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Gas can boost the national Smart mobility solutions economy startforthe country The CSIR is helpingand find solutions transport systems and operations in Gauteng. on the path to zero emissions
CSIR research group leader for transport infrastructure management, Dr Phindile Masangane, the CEO of Petroleum Agency Khangwelo Muronga, says his team helps enable South Africa to migrate to South Africa, notes that recent gas discoveries could swifter, more efficient and smarter mobility. support the country’s economic recovery and its transition to a clean energy future.
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mar t transpor tation requires the integration of modern technologies into transportation These oday the biggestinfrastructures. threat to humanity is includechange, cloudand computing, wireless climate the biggest threat to communication, location-based ser vices, SA’s social stability is the high unemploycomputer mentvision, rate. and more. In Gauteng, the CSIR collaborating with thefrom Gauteng As has the been global economy recovers the Department of Roads and Transport devastating effects of Covid-19, demandto foraddress oil and roadhas maintenance issues. The organisation also gas gone up significantly. If there washas ever a developed a system the general public need for proof that oilthat andallows gas still drive the global to reportrecent potholes and demonstrate traffic lights, the improving economy, statistics trend. overall road sconditions easy ofindustrialised mobility. on The world’ developedand economies Smar t and mobility encompasses various the back of oil gas production and use. Now, just as interconnected Africa is on the cusp oftechnological being a significantcomponents gas producer andistransportation Thisforincludes and making plans infrastructure. to use such gas power gasoline and electric vehicles, non-motorised generation, industrialisation and economic growth, mobility as car-sharing the negativeoptions effects of such greenhouse gas emissionsand on ride-sharing and on-demand the environment programmes, have become undeniable. ridesharing services. It to also includes other The urgency for action mitigate the risk of forms of transportation likedebatable. bicycles, Between scooters, climate change is no longer autonomous vehicles, andfive trains. The concept 1990 and 2018 the top emitters have of smar t more mobility extends to designing produced than 50% of greenhouse gas infrastructure with lanes for specific emissions. During thededicated same period SA contributed GAUTENGBUSINESS BUSINESS2022 2023 GAUTENG
modes of transportation, especially the minibus taxis transport about 80% 1% to that global emissions. This is of bythe nopublic. measure insignificant, and as a responsible global citizen SA Transport infrastructure must take steps to reduce its carbon footprint. Almost everyone usesConvention roads and bridges on a The UN Framework on Climate regularwas basis, making them thetomost significant Change established in 1992 coordinate the transportation medium in emerging nations global response to mitigate the threat of climate like South Africa. Roads are countries crucial fortoboosting change, and specifically to get commit development raising that people’s toeconomic policies and plans that and will ensure the standards of temperature living. Roadsrise provide for average global is keptaccess less than people to pre-industrial marketplaces,levels. workplaces, hospitals, 1.5°C above clinics, educationalEnergy facilities, sports venues, and The International Agency (IEA) proposes holiday destinations. The CSIRs energy has a sound trackthat to achieve this goal the world’ sector must record providing solutions reach net in zero emissionssmart-mobility by 2050. In its global energyto assist infrastructure management.that net zerowith 2050road pathway the IEA acknowledges Among are: there is nothese singlesolutions pathway to this goal, as developed and countries face different socioeconomic • developing The maintenance-reporting solution challenges and havebridge contributed disproportionately • The Struman and structures solutionto greenhouse gascontrol emissions to date. • The traffic centre management systems What a number of environmental interest groups to be ignoring in theof IEARoads “Net Zero Theseem Gauteng Department and byTransport’s 2050” report is the acknowledgment thatsystem there Road maintenance reporting will becreated a differentiated approach to aMEC clean was at the request of the forenergy Roads, future, takingand intoInfrastructure, consideration the the Honourable cost of the Transport new clean energy technologies and the economic Jacob Mamabolo. The CSIR created a solution consequences transitioning for maintenance each country. The for reportingofon normal road and IEA emphasises that countrythe must develop its construction thateach enables maintenance own pathway to a net real-time zero emission future. on their teams to provide updates S o uactivity, t h A f rthis i c a’sincluded e c o n othe m ycreation h a s bofe ethe n daily predominantly powered by coal, which is also a PotholeFixGP application. significant contributor to the country’s economy in terms of GDP as well as employment. PotholeFixGP In CSIR addition to coal, SA imports oil, gas and The created the PotholeFixGP application, petroleum for its energy needs as the which canproducts be downloaded from the appropriate upstream petroleum is stillthis at asolution. nascentIt mobile app stores toindustry supplement stage. The two to recent world-class gas was designed function on Appleoffshore and Android
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