Researchers at Botswana’s two institutions have embarked on exploring possibilities of finding a far cleaner way to use the energy in coal, an official said Sunday.
Charles Siwawa, the chief executive officer at Botswana Chamber of Mines (BCM), said coal research by Morupule Coal Mine and Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) might produce findings that can boost the economy.
“There is an adequate number of researchers capable of tackling coal, who, however, lack research for their studies,” said Siwawa during a science lecture in Francistown, Botswana’s second-largest city.
He said a coal laboratory will be set up at the BIUST campus in Palapye, some 290 km north of the southern African country’s capital of Gaborone in the not-so-distant future.
According to Siwawa, the laboratory, described as the backbone of research facilities into technologies that will enable the transition from a dependence on fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, will analyze coal samples and allow meaningful homegrown research on coal.
Siwawa said research has the potential to contribute significantly to Botswana’s economy by unearthing other beneficiation industries.
Botswana has significant quantities of untapped coal, which is estimated at around 202 billion tonnes, according to the country’s Ministry of Minerals and Energy. Enditem
