Eskom is world’s worst SO2 polluter

South Africa’s utility alone spews more noxious emissions into the air than all the power plants of any other country combined, apart from India

Eskom has become the world’s largest single emitter of sulphur dioxide (SO2), outstripping the entire combined power sector emissions of any country in the world, with the exception of India.

A new study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air has found that Eskom’s SO2 emissions in 2019 exceeded those from the power sectors from each of the world’s three largest economies — China, the US and EU.

These emissions contribute to about 2 200 air-pollution-related deaths a year in South Africa, expert Mike Holland found in a 2017 study.

Most of these deaths are due to So2emissions, which form deadly particulate matter (PM) 2.5 particles — fine inhalable particles with diameters 2.5 micrometres and smaller. A human hair is about 70 micrometres wide.

While most other regions with large power sector air-pollutant emis-sions have made rapid progress in reducing emissions, Eskom has been “stuck in place, lobbying against even the most rudimentary requirements to curb its SO pollution”, the study found.

The company has now become the worst So2-emitting power company in the world. Eskom also emits more SO2 than the entire power sector of the EU and US, or the US and China, combined.

The study says Eskom’s 15 coal power plants emitted 1 600 kilotonnes (kt) of SO2 in 2020-21, based on the utility’s reports. The reports show a reduction in SO2 emissions in the past two fiscal years, falling by 13% from 2018-19 to 2020-21, the centre’s lead analyst Lauri Myllyvirta told the Mail & Guardian. “This is largely due to load-shedding, so Eskom hardly deserves credit for it, but I used the most recent, lower, data point for Eskom, and the most recent available data point for all other emitters.

“If or when Eskom’s power generation recovers, emissions will rise further, and the company will stand out even further as the world’s highestemitting power generator,” he says.

The Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research says the six economies with the highest power sector SO2 emissions in 2015 were India, the US, China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the EU.

Out of these emitters, the US, EU and China have since realised “dramatic” emission reductions, while India remains the largest polluter, and it’s a “tight race” between South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

“However, our analysis shows that by 2019, Eskom had become the world’s most polluting power company measured by SO2 emissions,” said Myllyvirta’s study.

China has carried out a massive retrofit programme, installing cuttingedge desulphurisation equipment on its entire fleet of coal-fired power plants, more than 20 times as large as that of South Africa, in just a decade.

“As a result, SO2 emissions from the power sector fell from a humongous 13-million tonnes in 2006 to twomillion tonnes in 2015, below South Africa’s level. During the past five years, equipment was upgraded or replaced to reach so-called ultra-low emissions levels at more than 90% of the fleet, delivering a further 60% reduction to 780kt in 2020,” the study reads.

The EU and US have retrofitted and closed down coal power plants.

“The entire electricity and heat sector of the 28 EU countries, including 231 coal power plants in the EU, emitted 560kt SO2 in 2019, one-third of Eskom’s emissions.”

The EU’S emissions plunged from 12000kt in 1990 to 1400kt in 2013, falling below Eskom’s current emissions level, and then further by 45% between 2013 and 2019.

According to Myllyvirta’s study, Eskom’s emissions are also more than twice as high as those from the entire power sector of the US, including 249 coal-fired power plants.

“US emissions fell by 64% from 2015 to 2020, and a whopping 94% from their peak in 1998. Emissions stood at 11 900kt in 1998, first falling below South Africa’s level in 2016, registered at 2 000kt, and then falling a further 64% to 720kt in 2020.”

India’s power sector SO2 emissions were estimated by the International Energy Agency at a towering 4 300kt in 2019, entirely due to coal-burning.

“Like South Africa, almost all of the country’s coal power plants run without any kind of sulphur emissions controls, although the country is slowly working to implement emissions rules passed in 2015. However, Indian coal is much lower in sulphur than South African coal, meaning that despite having more than five times as much coal-fired capacity, the emissions are ‘only’ twice as high,” Myllyvirta said.

Last month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) introduced stricter air quality guidelines for pollutants such as PM2.5.

“The most important step that the government should take in response to the WHO’S new guidelines is to update South Africa’s national standards for PM2.5. One of the key ways to reduce PM2.5 pollution would be to require Eskom to install SO2 control devices in its power plants, like China, EU, the US and many others have done,” he said.

The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment did not respond to requests for comment.

Eskom said it could not comment as it had not done its own analysis of the data and had not been given an opportunity to review it. “Eskom is fully aware of its obligations to the environment and to the community. It has embarked on a programme to transition retiring coal-fired power stations to renewable energy sources, with a view to attain a net zero status by 2050,” it said.

Eskom’s 15 coal power plants emitted 1 600kt of SO2 last year. The 28 EU countries emitted 560kt in 2019, a third of Eskom’s emissions