Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., South Africa’s state energy firm, disputed the findings of a Greenpeace report that it operates most of the world’s worst emission websites for poisonous nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.
The Main Air Polluters in Africa report, launched Thursday by Greenpeace, asserted that coal-fired vegetation operated by the utility account for 5 of the world’s 10 largest single-source nitrogen-dioxide emission websites. The corporate additionally runs two of the ten worst sulfur-dioxide websites, Greenpeace stated.
“The Greenpeace report seems to depend on satellite tv for pc interpretation of the excessive ranges of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide within the troposphere,” Eskom stated in a response to queries. It “hyperlinks the nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide measured many a whole lot of meters above the bottom to direct well being impacts at floor degree,” the utility added.
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South Africa, which depends on coal for the era of greater than 80 p.c of its electrical energy, has a few of the world’s worst air air pollution, with emission requirements that, whereas significantly extra lenient than in different main polluters China and India, are not often enforced.
The corporate stated that at floor degree, its vegetation largely adjust to South African nitrogen-dioxide emission ranges and the place they don’t, it’s resulting from close by car site visitors and different industrial sources.
The 2 latest of its 14 working coal-fired vegetation, Medupi and Kusile, in addition to Camden are fitted with so-called low NOx burners to cut back emissions of nitrogen dioxide and others might retrofitted with the tools, it stated. Flue-gas desulfurization items, which slash sulfur-dioxide emissions, can be retrofitted at Medupi and is in place at Kusile, it stated.
Nonetheless, that tools is presently being bypassed at Kusile after an accident. The Centre for Analysis on Power and Clear Air has beforehand asserted that Eskom is the world’s largest sulfur dioxide polluter.
Eskom’s particulate matter emissions had been additionally at a 31-year excessive within the six months via September.
