Difference between revisions of "Team:Pretoria UP/HP/Silver"

Dr Surridge-Talbot is engaged as Centre Manager for the Renewable Energy Centre of Research and Development (RECORD) at the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI). This centre is mandated, through the government act (National Energy Act 2008, no. 34) that established SANEDI, to coordinate renewable energy research and development in South Africa.

During 2012 Dr Surridge-Talbot visited many solar installation and research facilities in Spain and Germany to observe and learn from global expertise and experience in this sector. Finally, Dr Surridge-Talbot is also currently serving on the council of the South African Coal Ash Association (SACAA) as well as on the executive committee of the South African Solar Energy Association (SASEA).

Question 1: SANEDI is a state owned entity established under section 7 of the national energy act 34 of 2008.Can you briefly explain what this implies and what the responsibility of the institute as a whole is? What are your responsibilities as the centre manager of the renewable energy centre of research and development? What do you and your team do on a daily basis?

Cleaner fossil fuels program (coal, oil, gas): Capturing CO2 and injecting it below ground, it then calcifies and becomes part of the rock .It can then be used to make electricity. Depleted gas fields work best for this approach. Geological formation gas maps are used to show where these depleted gas fields are. An example of this Sasol in Secunda where they capture their CO2, which must be more than 90% pure making this a good source of CO2 to inject back into the ground.

1. Green Energy Technologies: Renewable Energy and Cleaner fossil fuels. It’s important to align these technologies with the government's’ goals.
2. Green Transport: Electrical Vehicles. Looking at the potential for using electrical vehicles, clean fuels, e.g. biofuels. The plan is to use greener transport technologies for communal transport, such as busses and taxis.
3. Energy Efficiency: A process that is aimed towards moving corporate companies to a cleaner usage of energy. Efficiency officers go into companies and analyse their energy usage and propose ways in which they can better use the energy, then after a certain period the energy efficiency is compared to their previous methods. The amount of energy saved is given back as a tax break.
   SANEDI works very closely with Eskom, in order to evaluate how each company may impact each other. With the aim of finding ways of integrating rather than upgrading because it is more expensive to upgrade.
4. Smart Grids: Meters which allow for the monitoring of the energy flux. Can be used to pinpoint the exact energy consumption. This also gives a good indication of what infrastructure should be implemented. These smart meters are installed at the municipality and the users (homes).
5. Working for energy program: This program branched from the water working for water program which focused on removing invasive plant species from the water systems, this resulted in a large biomass from these plants. Working for energy program then uses this biomass to generate energy which is mainly used household needs such as lighting.
6. Skills development program:
7. Renewable Energy Program: Consists of two main programs the Record Operation program and the Record Implementation program.
   Record Operation: Evaluates what is needed to allow for efficient implementation of new energy technologies. Also raise awareness about these technologies and communicate with stakeholders. Researchers are also contacted and information about the projects they are working on are recorded. These researchers are then contacted to form a researcher's platform
   Record Implementation: Partnering with other programs to fund what the researchers’ platform agrees in alignment with the government's aims. This also serves the purpose of distributing knowledge about recent technologies and getting people to work together on the same project.
   There is all these new energy developments arising but there are limited skilled people to work and service these new developments. Many of these new industries are funded and run by foreign companies, however the government has come to a binding agreement with these companies .The agreement is that if these companies use our land, they need to employ South African people and train technicians to service these new industries. These companies also need to develop the community, use local materials and develop infrastructure where there isn’t any. The renewable energy program also works to give advice to the government on policies.

Question 2: Where does our project fit in? Does it have the potential to be adopted or implemented in the future?

• The one problem we’d have with our project is from a social point. As it may face the same problems as with GMO’S if the final application of synthesising the aptamers in-vivo leading to self-assembly of the entire system.
• However in the forestry industry waste products can be used to generate electricity as long as the project does not affect the quality of wood.
• SANEDI has programs where they do resource assessment, they have weather stations powered by PVCs placed in the sky but is connected to electricity supply on the ground. They then face problems such as the electricity supply equipment are stolen. Therefore from a security point of view our device “wattsaptamer” can have a huge application. (Useful in monitoring and security equipment)

The women in energy business summit is hosted by the national department of energy as an effort to economically empower of south african women.The theme of this event is “women in energy united in moving south africa forward” and is aimed at encouraging about a 1000 women from all nine provinces to participate in the energy sector as entrepreneurs,investors, professionals and leaders in the energy field. The conference also seeks to raise awareness on relevant energy issues and promote programs such as energy efficiency.

Our team, sponsored by SANEDI, used the women in energy business summit as a platform to raise awareness of synthetic biology, our project as well as get people's general views and concerns. We set up a stall where we displayed two posters ,one on our project and the other on the general applications of synthetic biology. We managed interact with many of the people who attended the event who we educated on what synthetic biology is. Finally we were able to have in depth conversions with 30 delegates of whom none knew much about synthetic biology.They were quite interested in the future of the project and to know about how they could invest in its development.

The Lesedi project is a solar photovoltaic power generation plant that produces clean electrical energy using thousands of polycrystalline modules, vital for the economic growth and development of the region and greater South Africa.The project is playing its part in helping South Africa meet its renewable energy targets, with the added benefit of stimulating long-term economic development and job creation. The construction phase provided economic and skills training benefits to the people from the nearby communities.Miss Dikeledi is a representative of the Lesedi Power Project which was one of the exhibitors at the summit.

Q: Can tell us more about Lesedi Power Project?
A: Lesedi Power Project is an independent power producer. They generate electricity using solar panels on a large scale. Their main client is ESKOM. They are connected to the national grid and from their two solar farms in Bloemfontein .From each solar farm they supply 4mW electricity to ESKOM.

Q: What do you think about renewable energy?
A: A few years ago renewable energy was only a small concept in South Africa that could not be implemented because of the cost involved. However, at the moment although it is very expensive to start up because of all the equipment required it is quite cost effective in that in the long run these new renewable energy strategies help save on electricity usage. For instance, with solar panels installed in houses electricity of up to 3 years is saved. Also renewable energy technologies have a positive effect on the environment and going green is the way to go. It is the way forward for South Africa since it doesn’t involve harassing the atmosphere and placing pressures on the environment. It is a long way to go but it’s a good start.

Q: Does Lesedi Power project do the installations of the solar panels?
A: Lesedi Power Projects don’t do any residential installations but have close relationships with the companies who do these installations.

Q: Do you know about synthetic biology?
A: No, I heard synthetic biology from the Pretoria_UP IGEM team.

Q: What is your opinion about our project?
A: Your project is something that can implemented in the long run and I’m looking forward to its development.

Q: Do you have any concerns/comments about our project?
A: Whether this project will mean that plants will be killed and trees will be chopped down to produce energy on a large scale. The environmental impact of the project as a whole and how practical/feasible the project would be on an industrial scale.

1. South African Coal Ash Association 2015, Dr. A. Karen. J. Surridge - Talbot, viewed 06 October 2016, available at http://www.coalash.co.za/karensurridgephoto.jpg.

2. Power Technology 2016, Lesedi Solar PV Project, Kimberly, South Africa, viewed 06 October 2016, available at http://static.progressivemediagroup.com/uploads/imagelibrary/Mines/2l-Image.jpg.