Coal Person of the Year

Coalperson of the Year 2024

Chris Swanepoel 

Apologies for not making it here tonight but it is my wedding anniversary and I have abandoned my wife tonight also; so, I am in many people’s bad books.

In my absence, Jacob has kindly volunteered to step in for me.

This award is very special to me and during my career, I have unashamedly influenced the Society to honour those people who deserved the true recognition from our community. When Jakes Jacobs received the award, he wryly commented that you gave me this before I was no longer around to receive it. Little did we know that his words would come to fruition far too early.

I am particularly proud that the Society has decided to honour as its first posthumous recipient, and I can think of no one more deserving of this, than Chris Swanepoel. It is a pity that he is not here today, but I am sure that he would be very proud of the accolade and that his family is here to celebrate it with us today.

His record of Service for Anglo American and later with Thungela was exemplary and some of his technical contributions (I will cite a few,  adoption of the Jinjing filter press technology, best practice in tailings & dam management are some of the more recent examples) but there have been many more innovative things that he did throughout his highly successful career.

However, there was one thing that was missing – he was not that well known outside the ambit of his employer, and it was subject of many disagreements between us. He stepped into the late Kevin McMillan’s shoes at the SACPS and wow it took off; people quickly took notice and in the words of our current Chairperson of the Society, he was known as the “gentle giant” and let me tell you he was a GIANT of a man, an absolute gentleman all the way and very humble to boot.

I thank you.

David Power

The Future of Energy

Dr Lars Schernikau was recently recorded in Indonesia’s “Sage Talks” speaking about The Future of Energy and received peer-review for a new paper on energy efficiencies (eROI) and full cost of electricity.

The 19-min video is well worth watching. It is based on a recent academic paper written by Lars, Prof. Bill Smith (US), and Prof. Rosemary Falcon (South Africa).

The new 10-page academic peer-reviewed paper “Full Cost of Electricity “FCOE” and Energy Returns “eROI” was just published in at the Canadian Center of Science and Education. The Journal of Management and Sustainability (JMS) is an international, double-blind peer-reviewed, open-access journal for academics and practitioners of sustainable management.

The paper can be downloaded for free via the link below

This new peer-reviewed paper is probably one of the most comprehensive summaries of electricity available… and most importantly covers in detail the role of variable renewables and their impact on costs and reliability of our energy systems…” (an energy economist recently wrote),

Science Research Journalist Kip Hansen recently wrote a short review on the “Sage Talks” video, the academic paper, and the concept of full cost that can be accessed vua the link below.

What is the full cost?