From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report. Our top stories this week:
We report on the unique aerofoil of South Africa's world-beating new glider.
We visit supplier of asphalt products Much Asphalt's unique new green asphalt manufacturing plant in Benoni, on the East Rand;
And, Clem Sunter forecasts possible future scenarios.

Shannon de Ryhove:
South Africa's recently certified Jonker JS-1 Revelation sailplane is probably the most advanced aircraft in its category in the world today. Keith Campbell reports ...

Keith Campbell:
A key factor in the success of the JS-1 is its unique aerofoil design, the aerofoil or airfoil being the cross-section shape of the wing, which generates the lift that allows an aircraft to fly. This aerofoil was developed in South Africa by Jonker Sailplanes to achieve optimum performance, measured in what are called Reynolds numbers. As applied to aircraft design, Reynolds numbers measure how smooth the airflow will be around an airframe. Jonker Sailplanes chief design engineer Attie Jonker reveals the details ...

Sailplanes chief design engineer Attie Jonker

Shannon de Ryhove:
Much Asphalt has recently commissioned the first green plant to manufacture warm mix asphalt in Africa. Petronel Smit reports.

Petronel Smit:
While the hot mix asphalt industry is well known for high energy consumption and harmful emissions, Much Asphalt's new green system aims to reduce smoke and emissions on the plant, without reducing the quality of the mix. The company's operations director Bennie Greyling tells us more about this plant.

Much Asphalt operations director Bennie Greyling

Shannon de Ryhove:
Futurist forecasting for potential scenarios is important for strategic planning. Bradley Dubbelman has this report.

Bradley Dubbelman:
Addressing the Licensing Executives Society International Conference, CEO of the Anglo American Chairman's Fund, and co-author of the book "The Mind of a Fox", Clem Sunter spoke on the possible scenarios facing South Africa in a post-recession economic climate...

Anglo American Chairman's Fund CEO Clem Sunter

Shannon de Ryhove:
And now for a sneak preview of this week's Engineering News magazine:

In our cover story, we report that algal biofuels could be a viable endeavour, but more research is still needed.

Read about the role Google Earth played in the discovery of two partial hominid skeletons at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.

And, we report that South Africa was facing no increase in the price for the eight Airbus Military A400M aircraft it had on order when it cancelled its participation in the programme late last year.

And in Mining Weekly this week:

In this week's cover story, we report that the lithium market is seeing many new entrants as electric cars, consumer goods and alloys drive demand.

We report that platinum can be mined free of cost at Anglo Platinum's rich, long-life Mogalakwena mine.

And, a request for a proposal for the building of a 600-million-dollar, 300-MW power plant using Anglo discard coal may be invited this year or early next.

That's Creamer Media's Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa's real economy.

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