UP ready to assist government’s transition to cleaner energy

UP welcomed the announcement at the COP26 Climate Change Conference for the promised donation to South Africa.

UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Tawana Kupe said the grant would assist South Africa to ease the environmental and health impacts of the power sector.

Kupe said the university was also working to find solutions to climate challenges and their impact on the environment, health and prosperity, through its multi-disciplinary platforms such as Future Africa, Innovation Africa@UP, the Forestry and Agriculture Biochemistry Institute, and Engineering 4.0.

He said the university had several research projects focusing on cleaner energy.

Kupe said UP had focused its works on transitioning to cleaner energy and on using agriculture and forestry systems to offset carbon excess.

“Africa can lead the charge in developing the green economy and jobs, and investment from wealthier nations is critical.

“UP stands ready to work with the South African government to move these efforts forward.”

Kupe said it was time to take action against climate change “as time is moving on, while Africa has suffered the brunt of the effects of carbon emissions emanating from the developed world”.

UP head of Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, Professor Raj Naidoo said the UP had established itself as a leader in clean energy research.

“It has a close relationship with the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANDEDI), Rand Water, and the Department of Mineral Resource and Energy (DMRE).

“Being within the City of Tshwane, we have also established strong ties with our local municipality. Together, we are paving the way for new approaches to solving Africa’s energy crisis.”

Naidoo said UP had Smart Grid Labs, which offered a fresh approach to clean energy.

“A key project for us is on data and knowledge management within the clean energy space. We are helping SANEDI and DMRE to develop new systems for energy management.

“The accuracy, completeness, timeliness, regularity and relevance, as well as credibility of data are important and therefore assessing the quality of energy data requires thinking in terms of energy data management systems with components that need to be well managed to be effective.”

Deputy Director of the Future Africa Institute at UP, Dr Neeraj Mistry said the commitment of the donation to South Africa should be seen as a forerunner investment and model for other African countries.