEDx Johannesburg talk titled “A changing Southern Ocean: The impact of climate change”, Ryan-Keogh explained that 26 years of data revealed that the phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean was becoming more iron-stressed with time.
A microgrid is a self-contained grid that uses renewable energy, batteries for energy storage and generators to produce power. Microgrids can either complement the national grid or work independently from it, providing communities access to more sustainable and resilient energy supplies.
Speaking at the launch, CSIR Chief Executive Officer Dr Thulani Dlamini hailed this partnership as one that will advance microgrid and smart grid technologies to build future power and enhance energy capacity.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has appointed a Manufacturing Industry Advisory Panel to align its manufacturing efforts with industry priorities.
The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, hails as successful the swift response by the Department of Science and Innovation's entities, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and the South Afr
Today, His Majesty the King of the Belgians and South Africa’s Director-General of the Department of Science and Innovation, Dr Phil Mjwara visited a new indoor energy storage testbed at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) that will become fully operational in May this year.
The new infrastructure and associated expertise will strengthen South Africa’s ability to support local players in the battery value chain, thereby boosting the country’s capabilities in renewable energy storage. The collaboration falls within the ambit of a collaboration agreement between the CSIR and VITO, the Flemish Institute for Technological Research.
The new MoU was signed on the sidelines of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's state visit to South Africa on 28 February. The visit was aimed at strengthening political and economic relations between the two countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted President Museveni at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, and the two countries concluded a number of MoUs on various matters.
The partnership agreement signed between the UIRI and the CSIR, an entity of the Department of Science and Innovation, builds on the 2011 partnership agreement entered into following a study that found the Ugandan tropical climate and fertile land favourable for essential oil crops.
CSIR senior researcher Dr Thomas Ryan-Keogh and CSIR research group leader for the Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory Dr Sandy Thomalla are co-lead authors of this high-impact research, which suggests that there may be a reduction in the supply of iron to the Southern Ocean’s surface sunlit waters.
Outlining the significance of the research, Ryan-Keogh says that the Southern Ocean is a globally important region that helps to mitigate the impacts of climate change by absorbing, mainly through physical processes, a significant proportion of the man-made carbon dioxide that is emitted through the burning of fossil fuels. “Almost half of all the anthropogenic carbon dioxide that dissolves in the ocean does so here,” he says.
In 2022, the total system demand was similar to 2021, but still 5.2 TWh (2.2%) less than the pre-lockdown levels of 2019. Coal still dominates the South African energy mix, providing 80% of the total system load. The contribution of renewable energy technologies (wind, solar PV and CSP) increased in 2022 to a total of 6.2 GW installed capacity and provided 7.3% of the total energy mix. It was the first year that solar (PV and CSP) generation output decreased.