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Environmental News

Nedbank to spend R20m in a bid to become carbon neutral

By: Christy van der Merwe 25th September 2009 Known as the ‘green’ financial institution, Nedbank has announced its ambitions to become carbon neutral, at a likely cost of up to R20-million, but CEO Tom Boardman is quick to add that investments in environmental responsibility are paying off. →

Challenging ventilation shaft at Ingulu hydropower project is complete

By: Leandi Kolver 25th September 2009 Contractor Atlantis Drill has sunk its largest diameter hole through a 23-m pre-sunk concrete collar of 234-m ventilation shaft at the Ingula project near Van Reenen with a Sandvik Reamer, which MD Sarel Smit confesses was not just a milestone, but sometimes did give team some “anxious moments”. →

Seventy-two per cent recovery rate of cans through recycling

By: Lindsey Berry 25th September 2009 Collect-a-Can reports that 72% of food and beverage cans in South Africa are reclaimed through the recycling process. →

World leaders meet on climate change in New York

By: Christy van der Merwe 22nd September 2009 Almost 100 world leaders descended on New York as the United Nations (UN) held its summit on climate change on Tuesday, aimed at mobilising political will and strengthening momentum for a fair, effective, and ambitious climate deal in Copenhagen in December. According to UN Secretary-General... →

Business leaders call for ‘robust' climate deal

By: Christy van der Merwe 22nd September 2009 South African companies Absa, Nedbank, Pick ‘n Pay, Santam, Sanlam and Sappi joined business leaders from over 500 global companies to sign ‘The Copenhagen Communiqué', urging world leaders to agree on an "ambitious, robust and equitable" global deal on climate change, and warned that business... →

SA urged to look at refuse-derived fuel to improve energy security

By: Christy van der Merwe 18th September 2009 Of all the domestic and industrial solid waste generated, 70% of it is combustible and contains energy, which is why Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) adviser Dr Chih Chao views it as a “misallocated resource” and says that “instead of letting it rot in a landfill, we should... →

Fishery alliance seeks to strike  marine ecosystem, fishing balance

By: Darren Parker 18th September 2009 Stakeholders from across the South African fishing industry sector have committed to working together and sharing solutions to secure the future of seafood and marine ecosystems through the launch of the Responsible Fisheries Alliance (RFA) last week. →

SA to release draft climate change policy by month-end

By: Christy van der Merwe 15th September 2009 The Department of Environmental Affairs would release South Africa's draft climate change policy for comment by the end of September, said Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica on Tuesday. She said that she had seen a the draft document at a recent workshop, and this draft, which was... →

SA not ‘compromising anything' at climate change negotiations - Sonjica

By: Christy van der Merwe 15th September 2009 Five weeks of "tough" climate change negotiations awaited South Africa's negotiators before the global climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December, and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica remained adamant that South Africa's "responsibilities are different, because our... →

R&D investment of at least $100bn needed to fight climate change – World Bank

By: Chanel de Bruyn 15th September 2009 Research and development investment in the order of between $100-billion and $700-billion a year was needed to help solve the world’s climate problems, the World Bank’s ‘World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change’ highlighted on Tuesday. This would be a “major increase” on the... →

Infrastructure funding uncertainties need to be removed – Actom

By: Martin Creamer 15th September 2009 Infrastructure funding uncertainties needed to be removed to ensure job security and the sustainability of local manufacturing capacity, Actom MD Mark Wilson said on Tuesday. Speaking to Engineering News Online at the change of name of Alstom Electrical Industries to Actom, Wilson said that... →

New turbine for generation of undersea power – Alstom

By: Martin Creamer 15th September 2009 New turbines were being developed to generate electrical power from undersea currents, Alstom country president Didier Farez revealed at the Actom launch in Johannesburg on Tuesday. Speaking at the unveiling of the new corporate livery of Actom – formerly Alstom Electrical Industries – Farez... →

Turton urges SA to integrate water, energy and agricultural policies

By: Christy van der Merwe 11th September 2009 South Africa must link its water, energy, and food security policies, urged Touchstone Resources director Dr. Anthony Turton, emphasising that the relationship between these three areas was inseparable. Focusing on the interdependence of these systems, Turton explained that South Africa’s... →

Solid growth in solar  thermal installations

By: Leandi Kolver 11th September 2009 Solar thermal heating, which harnesses the sun’s energy for domestic water heating, space heating, and other industrial processes, expanded by 19 GW of the thermal heating equivalent to reach 147 GW of capacity in 2007. →

Benefits of empowerment deals should flow to a broad base of people – corporate adviser

By: Darren Parker 11th September 2009 Broad based black economic empowerment (BBBEE), as opposed to conventional BEE, is a better vehicle to spread wealth among the previously disadvantaged, but it is not the easier route and companies considering BBBEE implementation would do well to ensure they have the capacity and capability to... →

SA will not commit to growth-threatening climate targets

By: Terence Creamer 10th September 2009 The South African government would establish a reconfigured inter-Ministerial committee to formulate a national programme for climate change, as well as the country's formal negotiation stance ahead of global climate negotiations in December. But Cabinet reiterated on Thursday that it was not... →

Sweden's environmental technology sector ‘thriving', PM tells SA seminar

By: Christy van der Merwe 10th September 2009 Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt on Thursday said that the environmental technology sector in Sweden was "thriving", as the country became more focused on developing technology to protect the environment. Reinfelt was addressing delegates at the opening of the Symbiocity seminar in... →

WWF names high-profile personalities as climate champions

By: Christy van der Merwe 8th September 2009 Nedbank CEO Tom Boardman, Lereko Group executive chairperson Valli Moosa, Shanduka chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa and top academic Dr Mamphela Ramphele were on Tuesday announced as Climate Champions, as chosen by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). As climate champions, the high-profile... →

SA wants technology diffusion to developing countries at centre of Copenhagen deal

By: Christy van der Merwe 4th September 2009 Predictable financial flows, technology transfer and capacity building for developing countries are the imperatives sought by South African Department of Water and Environmental Affairs negotiators as they prepare for the global climate change negotiations at Copenhagen (the fifteenth conference... →

Swedish PM Reinfeldt to open SA SymbioCity seminar

By: Christy van der Merwe 4th September 2009 Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will be opening the SymbioCity seminar – focusing on the Swedish project of the same name that promotes holistic and sustainable urban development by finding synergies in urban functions and unlocking their efficiency and profitability – in Johannesburg.... →

Manufacturer reports successful compliance with asbestos legislation

By: Petronel Smit 4th September 2009 Gasket manufacturing and distribution company Gasket Manufacturing Corporation (GMC) reports that 18 months after the banning of asbestos, solutions to every possible application have been found. →

SA wants technology diffusion to developing countries at centre of Copenhagen deal

By: Christy van der Merwe 4th September 2009 Predictable financial flows, technology transfer and capacity building for developing countries are the imperatives sought by South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs negotiators, as they prepare for the global climate change negotiations at Copenhagen (the 15th conference of the... →

South Africa starts coming to grips with  economic impacts of climate change

By: Christy van der Merwe 4th September 2009 South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs has recognised that climate change is a major threat to economic growth, sustainable development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and will release the country’s ‘draft zero’ Climate Change policy for comment in September. →

'Maize-based ethanol can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 50%'

By: Leandi Kolver 28th August 2009 Newer corn ethanol facilities show that modern processes can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by about 50% compared to petrol, according to the ‘Improvements in Life Cycle Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn-Ethanol’ analysis. →

Biofuels forecast to account for 46,1% of ‘unconventional fuel’ growth in next 20-odd years

By: Leandi Kolver 28th August 2009 The world’s liquid fuels supply will grow 22% from 86,2-million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2007 to 105,4 mbpd in 2030, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) projections in the 2009 Annual Energy Outlook. →

Nampak bankrolls roll-out of recycling banks at shopping centres, office parks

By: Leandi Kolver 28th August 2009 By the end of September, 20 strategically chosen located north of Johannesburg will have been fitted with recycling banks and will be ready to deal with any garbage thrown their way. →

Enviro study into R1,5bn Western Cape wind farm project to start next month

By: Jade Davenport 28th August 2009 An environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a proposed R1,5-billion 70 MW wind farm in the vicinity of Darling in the Western Cape is anticipated to begin within the next month. →

Waste pickers not recognised in new Waste Act

By: Kelly Farthing 21st August 2009 Over one hundred waste pickers from around South Africa gathered in Johannesburg, last month, for the country’s first National Waste Pickers Meeting. →

Huge potential for vermicompost in South Africa

By: Kelly Farthing 21st August 2009 Organic recycling company Turfnet sees huge potential in South Africa for vermicompost, an organic compost that is believed to be the cleanest form of organics in the world. →

Roll-out of new glass banks locally

21st August 2009 The national body responsible for increasing the recovery of waste glass for recycling, The Glass Recycling Company, has rolled out 700 new glass banks with an improved design. →

Local company takes off in Western Cape waste management market

21st August 2009 Mobile crushing, screening and washing solutions company Pilot Crushtec has experienced a sharp increase in the sale of equipment to waste management businesses in the Western Cape during the past three years. →

Hydrochlorofluorocarbon legislation requires strategic decisions

21st August 2009 Imports of refrigerants containing virgin hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) will face heavy restrictions from next year and businesses need to start planning now to prevent the onset of escalating costs for retrofitting and recycling, warns Afrox speciality gases’ manager Robert Carlton-Shields. →

Cape Town takes on new waste management bylaw

21st August 2009 The City of Cape Town is the first municipality in the country to introduce a new waste management bylaw in line with new national legislation. →

PET waste  recycling doubles in four years

21st August 2009 The plastic bottle or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling industry has nearly doubled its tonnage since 2005 through the introduction of the voluntary recycling levy for producers of the plastic. →

Game reserve takes on waste management

By: Kelly Farthing 21st August 2009 Mmasebudule Recycling Company located in the Madikwe game reserve, in North West province, has recycled over 200 t of glass and 10 t of cans generated within the reserve. →

SA academics taking part in global bioenergy initiative

By: Leandi Kolver 21st August 2009 A new project has been launched at the University of Stellenbosch in response to the growing uncertainty about whether the world should look to bioenergy, such as biofuels, heat and electricity, to play a prominent role in the future. →

Carbon capture seen as transition measure as SA moves to cut fossil fuel reliance

By: Chanel de Bruyn 19th August 2009 Carbon capture and storage (CCS) was a transition measure between South Africa’s reliance on fossil fuels to a greater reliance on nuclear or renewable energy forms, South African National Energy Research Institute (Saneri) senior manager Tony Surridge said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Energy... →

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