Cape Town CBD launches energy efficiency initiative
Hub for Postgraduate Programme in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies awarded to Stellenbosch University - 5 June 2006
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Stellenbosch University has been awarded the responsibility to act as the hub of a Postgraduate Programme in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies by the newly formed South African National Energy Research Institute (SANERI), a division of the Central Energy Fund (CEF). The hub will be supplemented by a number of research chairs forming the spokes of a hub and spoke model.
| Title: Hub for Postgraduate Programme in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies awarded to Stellenbosch University Contact: Prof Wikus van Niekerk (082 256 4131) wikus@sun.ac.za Mr Kevin Nassiep () of SANERI dinahp@saneri.org.za The official launch of the Programme took place on Thursday 3rd August at the Sustainability Institute in Lynedoch/Stellenbosch when the contract was signed by Prof Walter Claassen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) of Stellenbosch University and Mr Mphuthumi Damane, Chair of the Board of SANERI and CEO of the Central Energy Fund. During the event Mr Kevin Nassiep, the recently appointed CEO of SANERI, acted as the Master of Ceremony.
The overall objective of this initiative is to develop and enhance national capacity in renewable and sustainable energy in support of accelerated and shared economic growth. This will be achieved by building the human resource capacity, by creating and disseminating knowledge, and lastly by stimulating innovation and enterprise in the field of renewable and sustainable energy.
Stellenbosch University has established research and teaching expertise spanning a wide spectrum in renewable energy, from solar and wind energy to conversion of biomass into liquid fuel.
The Department of Mechanical Engineering has a long history of involvement with the South African power generation industry, delivering valuable research results that frequently led to improvements in the efficiency of power stations. An example is the work of Prof Detlev Kröger (who was awarded an A rating as researcher by the NRF) in sustainable energy technology. Prof Kröger's successful realisation of waterless cooling for the largest power stations of their kind in the world (Kendal in Johannesburg and Matimba in Ellisras) earned him worldwide recognition as one of the world’s leading experts in dry-air cooling. This technology is of particular importance to South Africa in the light of the severe limitation on water resources, especially in the North-West province.
Over the last seven years the Department has also focussed on bulk renewable solar power generation. The solar chimney type power station is an example, where a number of research projects were successfully completed. Prof Theo von Backström’s expertise in wind turbines, based on his life-long research in turbo-machinery, augments the thermal expertise in the Department.
In the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering novel electrical machines are studied to be used in wind and hydro energy applications. A number of projects in energy storage, an important component of renewable energy systems, have been completed over the years. The Department of Process Engineering built and commissioned a pilot plant for the extraction of ethanol from fermentation wastes and for the production of biodiesel. Prof Emile van Zyl of the Microbiology Department is the research leader in the recombinant production of lignocellulolytic enzymes in yeast and filamentous fungal (Aspergillus) hosts in South Africa. Using genetic engineering Prof Van Zyl is developing yeast strains to convert biomass efficiently into bio-commodities, such as bioethanol. Currently, they are the leading group world-wide that could demonstrate one-step fermentation of acid-treated cellulose to bioethanol using recombinant yeast strains.
The Department of Forest & Wood Science and other departments at the Faculty of AgriSciences have recently completed projects in the production and sustainable supply of biomass, an important aspect of renewable natural resources. The planning and implementation of energy plantations, and its possible contribution to rural development, will become important fields of research and training within the hub.
A number of other researchers across at least four faculties will be involved in the hub, making it a truly trans-disciplinary programme. In this regard it is also envisioned that students from backgrounds other than science and engineering will be accepted into the programme.
The Sustainability Institute, an international living and learning centre located outside Stellenbosch, in partnership with the School of Public Management and Planning at Stellenbosch University, will be involved as a primary partner in the programme. Prof Mark Swilling is the academic director of the Sustainability Institute and Professor in the School of Public Management and Planning at the University. The Sustainability Institute will participate in the programme by sharing modules, research projects and students.
The primary objective of the Postgraduate Programme in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies at the University will be to train scientists and engineers with the required technical expertise to unlock the country’s renewable energy resources on the one hand and implement appropriate technology for using sustainable energy on the other. It is expected that the first postgraduate students will start their studies in February 2007.
For more information contact Prof Wikus van Niekerk (wikus@sun.ac.za) or Mr Kevin Nassiep (Dinahp@saneri.org.za).
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Last modified 2006-08-07 11:21 AM
Last modified 2006-08-07 11:21 AM
