COW DUNG plants and solar power are amongst the natural resources that Walter Sisulu University (WSU) explored for conversion into renewable energy to mitigate persistent blackouts in South Africa caused by low power grid capacity.
WSU chairperson of Renewable Energy Technology (RNA), Dr Raymond Taziwa, said that solar energy is an abundant resource that can easily be converted into electricity to resolve the current issue of loadshedding.
“As we all know, solar energy is abundant and is renewable without any carbon footprint. Our main research and focus areas within that solar energy are to convert the solar into a form of electricity, particularly for off-grid applications, we have several enablers that we use to achieve that; mainly, we use nano technology to develop what is called nano-structured solar cells,” said Taziwa.
Taziwa added that WSU is a coastal university with a wind current that passes through. He said that the idea is to try converting that wind current into some form of electrical energy resource to assist in the issue of loadshedding.
He also added that the conversion of biomass waste such as ubulongwe (cow dung) from rural areas could be converted into cooking biogas that rural communities can use.
“We also focus on the conversion of hyacinth, a problematic water-based plant that normally occupies freshwater bodies and creates two problems, known to be environmental mutants and deprives aquatic life of oxygen. We are trying to convert the water hyacinth into some form of bioethanol or biodiesel,” said Taziwa.
In his effort to convert seawater into hydrogen fuels, Taziwa is also confronted with the problem of power storage, should excess energy be produced from hydrogen fuels.
“We are trying to engage different battery production industries out there, as we are also focusing on the development of hydrogen fuels from our saltwater. With renewable energy technologies, on a day, I can produce sufficient energy to power me for three to four days, but there is storage issue,” he said.
