Home-grown science to resuscitate South African economy
- PDF / 132,955 Bytes
- 1 Pages / 585 x 783 pts Page_size
- 67 Downloads / 162 Views
Home-grown science to resuscitate South African economy www.dst.gov.za
W
ith declining commodity prices and the dwindling demand for natural resources, the work of South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) is focused on shaping a knowledge economy. The DST has identifi ed research and development (R&D)-driven new industries which, although not necessarily new internationally, are nevertheless new in South Africa. One of these “home-grown” industries is the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology (HFCT) Program, which is yielding exciting results with the launch of prototypes using HFCT in sectors like mining, according to DST. The government embarked on the program in 2008 with the launch of Hydrogen South Africa (HySA). The vision was to add value to South Africa’s Platinum Group Metals. At the time DST realized that hydrogen fuel-cell technology is an industry that is nascent and that, globally, people are trying to grow knowledge in this field. In addition, it is also a source of alternative energy. Three centers of competence (CoCs) were established through the Cabinetapproved HySA Strategy. The CoCs drive R&D work in HFCT technology. The first CoC was established at the University of Cape Town and Mintek to do research in catalysis; another was established at the University of the Western Cape, focusing on hydrogen and fuel-cell system integration and technology validation; and the third is a joint CoC hosted by the government agency CSIR and North-West University, focusing on infrastructure for hydrogen production, distribution, and storage. A three-phase program began in 2008, where the first phase started from scratch by establishing R&D capabilities. The DST provided the infrastructure, which included supporting postgraduate students to do the research. The second phase, which runs from 2014 to 2019, focuses on technology demonstration and testing, as well
as delivering products to the market. Creating jobs and establishing spinoff companies is another byproduct of phase two. Recent results from this phase can be seen in the mining industry, where DST Minister Naledi Pandor unveiled a HFCT-powered forklift and refueling station for local industry. These technology demonstrators were launched by the DST, together with Impala Platinum in Springs and HySA Systems, based at the University of the Western Cape. Impala will use the locally developed HFCT components for their underground utility vehicles. The fuel-cell-powered forklift and the 200-bar refueling station (comprising a compressor with a metal-hydride extension tank developed by HySA Systems) has been in operation at the Impala Platinum Refinery since October 2015. The metal-hydride compressor and direct hydrogen feed make this a very unique system, which could be replicated in other materials-handling industries. The third phase will focus on sales, the number of jobs created, export revenue, and the market share created. According to the Annual Fuel Cell Review 2015, the total revenue of companies operating in the HFCT sector was just short
Data Loading...
