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UCT Research Report '11
112
Various studies at CeBER are in progress that will lead
to a more thorough understanding of the behaviour of
microorganisms within the heap bioleaching process.
“To create a bio-economy, we need to understand what
happens at a microbial level,” says CeBER director,
Professor Sue Harrison, who holds the DST/NRF SARChI
Chair in Bioprocess Engineering. “To get there, we need to
grow the commercial bioprocessing space.”
In addition to its bioleaching and hydrometallurgy activities,
CeBER has, for the past six years, homed in on the energy
potential of algae. This research, sponsored by SANERI
(the South African National Energy Institute) and industrial
partners, has identified algae as a multipurpose energy
source.
Professor Harrison says that through the biorefinery
concept, algae not only have the potential to provide
economically valuable compounds such as antioxidants
and speciality oils, but can also serve as an alternative
source for protein, bio-diesel, and electricity.
It is this marriage of developing value-added technologies
and environmental stewardship that will enable South
Africa to deal with issues such as efficient water and
energy use, Professor Harrison says. And this, she adds,
hinges on South Africa’s ability to develop and train the
people who would be expected to put together and run
bioprocesses.
With some 31 postgraduate students on the books,
CeBER is well on its way to developing the know-how,
and to ultimately disseminate to industry its scholarly
prowess.
UCT’s Minerals to Metals researchers do work across the spectrum from increasing the amount of mineral or metal
extracted from ores to reducing the environmental and social impacts of mineral beneficiation operations.
“It is this marriage of developing
value-added technologies and
environmental stewardship that will
enable South Africa to deal with
issues such as efficient water and
energy use.”