The potential of using alkaline gold mine tailing as a cover material to mitigate AMD formation from acidic gold mine tailing pile at Sabie-Pilgrim's Rest Goldfields, South Africa.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) caused by the oxidation of sulphide minerals found in mine waste is a global environmental concern, especially in water-restricted countries with heavy mining industries. Implementing AMD treatment and prevention programs can be extremely expensive, hence the need to identify environmentally sustainable treatment and preventative techniques to mitigate the potential of AMD formation. Soil covers and blends have been identified as an attractive approach.

Effect of Pith/Fiber Separation, Binders and Hybridization on Energy Density and Physical Properties of Bagasse Briquettes.

Improvements on energy density of loose biomass such as sugarcane feedstock is crucial in the technology of biomass energy conversion and generation. South Africa is one of the producers and refiners of sugarcane. High energy density of sugarcane bagasse biomass through separation and briquetting is imperative in developing adequate streams and quality energy generation from sugarcane upstream milling processes.

Suitability of Crop Residues as Feedstock for Biofuel Production in South Africa: A Sustainable Win-Win Scenario.

Alternative sources of energy are required for easing the burdens associated with the use of fossil fuels especially for African nations. There are barriers associated with the use of advanced biofuels such as immature technology, availability of reliable feedstock data, policy instruments among others in many African countries. The present study is aimed towards providing reliable feedstock generation data from 21 major crops produced in South Africa.

Transesterification via Parametric Modelling and Optimization of Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) Seed Oil Methyl Ester Synthesis.

This study investigates Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) seed oil (SBSO) as a novel feedstock for biodiesel production through the transesterification process catalysed by heterogeneous bio-alkali derived from banana (Musa acuminata) peels. Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) tools were used for the modelling and optimization of the process variables. The reaction process parameters considered were methanol/SBSO molar ratio, catalyst loading levels, reaction time and temperature.