South Africans must work together to keep the markets we have
My ears pricked up during last week’s discussion on the hydrogen economy when the event’s keynote speaker said South Africa dare not lose the market share that platinum group metals have in the global automotive industry. Why South Africa has the role of keeping the air of the world’s biggest cities free of car exhaust fumes is because our platinum group metals keep them out.
But that role is unravelling because incoming battery electric vehicles do not emit exhaust fumes and therefore no longer need platinum. All is not lost, though, because alternative fuel cell, electrolyser, industrial and even medical markets are emerging, but not with the single far-reaching force that we have become used to.
What needs to happen to lower the risk of major job loss is to go headlong into green hydrogen at home and abroad, as is happening in America, Europe, Japan, South Korea and to a considerable extent Australia as well. Doing so will enable significant new job creation, reduce carbon emissions, support social change, and drive economic development.
We do have Project Rainbow, which is designed to build a hydrogen freight corridor for trucks and buses, and the country should unite behind that, and also look to localised manufacture and vehicle assembly to support local supply chain development.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation