Defence Force urged to revive ‘neglected’ Works Formation

Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence has called for the Department of Defence (DoD) to revive and capacitate the Defence Works Formation, and to treat this as a matter of urgency. The... 

South African Astronomical Observatory has added important capabilities this year

The South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), a ‘business unit’ of the National Research Foundation, is focused on optical astronomy and formally came into being in 1972, although it can... 

Combat energy poverty as well as achieve decarbonisation - Mantashe

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe on Tuesday warned that the need to transition to low-carbon energy sources sat “uncomfortably” with energy poverty in Africa. He did so in his... 

African aviation bounces back to pre-Covid levels, except in Southern Africa

Africa’s aviation sector was recovering strongly from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but Southern Africa was lagging significantly behind the continent’s other three IATA sub-regions (East... 

New funding to help Africa adapt to climate change announced

New funding, totalling $55-million, to help African countries to adapt to the effects of climate change, was announced by four West European countries at the Africa Adaptation Summit on Tuesday.... 

Kenyan, Japanese groups ink geothermal power MoU

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the predominantly (70%) State-owned Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation... 

Stellenbosch University researcher wins UK scientific award

University of Stellenbosch Biomedical Sciences Department Professor Novel Chegou has been awarded the Royal Society’s Africa Prize for 2022, the university announced on Wednesday. The Royal Society... 

US President approves extension of nuclear cooperation pact with South Africa

US President Joe Biden has approved the proposed agreement with South Africa to extend the two countries’ agreement on cooperation regarding the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. This approval took... 

Local defence company, business school partner to give graduates workplace experience

South African defence company Saab Grintek Defence (Saab Grintek), a subsidiary of Sweden’s Saab group, has partnered with the Sisekelo Institute of Business and Technology (Sisekelo) to implement... 

UK atomic agency selects engineering consortium to help deliver nuclear fusion project

The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), which is that country’s agency for the development of nuclear fusion power, has selected a consortium, led by design, engineering and project management... 

Dow’s US plant to be powered by small nuclear reactor

US-based global multinational materials science company Dow, most famous for its chemical production (concentrated in subsidiary Dow Chemicals), has announced that it had signed a Letter of Intent... 

IATA welcomes support for long-term net-zero aviation

The outcome of the recent International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) High Level Meeting (in preparation for the United Nations specialised agency’s forty-first Assembly, to be held later this... 

Southern Africa lags in adoption of sustainable aviation fuel, despite great potential

At the recent Farnborough International Airshow, in England, US-based global major aerospace group Boeing unveiled a new tool to model data, which it designated Cascade, which was created to map... 

Global airline body reports strong recovery in air passenger traffic

The representative body of the global airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (Iata), has reported that air passenger traffic in May this year showed an accelerating recovery,... 

UK-funded low-carbon technology programme calling for proposals in South Africa

The UK government-funded Climate Finance Accelerator (CFA) programme’s South African operation is calling for investment proposals from local low-carbon projects that would fight climate change but... 

Rolls-Royce buys German hydrogen PEM cell company

UK-based global major power and propulsion systems and technologies group Rolls-Royce on Wednesday announced the development of turbogenerator technology, to advance the implementation of... 

Sasol, German aircraft maker sign agreement to develop sustainable aviation fuels

South African chemicals and energy company Sasol signed, on Wednesday, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with German aircraft manufacturer Deutsche Aircraft, on developing Sustainable Aviation... 

Inclusion of nuclear in EU’s future energy plan rejected

Two European Parliament committees have voted against the European Commission’s plan to include nuclear energy and gas in the European Union’s (EU’s) future energy taxonomy. (The European... 

Airbus launches zero carbon flight centre in UK

Europe-based global major aerospace group Airbus has announced that it has set up a Zero Emission Development Centre (ZEDC) in the UK. The ZEDC, which is located at Filton, near Bristol, in... 

South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope makes unprecedented discovery yet again

South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope array has again proven its worth with yet another unprecedented discovery: what appears to be an unusually slowly rotating radio-emitting neutron star. The... 

