As part of a visit to South Africa last week (4-7 September 2013), a high-level Swiss government, business and science delegation, was hosted at the CSIR on 6 September. It was led by Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.
Dr Sibusiso Sibisi, CSIR Chief Executive Officer, welcomed the delegation, which included representatives of prominent Swiss organisations like Novartis, the Roche Group and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Luasanne and Zürich). “Switzerland is a long-time partner to South African institutions and the idea behind the visit is to strengthen these ties, and see how we can go further in our collaboration,” said Schneider-Ammann.
Drs Rachel Chikwamba and Sibusiso Sibisi welcome Swill Federal Councillor Johann Scheneider-Ammann to the CSIR.
The visit – managed by Berenice Lue, Group Manager: Strategic Partnerships – was hosted at CSIR Biosciences, where Acting Executive Director Dr Daniel Visser invited the group for a tour of the unit’s facilities. The walk-about included visits to the emerging health technologies and natural product technologies facilities, which were led by the respective competence area managers, Dr Makobetsa Khati and Dr Vinesh Maharaj. The delegation also expressed an interest in the CSIR’s work in battery technology, renewable energy, titanium, advanced manufacturing and the natural environment.
Dr Rachel Chikwamba, CSIR Group Executive: Strategic Alliances and Communication, said that it had been “a pleasure for the CSIR to be among the select organisations to be visited by this high calibre Swiss delegation”. She reiterated the sentiments expressed by the Swiss by stating that she hoped that the visit would ultimately strengthen the on-going cooperation between the CSIR and Swiss organisations.
In closing, Schneider-Ammann said that his delegation “followed the explanations of CSIR research with great interest and although this visit was a modest starting point, we promise to come back and hopefully develop new projects together”.
Click here to view a picture gallery of the visit.
SA industry energy savings impresses Swiss trade delegation
The delegation’s final stop on 7 September was a visit to an industry plant that had benefitted from the Industrial Energy Efficiency (IEE) Project run by the CSIR-hosted National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA).
Swiss Federal Councillor Johann Schnieder-Ammann shares insights on the Consol plant tour with a member of his delegation.
The team at Consol Glass in Wadeville, Gauteng made arrangements to host the delegation, which was given an overview of the energy-efficiency projects underway at the plant and the successes of the IEE Project as a whole.
The Swiss government, through the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Cooperation and Development (SECO), is one of the donor partners of the IEE Project. The focus of Swiss financial assistance in South Africa is on environmental issues in general and superficially on energy efficiency and renewable energy.
According to Markus Schrader, SECO’s representative on the IEE Project steering committee, the Swiss approach to assistance is not to simply give money, but to ensure the sharing of knowledge and building capacity in developing countries such as South Africa. Addressing the gathering at Consol Glass, he commended all the companies who have embraced the opportunity to make an environmental and economic difference through energy efficiency.
Federal Councillor Schneider-Ammann and his delegation found the plant visit highly “informative and interesting”. The men and women saw first-hand how molten glass was transformed into beverage bottles in a vastly energy-intensive process. In addition to the furnaces that create the tremendous heat needed to melt the glass, compressed air is used to shape the bottles in the moulds and fan systems ensure cooling in a controlled manner to prevent weaknesses in the glass.
According to Faith Mkhacwa, who manages the Console plant participation from the IEE Project side, the plant has a vast list of energy management system and energy systems optimisation implementation opportunities identified. The Consol team hopes to appoint a full-time energy manager for the company and a number of the plant engineers are undergoing expert level IEE training.
News contributed by Julie Wells, NCPC-SA and Nonkululeko Kubeka, CSIR Strategic Communication
12 September 2013
