Electricity + Control September 2015

LIGHT + CURRENT

Water trumps energy as a red boardroom issue

Water is now a key economic business risk discussed in board- rooms, rather than the ‘green issue’ it has been categorised as previously, said Dr Inga Jacobs of the Water Research Commis- sion. Further, water drives crucial aspects of energy generation in South Africa. “For the first time, water tops the charts for the highest global risk in terms of devastation, ahead of nuclear war or a global pandemic,” she continued. Dr Jacobs was speaking at the ‘Emerg- ing Frontiers for SustainableWater’ trilateral conference between South Africa, India and the United Kingdom, hosted by the Uni- versity of Johannesburg (UJ). Physical and economic scarcity of water “In South Africa, we are dealing with quite a severe physical scarcity of water, but also an increasingly severe economic scar- city of water.” Looking at countries with good economic water security, she says, several trends stand out. “In those countries there is a robust, well-maintained water infrastructure. Water secure countries also tend to have smart, responsible water users. An example is Singapore, where if you visit, people appear to function as if they are living in a permanent drought.These countries tend to have sustained pools of highly- talented people managing and maintaining their water systems and national systems of innovation. They invest significantly in knowledge-based solutions and good partnerships with academia and research entities,” she said. Water-energy nexus “This is why theWater Research Commission is now also consider- ing funding late-stage research which requires substantial funding to take to market or to be included in government policy. One of our big initiatives is with Eskom, where we have identified a basket WEG has received the prestigious Company of theYear Award for Brazil in the annual research survey undertaken by the financial and business magazine Exame. The well-respected publication issued the list of the 1 000 Best and Biggest companies in Brazil, highlighting the 18 winners by business segment. The awards ceremony took place on 1 July in São Paulo and recognised WEG as the best company within all business segments for its commit- ment to economic and financial growth and performance in 2014. Harry Schmelzer Jr, chief executive officer of WEG, says: “This specific award reflects the efforts of the company’s entire team. These are the cultural fundamentals created by our founders and have allowed us to growWEG into a global player.” “The award stands testament to the WEG Group business philosophy of researching and defining solutions that are geared towards satisfying specific customer needs. We are proud to be a member of the WEG Group of companies and we will continue to leverage the advantages of belonging to a global leader, to the

of water-energy projects being implemented or researched,” said Dr Jacobs.The water-energy nexus becomes evenmore significant in the face of increasing urbanisation and population growth on a continent facing regional desertification. “There are more than 1,2 billion people on theAfrican continent today. In about 85 years, we can expect to have closer to two billion people in Africa,” said ProfessorTshilidzi Marwala, deputy vice-chancellor: Research from the UJ. New approach needed “How are we going to supply clean and safe water and sanitation to all these people? Studies show that South Africa will become dryer in the next 30 years and that we lose close to 30% of our water in distribution systems. Meanwhile we depend on water from an independent country, Lesotho.The effective utilisation of water resources, as well as efficient management and reducing waste is at the centre of the economy and politics of SouthAfrica. No development can succeed without water.” New approaches will be needed to confront these challenges, said Prof Catherine Ngila, head of the Department of Applied Chemistry at the UJ. “The issues we face are partly due to water pollution from increased activity in the agriculture, mining, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and petroleum industries.These industries sup- ply the demands of an increasing population.There is a growing need for developing and adopting new technologies to test and treat contaminated water and recycle waste water in an afford- able manner.” Enquiries: Dr Inga Jacobs.Tel. 012 330 9014, 083 401 7625 or email ingaj@wrc.org.za Professor Catherine Ngila. Tel. 011 559 6196 or email jcngila@uj.ac.za

Best and biggest in Brazil

benefit of our local customer base,” says Louis Meiring, ZestWEG Group chief executive officer. Enquiries: Kirsten Larkan.Tel. 011 723 6000 or email kirstenl@zest.co.za

Electricity+Control September ‘15

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