Gcxafrica

BMW’s Pretoria plant will annually process approximately 40,000 tons of cattle manure and 20, 000 of organic waste. This will be fed into a biogas anaerobic digester from which the methane generated will be used to drive a gas engine

Volkswagen is under fire after news broke in September that they installed software in more than 11 million of their cars that allowed mostly diesel vehicles to perform better when tested for their emissions.

It’s difficult to believe but Stanford University researchers found a common meal worm (larvae of the Darkling beetle) that can safely break down and live off a diet of Styrofoam.

Kevin James of GCX Africa recently visited the Blank Canvas International Summit in Johannesburg and had interesting conversations with senior personalities in the mining sector including Mr. Sipho Nkosi CEO of Exxaro.

The CSIR have issued a warning to Sub-Saharan Africa to expect disproportionate temperature changes due to global warming. This is however nothing new as Africa, specifically Sub-Saharan Africa, is expected to be more susceptible to the impacts of climate changes.

3D printing has become a fascinating buzz word for many in the past 5 years yet little is known of its versatility. An Italian company called WASP has developed a 3D printer which can print simple cost effective houses with natural materials such as mud, water, clay and fibres.

Porsche has released its “Mission E” electric concept vehicle that can accelerate from 0-100kmh in 3.4 seconds.

Professor Tim Noakes believes the only way the World could save itself from a sugar diabetes and obesity pandemic is through a “high fat–low carb” (LCHF) diet.

Regarding nuclear energy, Kevin James gives us an update as well as his current thoughts on the South African government’s quite controversial nuclear energy procurement:

Interesting trends are emerging in the global energy mix where renewable energy is now the second biggest generator of electricity globally. It seems like the clean energy wave is growing and not slowing down any time soon. Here is what Kevin James had to say:

On the subject of food waste, two Canadian filmmakers have made a movie called ‘Just Eat it – A Food Waste Story’, where they commit to only being allowed to eat rescued food that was destined for landfill for a period of 6 months. Kevin James gives some insight:

A damning article was published in the Mail and Guardian last week giving some insights into the state of the country’s more than 800 water treatment plants and by association, the state of our natural water systems. Kevin James gives us the overall message:

In South Africa there seems to be much hype around the government’s new pet project, named ‘Operation Phakisa’, which aims to unlock the ocean economy. Kevin James gives us his thoughts on this initiative and whether he believes it will indeed be as beneficial as they are claiming:

With COP21 climate negotiations taking place in Paris in November, there has been a hive of climate change related activity in the USA with both government and business committing to deep cuts in coal use and significant investment into renewables. It also seems to be quite a big topic in the upcoming US presidential elections. Kevin James gives us an update:

Ocean debris and more specifically plastics finding their way into the ocean is a massive challenge for so many reasons. Here is an update on this issue as well as some of the initiatives being put in place to reverse this trend?

The iconic toy company, LEGO, is committed to moving toward more sustainable materials in the production of their products. This is quite a turn around after the story covered a little while back about LEGO.

13 more renewable energy project bids have been successful, and have been added to Round 4 of South Africa’s REIPPP program that was announced in April. Back then there was some doubt that this would happen, so this is good news indeed.

A damning research report published by three top US universities have confirmed that the Earth is officially entering its 6th extinction phase, with many species – including our own - being threatened.

Pope Francis warned today that a variety of human activities - from a blind worship of technology to a reliance on fossil fuels - risk irreparably ruining the planet, stealing its stunning beauty and rich diversity from future generations. This situation, the pope said in a sweeping and sharply worded manifesto, can no longer be met with irony and distain. Climate change is a reality and it’s getting worse…

We’re heading towards that time of the year again - the annual climate negotiations or COP21, this time scheduled for November in Paris. There are big expectations for this year’s event…