| International move to address energy crisis |
| Friday, 23 February 2007 | |
 Tshepo Choma who designed the company logo for Saneri receives a cheque for R50 000 from Kadri Nassiep, CEO of Saneri. The handover took place at a gala dinner held in Johannesburg this week to mark the official launch of Saneri. Choma's entry was chosen as the best out of hundreds that were sent in by members of the public as part of an open competition. Strengthened international links will make a significant contribution towards addressing South Africa's energy concerns, Mr Kadri Nassiep, CEO of the newly-established South African National Energy Research Institute (Saneri) said on Wednesday. The international platform which has been established will help to accelerate technological progress which will help to address the country's acute energy challenges, he said. Mr Nassiep was speaking in Johannesburg at the conclusion of a three-day international energy technology collaboration workshop - the first in a series to be held in conjunction with the International Energy Agency in emerging economies. The aim is to expand the international network of energy researchers, industries and policy makers, thereby helping to address challenges in future sustainable energy supply. Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa have been identified as the five rapidly growing economies which are expected to play a key role in assisting the developed world in mitigating the impact of climate change through deployment of cleaner and more sustainable energy options. Said Mr Nassiep: "This was a great opportunity to share our national approaches and results with international experts and to explore areas where strengthened international links could help address our national concerns. "It was interesting to see that other countries around the globe are facing similar challenges and it is very encouraging that other international groups are so open to sharing their findings with South Africa. We will explore further ways to strengthen our international ties. I am convinced that this will help us to accelerate our technological progress and implement appropriate policies." The international workshop is one of the activities initiated by the G8 Gleneagles summit in 2005, also attended by South Africa as well as Brazil, China, India and Mexico. The G8 (Group of Eight) is the international forum for the governments of the eight countries representing about 65 percent of the world's economy. They have supported the IEA to take action to better link the IEA's technology network with the five rapidly growing economies represented at Gleneagles. For this purpose, the IEA has created an outreach programme called NEET (Networks of Expertise in Energy Technology). South Africa has taken the lead in organizing the first workshop in Johannesburg this week together with the IEA's NEET Initiative to facilitate a comprehensive exchange about programmes and to explore opportunities for strengthening international ties. The workshop which was officially opened on Tuesday by Mr Mosibudi Mangena, the Minister of Science and Technology, saw the participation of more than 100 South African key stakeholders and 20 international experts. Topics included solar and wind energy, hydropower, cleaner fossil fuel power production, improving energy efficiency, demand side management, information dissemination and energy modelling. Areas for future joint action were also explored. Neil Hirst, Director for Technology at the IEA said: "I am delighted that we have identified many areas of mutual benefit for closer cooperation between South Africa and the IEA's energy technology network. [These are in the areas of renewables, clean fossil fuels, demand-side management, energy efficient buildings, modelling and information exchange.] We expect this will lead to a much closer relationship for the future, including full membership for South Africa in a growing number of our international energy technology collaboration agreements." The IEA's collaborative programmes, the Implementing Agreements, have issued invitations to South African stakeholders to mutually share expertise and join forces with the IEA's energy technology network of several thousand high level experts from governments, industry and research institutions. Saneri, which was officially launched on Monday this week, is a Government-funded research company housed under CEF (Pty) Ltd. CEF (Pty) Ltd is a public company which is involved in the search for appropriate solutions to meet the future energy needs of South Africa, the Southern African Development Community and sub-Saharan region. Saneri has been tasked with stimulating the culture of innovation in energy research and development. It seeks to advance the country's competitive position in energy technology development through research and human capital development. Contact for further questions from journalists:
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