Southern African airlines in Catch-22 as costs rise amid fragile demand

To all practical intents and purposes, the Covid-19 pandemic hit Southern Africa just over two years ago. The pandemic and the measures adopted by the region’s governments to try and counter it... 

Belgium to fund development of advanced small modular nuclear reactors

The Belgian government has announced that it will provide funding of €100-million for research into advanced small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). The money will be given to the country’s SCK-CEN... 

South African food inflation slowed a little in April, but still heading up

South African food (and non-alcoholic beverages) inflation decelerated slightly last month, in both year-on-year (y-o-y) and month-on-month (m-o-m) terms, the Bureau for Food and Agricultural... 

Black hole at centre of the Milky Way successfully imaged

The international scientific collaboration known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has published the first ever images of the black hole, designated Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), which sits at the... 

Global nuclear body launches commercial hydrogen production roadmap initiative

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has announced that it is to develop a roadmap for the commercial scale production of hydrogen using nuclear power. This was because hydrogen was... 

Local sustainable aviation fuel production will yield enviro, socioeconomic benefits – WWF SA

A report compiled for the World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (better known as WWF SA) has concluded that the local production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) would bring major economic... 

Necsa starts process to replace venerable Safari-1 reactor

The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has, with the approval of Cabinet, started the process that should result in it acquiring a new nuclear research reactor, to replace its current... 

Zambian energy crisis opening way to clean energy for the country and its mines

The energy crisis in Zambia had created a situation in which the country could combine increasing its electricity generation capacity with a simultaneous transition to low-carbon renewable energy... 

Minerals Council assures it has a strong focus on safety and health in the mining industry

The Minerals Council South Africa gave a strong assurance, at a media briefing at the Mining Indaba 2022 conference in Cape Town on Wednesday, that it was acting to halt and reverse the regression... 

Innovative technologies being developed in SA and Scandinavia to increase mining’s sustainability

Innovative technologies to help the mining and minerals processing sectors transition to low-carbon operations and sustainability were the topic at a business breakfast hosted by the Embassies of... 

DRC seeking to encourage investment in mining and local beneficiation

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde has stressed his government’s commitment to responsibly managing the country’s mineral resources, facilitating investment... 

Minerals Council president urges miners to be uncompromising on safety and be inclusive

Minerals Council of South Africa president Nolitha Fakude has urged South African mining companies to bring their environmental, social and corporate governance (better known as ESG) policies,... 

Zambian President calls on African leaders to act, not talk, regarding economic development

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has called for African countries to exploit their resources “properly, strategically and cleverly”. He was delivering a keynote address at the first day of the... 

Mantashe highlights importance and opportunity of mining in Africa

South African Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has stressed the need for mining to be used to achieve wider economic development across Africa. He was delivering one of the... 

Airbus concludes wind tunnel tests on nature-mimicking wing design

Europe-based global major aerospace group Airbus has announced that it has completed wind-tunnel testing of its new wing technology demonstrator, the eXtra Performance Wing. This is part of the... 

Rolls-Royce optimistic its SMR design will be approved quickly

Rolls-Royce SMR, the UK-based global power and propulsion system manufacturing group Rolls-Royce’s small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) subsidiary, hopes that it will receive UK regulatory approval... 

MeerKAT makes a ‘big boss’ of a discovery

An international group of scientists from Australia, Chile, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, the UK and the US as well as from South Africa, have made a... 

SANDF exploiting modern technologies against extremists in Mozambique

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) was seeking to use modern technology to help defeat Islamist extremists in the Cado Delgado province in north east... 

UK goes big on nuclear, offshore wind for its future and secure low-carbon energy

The UK officially confirmed on Thursday that, to ensure the country’s energy security and independence, while also moving more rapidly to achieving net-zero carbon emissions energy, it was going to... 

Food inflation accelerates again, and could get much worse, warns research group

Food inflation in South Africa continues to accelerate, the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) has reported. In its 'Food Inflation Brief' for February, released on Wednesday, it notes...