Adrian Hargrave, CEO of SEEEN, explains how the new funds will accelerate customer growth Watch the video here.
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-01-26-business-maverick-interview-mining-sector-can-help-vaccinate-3-million-lays-out-wish-list/
In a Q & A with Business Maverick, Roger Baxter, CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa, says the mining sector has the capacity to help vaccinate up to three million people, can streamline 2 gigawatts of renewable energy if bottle necks are removed and outlines a wish list for government policy...
https://reliefweb.int/report/jordan/un-habitat-and-royal-scientific-society-rss-implement-covid-19-response-project-jordan
The Royal Scientific Society (RSS) and UN-Habitat signed an agreement for a joint research project - “COVID-19 in the Wastewater Cycle: Survival, Risk and Surveillance in Jordan” initiated by the UN agency’s Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance Programme (GWOPA).
The COVID-19 pandemic has reignited interest in wastewater surveillance, specifically how sewage systems are monitored for the presence of viruses, bacteria and other pathogens. The concentration of COVID-19 in wastewater samples provides an early alert to address potential cases, and the detection of the virus in sewage has been employed as a complementary method to clinical testing and indicator of virus’ spread in communities.
Poor urban communities and refugee camps are most vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks given the dense and crowded settings, compounded by reduced financial capacity to conduct PCR testing, when needed. Jordan has the second highest refugee population per capita in the world, although approximately 83% are urban-based, the remainder live in one of the 13 refugee camps in Jordan (i.e. 10 camps for Palestinians and 3 for Syrians), according to UNRWA and UNHCR (2020).
Considering the limited resources in Jordan for conducting massive COVID-19 tests, immediate wastewater results can provide considerable advance notice of infection dynamics in Jordanian communities, particularly in vulnerable communities and refugee camps. In that regard, the joint project will be implemented over 6 months to address the presence and fate of COVID-19 in the wastewater cycle from the source points at King Abdullah University Hospital (Figure 1) in Irbid to the wastewater treatment plant. The project will propose a sustainable early warning system in Azraq Syrian refugee camp (Figure 2) and Jerash Palestinian refugee camp (Figure 3) through tracking and monitoring COVID-19 in wastewater. The Water and Environment Centre and Bio-Safety and Bio-Security Centre at the RSS, will be in charge of implementing this project, which seeks to complement the efforts of RSS in wastewater monitoring and assessment across Jordan.
The Royal Scientific Society is the largest applied research institution, consultancy and technical support service provider in Jordan and is a regional leader in the fields of science & technology. RSS advocates for a customer–centric approach and demonstrates an unwavering commitment to the people of Jordan.
The project is expected to benefit between 70,000 and 80,000 people, including the scientific community in Jordan, and residents of the Azraq refugee camp - home to 36,874 registered Syrian refugees - and Jerash refugee camp – home to more than 29,000 registered Palestinian refugees – as well as officials from the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MoWI) and wastewater treatment plant staff
https://m.engineeringnews.co.za/article/trilateral-partnership-mou-signed-to-develop-flow-battery-technology-for-shipping-2021-01-07/rep_id:4433
Integrated green technology company VanadiumCorp Resource has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a trilateral partnership with Conoship International Projects from the Netherlands and Vega Reederei and Partners from Germany.
Key engineering work is planned to commercially develop next-generation vanadium redox flow-battery (RFB) technology and high-energy-density electrolyte technologies for marine propulsion applications.
The MoU outlines a trilateral partnership to be incorporated as a special purpose vehicle (SPV). The SPV combines the shipping industry expertise of Conoship and Vega with technical innovations from VanadiumCorp.
The SPV will develop a next-generation RFB stack based on a breakthrough high-energy-density vanadium electrolyte that is specifically formulated for marine propulsion applications
VanadiumCorp will contribute new flow-battery designs, a high-energy-density electrolyte formulation, manage research and development and provide access to its network of manufacturing partners.
Conoship will contribute marine engineering designs to integrate the more compact redox flow battery into the propulsion systems of marine vessels and ships.
Vega will arrange project financing, contribute fleet operations expertise and conduct field testing of the marine battery prototype.
The SPV targets zero-emission shipping markets with next-generation RFBs.
"Greenhouse-gas reduction is exceptionally challenging for the shipping industry. The industry's 2050 climate goal of halving greenhouse-gas emissions from 2008 levels can only be achieved with the accelerated construction of zero-emission ships and novel solutions," says VanadiumCorp CEO Adriaan Bakker.
VanadiumCorp anticipates that the SPV project will begin shortly and that definitive agreements will be concluded within the first quarter of this year.
Clean drinking water is massive business, all over the world;
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/govt-agencies-to-take-control-of-water?amp=1#aoh=16087668470570&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s
https://www.biznews.com/sa-investing/2020/12/23/energy-sector
South Africa’s energy sector has no choice but to change. Decarbonisation is key to the country’s emissions goals. Energy expert Chris Yelland has been watching the industry’s chaotic decline for decades. Load-shedding, as employed by the state power utility Eskom, wastes millions of rands a day in undelivered power and hampers the already-struggling economy. Eskom has swallowed billions in taxpayers’ money. Meanwhile the government throws good money after bad, flouting its own rules. Yelland unpacks the bureaucratic dead ends in regulation and the lack of political will that has brought the sector to its current state of apathy and disrepair. – Melani Nathan...
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/yorkshire-river-bathing-water-status-b1777524.html
Yorkshire river first in UK to be given bathing water status after campaign to make it cleaner and safer...
They need that Qcode.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-55392619
"There are two meetings going on in Brussels, which could ultimately determine whether or not UK travellers will have to face the same set of restrictions no matter where they travel to in the EU.
The first is a meeting of health officials, focused on examining this new mutated virus variant, using data sent from UK scientists.
Then, officials in the EU’s crisis response team will meet to try and co-ordinate a single set of rules that every country can apply to UK travellers.
But no decision is expected today. That’s the job for EU ambassadors when they meet via video conference tomorrow morning.
One French official told me that they are desperate to reopen the borders "as soon as safely possible" and one option being put forward is to allow borders to reopen, but demand that UK travellers prove they have had a negative Covid test in the 24 hours prior to arrival in each member state. That would include tests for lorry drivers crossing the channel.
There is a hotchpotch of travel restrictions in place at the moment, with 17 European countries coming up with their own short-term solutions. Spanish, Greek, Italian and Danish officials say would like to see a common approach.
Several officials have told me they fear the stable door may have closed after the horse has bolted; that despite the measures, they may soon identify many more cases around the continent."
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/12/21/vanadium-redox-flow-battery-integrating-cigs-modules/
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/12/19/storen-tech-provides-first-of-its-kind-vanadium-flow-battery-to-australia/
Australia has taken another step toward greater use of battery energy storage thanks to a new 30 kWh StorEn vanadium flow battery that was installed for use in a renewable hydrogen plant at Queensland University of Technology (QUT)...
https://www.kunr.org/post/nevada-s-vast-stores-lithium-could-fuel-energy-transition-what-cost
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/army-develops-spray-to-kill-coronavirus
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/invinity-flow-battery-costs-fell-30-post-merger-says-exec
When two of the long-duration flow battery sector’s leaders ran into problems, a frequent partner, vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals, suggested they should discuss a merger.
The U.K.’s RedT Energy and U.S. firm Avalon completed that process in March. The synergies Bushveld identified have played out, and the new firm, Invinity, has been picking up project wins and is now focusing on cutting the cost of its systems and ramping up growth, Invinity CCO Matt Harper said in an interview...
We know what the game changer is going to be...
BBC News - 'Game changer' Covid tests for secondary schools in January
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55318628