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18 March 2020

With the University of the Free State (UFS) academic programme suspended and following guidelines by the UFS Coronavirus (COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2) Task Team to minimise the gathering of people in one place, all UFS libraries will be closed from Friday 20 March to Monday 13 April 2020.

During this time, staff and students will not have any access to the following campus and branch libraries of the UFS Library and Information Services:

•    Sasol Library (Bloemfontein Campus)
•    Neville Alexander Library (South Campus)
•    TK Mopeli Library (Qwaqwa Campus)
•    Frik Scott Medical Library (Bloemfontein Campus)
•    Music Library (Bloemfontein Campus)

The university community is advised as follows:

•    Use Wednesday (18 March) and Thursday (19 March) to borrow books you might need during the long recess. During these two days, students are advised to take precautionary measures and avoid sitting in groups that might compromise their health.
•    During this time, all due dates for borrowed material will be automatically extended, no late fines will be charged, and patrons can return material when libraries reopen.
•    Please make use of the ‘Ask-a-Librarian’ service for any assistance you might require (go to the UFS Library and Information Services website – click Library Services – click Ask-a-Librarian); OR use the UFS Library social media.
•    The UFS Library and Information Services will also be available on a new ‘LiveChat’ service accessible here (listed under Resources – LibGuides). With this service, you can connect ‘live’ with your information librarian.
•    All planned activities for the South African Library Week are postponed until further notice.




News Archive

Unconventional oil and gas extraction – study for Water Research Commission reveals possible impacts
2014-11-05

 

Photo: Legalplanet.org
The Centre for Environmental Management (CEM) at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently completed a three-year project for the Water Research Commission. The purpose was to develop an interactive vulnerability map and monitoring framework for unconventional oil and gas extraction (final report still to be published).

Due to the complexity of this field, a number of participants across different disciplines and universities were involved in this trans-disciplinary study. Contributors included the Departments of Sociology, Physics and Mathematical Statistics from the UFS, the University of Pretoria Natural Hazard Centre, Africa, as well as the Institute of Marine and Environmental Law from the University of Cape Town.

Unconventional oil and gas extraction, its related impacts and the management of this activity to ensure environmental protection, is a controversial issue in many countries worldwide. Since the extraction of oil and gas using unconventional techniques is an unprecedented activity in South Africa, the project focused on understanding this extraction process as well as hydraulic fracturing and identifying possible environmental and socio-economic impacts associated with this activity in the South African context. An understanding of the possible impacts could aid government during the development of policy aimed at protecting the environment.

The researchers subsequently identified indicators to develop an interactive vulnerability map for unconventional oil and gas in South Africa. The vulnerability map focuses on specific mapping themes, which include surface water, groundwater, vegetation, seismicity and socio-economics. In addition, the map provides information on the vulnerability of the specified mapping themes to unconventional gas extraction on a regional scale. This map is intended as a reconnaissance tool to inform decision-makers on areas where additional detail field work and assessments may be required. It can also be used during Environmental Impact Assessments and determining licensing conditions.

Lastly, a monitoring framework was developed, which describes monitoring requirements for specific entities – surface water, groundwater, vegetation, seismicity and socio-economics – for the different phases of unconventional oil and gas extraction. Such monitoring is an important part of environmental protection. It is especially important for South Africa to perform baseline monitoring before exploration starts to ensure that we will have reference conditions to identify what impact oil and gas extraction activities has on the biophysical and socio-economic environments.


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