Swedish Ambassador to South Africa Christian Meuwly will next week inaugurate the final roll-out of the new vertical shaft brick kiln (VSBK) at clay brick manufacturer Langkloof Bricks’ facility in Jeffreys Bay.

The VSBK formed a part of economic, social and ecological development company Swisscontact’s energy efficient clay brick project, with the technology having been introduced to South Africa as part of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation- (SDC-) funded Global Climate Change Mitigation Programme.

“Climate-friendly and green growth through the development of a low-carbon industry and the implementation of energy efficiency measures in public institutions, industrial production and consumer products are one of the key objectives of SDC worldwide,” Meuwly said.

Swisscontact stated that an about 50% energy saving would be derived from the verticality of the shaft of the VSBK.

“The new kilns will prove that this technology offers commercial viability on an industrial scale, while addressing environmental and social benefits,” Swisscontact said.

“We are confident that the money we invested in VSBK technology is worthwhile and will show good returns when we get to full operational capacity. Apart from the financial, productivity and human capital benefits this technology affords us, we must not forget the huge environmental gains we get from the reduction in coal firing, lowering of our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and assisting government in achieving our CO2 reduction targets as agreed,” Langkloof Bricks executive director Nico Blake commented.

Meanwhile, Rowe Design and Consulting director Jez Rowe pointed out that clay brick producers considering the VSBK technology could now access a network of service providers dealing with the specific processes required to acquire the technology, including business plan development, materials testing, environmental-impact assessment, financing, design, construction and training.

“The groundbreaking design follows a modular approach which offers the clay brick producer viable solutions to rising energy and production costs, with an excellent return on investment and payback periods [of] as [short] as two years,” he added.